[First Edition] Wheeler Survey Reports on Botany

Washington, the Government Printing Office, three octavo reports, variously paged (see below). ***CONTENT: This scarce volume, deaccessioned from the Harvard Geological Sciences Library, combines three separate biological/geological reports issued by the "Geographical and Geological Explorations and Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian", commonly known as the "Wheeler Survey". The following reports are contained herein: 1) Watson, Sereno, and Rothrock, J.T., 1874, "Catalogue of Plants collected in the years 1871, 1872, and 1873, with descriptions of new species", 62 pages. Watson's plants were obtained in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah; Rothrock's specimens were collected in central Colorado, and his writing includes commentary on agricultural resources and timber potential. 2) Yarrow, H.C. and Henshaw, H.W., 1874, "Report on Ornithological specimens collected in the years 1871, 1872, and 1873", 148 pages. The birds described in this report were observed/collected primarily in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Accompanying most taxonomic classifications and genus/species designations are paragraphs describing avian habits and habitats, with comments on identification characteristics and rarity. Many specific localities are mentioned. 3) White, C.A., 1874, "Preliminary report upon Invertebrate Fossils collected by the Expeditions of 1871, 1872, and 1873, with descriptions of new species", 27 p. These fossils were collected at named sites in Arizona (Grand Canyon, etc.), New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. In his opening remarks, the author notes that "nearly all the species [herein] noted are new" and urges Wheeler to publish this paper [asap] to establish priority of discovery. Specimens include Cruziana, brachiopods, corals, crinoids, trilobites, graptolites, bryozoans, crustaceans, various mollusks, echinoderms, etc. Silurian to Cretaceous strata are the host rocks. ***CONDITION: The volume is complete and in VG condition, housed in an 1881 Harvard binding: half brown cloth and marbled boards. The covers are clean and sound, but mildly rubbed at the corners and edges; gilt titles on the backstrip well preserved, bright and bold. Outer joints solid, hinges just starting but strong, binding firm. A neat, longhand inscription on a front endpaper catalogs the three documents within. The text pages are near pristine: fresh, clean, and bright; the bound edges contain small holes where the original sewing string was emplaced. ***PROVENANCE: A printed Harvard bookplate on the front pastedown indicates that Alexander Agassiz donated this volume to the Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy; later stamps indicate transferal to the Geology Library. This is a seldom-seen, specially bound, informative volume relating discoveries in the American West made by members of the Wheeler expeditions. Schmeckebier 57-58. Nickles 1092. International shipping will be extra, but only at my cost.

Estimate:£165.31

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