Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (November 25, 1816 – May 30, 1892) was an American lawyer and astronomer, and a pioneering astrophotographer. Rutherfurd was a direct descendant on his mother’s side to Lewis Morris, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He practiced law with John Jay and, following Jay’s death, with Hamilton Fish. But his interest in science drew him away from law and he spent several years in Europe studying optics under Professor Amici. Decades later, in 1893, Popular Science magazine wrote, After his return home he built upon the lawn of his home at Eleventh Street and Second Avenue, New York, an observatory which has been called the finest and best-equipped private astronomical observatory in the country. Later he invented another telescope especially converted for photography. His pioneering astronomical photographs were ground breaking.

First published in 1877 under a slightly different title. The illustrations in Les Terres du Ciel include two impressive mounted woodburytypes of the moon, the first showing the moon at about three-quarter phase, and the second illustrating several lunar craters and mountains.