For those of you who haven't discovered it yet, "Burnham's Celestial Handbook" is quite possibly the most wide-ranging astronomy book every published. At something over 1,000 pages (in 3 volumes), Burnham wrote about virtually every object of interest that is viewable in telescopes between two- and 12-inches aperture. Based on his own experience viewing the skies from (and using the library of) Lowell Observatory, the book instantly became a classic in amateur astronomy circles.
Burnham's rather tragic life was documented by a writer in 1997 in the Phoenix New Times, a weekly newspaper. It turned out that, after assisting with a proper motion survey at Lowell, Burnham had a sort of a mental "breakdown" and disappeared. No one knew where he was. He later surfaced at Balboa Park in San Diego selling paintings of cats, and died a few years later of heart failure.
Now, some amateur astronomers have put together a memorial website and are working with the Lowell Observatory to possibly erect a small memorial to Burnham at Lowell. Check out
http://rbjm.org/
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