A Geognostical Essay on the Superposition of Rocks (First English Edition)

EXTREMELY RARE FIRST EDITION

First Edition. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1823. Small 8vo. Contemporary half calf and marbled paper boards. Pages: viii, 482.

Bound in beautiful contemporary tan half calf over marbled paper boards. Covers ruled in gilt. Titling to spine in gilt on brown Morocco panels. All edges marbled. Marbled endpapers. Very good. Binding very well preserved. Leather generally supple and in good order. Some rubbing and wearing along edges and at corners. Markings to leather at corners. Contents overall in excellent condition. Some foxing at front and rear, as expected. Otherwise, contents fresh, bright, and extremely well preserved. An extremely rare volume kept in good order, bound in a beautiful fine binding.

A seminal work, originally published in French then translated to English in 1823, by German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. Humboldt was a prominent figure in the European scientific community of the 18th and 19th centuries. He was the first person to make a scientific survey of South and Central America. The work in this volume exposes a significant part of his geological research gathered from global travels. Humboldt uses the principle of superposition—that in undisturbed sedimentary layers, the oldest strata lie at the bottom and the youngest at the top—to establish a framework for the Earth's geological history and structure. Humboldt's analysis included comparative studies of rock formations and sedimentary deposits in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, contributing to early theories of continental drift. 

Provenance: From the library of Warwick H. Williams. Armorial bookplate of Robert Hyde Greg pasted on FBEP.

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