Geology and Mineralogy : Considered with Reference to Natural Theology [TWO VOLUMES]
London: William Pickering, 1837. Total of 87 plates, one full color, nine fold-out, all in volume 2. [Second edition]. Rebound in half red morocco with marbled paper boards, plain endpapers. Vol. 1 teg, vol. 2 marbled text block edges. Octavo. xvi, 618, Corrigenda; vii [ix], 110, 87 plates, 111-129 Index. 9" x 5.5" Mildly foxed throughout, missing original ffeps and half-title pages (Bridgewater Treatises). Faint scratching to teg of vol. 1; rubbing to top edge of vol. 2. Both near fine, sharp copies. Item #225963
These two volumes are part six of the larger Bridgewater Treatises, an eight-work series commissioned by Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater. In order to show the connection between science and religion, the Earl wished to publish works "On the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation" (x). The task of finding authors for these works fell to the Royal Society's president, Davies Gilbert, to whom this work is dedicated. He chose William Buckland to write on geology and mineralogy, a worthy choice as Buckland's volume was so popular that "the entire [first] edition was sold out before any copy had come on the market" (Rupke, 19). It immediately went into a second printing, which also quickly sold out, leading to a second edition a year later in 1837.
Buckland was an ordained priest, as well as a geologist to the bone. In addition to having worked as the president of the Geological Society of London and a Reader in mineralogy and geology, among other appointments, Buckland did a year-long European geology tour to visit famous geologists and sites for his honeymoon. He had a table inlaid with fossilized dinosaur feces, and at one point he ate part of Luis XIV's mummified heart. His love for rocks continued even after his death - they found Jurassic limestone in his grave site, so the gravediggers had to use explosives in order to excavate it. Part of his legacy survives in these volumes, a knowledgeable and detailed study of geology and mineralogy, with multiple illustrated plates.
Rupke, The Great Chain of History.
Price: $750.00