moon. Cometography is a catalog which offers every important descriptive detail on every comet ever recorded by mankind. Today many astronomers are still including references to the works of Pingre, Vsekhsvyatskii, and Kronk. Each authors' comet catalog had their strengths, but none is as complete and up to date as Cometography will be. Status of Remaining VolumesVolume two: As of 2000 April 22, I am still working hard on volume two, which will cover the comets of the 19th century. I upgraded my computer about two weeks ago, and went a week without a backup system in place. Believe it or not disaster hit with about 45 pages of the 800-page double-spaced manuscript being trashed. It took me a week to get things fixed, and writing has resumed. The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society has now been filed among the journals that are completely added to this volume. The big obstacle still remaining is the Astronomische Nachrichten, which is complete only up to 1882 and from 1896 upwards.Volumes three and four: These two volumes should go much faster. The research is probably 99 percent completed for volume three, and many of the comets are finished. This volume was the closest to completion when I first signed the Cambridge contract. It covers all comets seen from 1900 through 1959. Volume four is not far behind volume three. It will cover 1960 through 1999, so I am still waiting for the final comets of that volume to be discovered....
