Brock University Library Unveils Stellar ‘Cosmic Reads’ Collection

From stargazers to eclipse chasers, history is filled with people who have travelled around the world to witness rare celestial events.

As Niagara prepares for an influx of visitors hoping to witness the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, the Brock University Library has prepared a collection of Cosmic Reads books and videos, including highlighted works on eclipses, that can be accessed from home or campus.

A curated print display of cosmic books featuring content from space holes to space travel and religion to research can also be found next to the Ask Us desk in the Library Learning Commons during the month of April.

The University is offering a free Eclipse on the Escarpment community event on Monday, April 8. For more information or to learn how to view the solar eclipse safely, visit, Brock’s eclipse event website.

“The act of travelling to witness and celebrate a rare celestial or natural spectacle is nothing new,” says Head of Archives and Special Collections David Sharron. “A recently acquired document found in the J.A. Léon Bassot fonds provides a perfect example of this.”

J.A. Léon Bassot was a French geodesist and astronomer who joined the 1882 Academy of Science expedition to St. Augustine, Fla., to observe the Transit of Venus, a journey that took him through New York, Niagara Falls and Montreal.

In a letter to his wife Madame Henriette Bassot on Oct. 11, 1882, Bassot shared his experiences of observing Niagara Falls. Written on Clifton House stationary, the letter shares news of his journey and describes the Falls as being “grandiose and terrible, 50 metres in height, with beautiful rainbows.”

The fonds is also comprised of several letters describing the transit of Venus and correspondence covering Bassot’s geodesic activities in Paris and Nice in 1881 and 1882.

“This mostly in French collection was acquired for the Niagara content,” says Sharron. “The rest, particularly the Transit of Venus, is bonus content.”