I was able to check out the revised 1984 edition of this book by Neale E. Howard. I did not realized that the original edition of the book was from 1959 and it shows. I had not heard of Neale Howard, and I wanted to see how this book compared to some others by Allyn J. Thompson, Jean Texereau, and Albert G. Ingalls.

While the revised edition does include information on some of the telescope companies and part suppliers that appeared between 1959 and 1984 (with addresses but no phone numbers), I found that some/much of the book had not really been updated.

They did include some pages that mentioned the new (at the time) Dobsonian mounts on pages 196-200, but they paid it short shrift. The book starts by assuming that the builder will make an equatorial mount for a 8 inch f/7 telescope so that it can easily track the stars with one motion.

I did not realize that the book came out in 1959 at first. It wasn’t until page 12 when I saw the text that said that the Yerkes Observatory was built sixty years ago. That did not make sense. It was not built in the mid 1920s, it was from the late 1800s. So, in looking at the copyright page, it said it was originally published in 1959. Ah, yeah, now this makes sense.

With images like the one below on page 173, it certainly looks like the book came out in 1959. (Sorry, kid, you gotta wear a tie for this photoshoot.)

Thus, some of the book was updated between 1959 and 1984, but not the whole thing.

I would also not recommend following the 18 supposedly simple steps for silvering a mirror as given on pages 333 to 335. That process is probably best left to mirror coating professionals.

However, the advice on how to grind a mirror, how make a pitch lap, and how to polish and figure a mirror had not really changed in the intervening years (and to the year 2025), so that section of the book still seems relevant.

Overall, if you want to grind, polish, and figure your own telescope mirror, then this book might provide some good advice for you.