Browsing the Catalog - Patch.com

http://masterworkers.blogspot.com/2011/04/glass-doors-elegance-and-originality.html

Browsing the Catalog Patch.com Messier decided that the best way to handle these was to catalog them and their locations in the sky. He published the first edition of his catalog, with 45 objects, in 1771. By the time of his death, the list had grown to 103. ...