Zoology.- Buffon (G.L.M.L., Comte de) et al.. Histoire Naturelle

Zoology.- Buffon (G.L.M.L., Comte de) et al.. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particuliere, avec la description du Cabinet du Roi, 38 vol. in 19, engraved portrait of Buffon, 10 folding maps (a few on variant paper, conjoined, slightly lifting off), and 1,144 plates, numerous engraved vignettes, occasional light marginal water-staining to some vol., ink-stamps to front free endpapers and vol. 1 title, contemporary blue/green half calf, gilt spines with red morocco labels, a little rubbed, [Nissen ZBI 678; Piveteau 150], 4to, Amsterdam [&] Dordrecht, J.H. Schneider [&] A. Blussé, 1766-99. *** "The present 'l'Allamand' edition is the only 4to edition to rival the original French Imprimerie Royale edition (1749-1804) in 44 volumes. It does not contain the later published volumes by Lacépède on fishes and whales as these were published later, but it does contain numerous additions by l'Allamand which were included in the later French Buffon editions. All plates are after drawings by de Sève the famous French landscape painter. The animals are depicted in their natural habitat amidst charming landscapes villages, rivers, mountains etc. Schneider's edition in the French language was called a 'Nouvelle Edition' on the title-page. It was edited by Jean Nicolas Sebastien Allamand, professor of natural history at the University of Leiden. The order of the articles is generally similar to the Paris edition but Allamand changed the sequence when he thought it fitting and added articles about new or little-known mammals in suitable places within Buffon's text. (L. Rookmaaker. J.N.S. Allamand's additions ... to the 'Nouvelle Edition' of Buffon's 'Histoire Naturelle'). "Buffon's work is of exceptional importance because of its diversity, richness, originality and influence. Buffon was among the first to create an autonomous science, free of any theological influence. He emphasized the importance of natural history and the great length of geological time." (DSB).

Estimate:£500

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