[Comte De] Buffon [Georges-Louis Leclerc] / Barr, J.S. Barr’s Buffon. Buffon’s Natural History / Natural History of Birds, Fish, Insects, and Reptiles. Buffon’s Natural History. Containing A Theory of the Earth, A General History of Man, opf the brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals &c &c &c From the French with Notes by the Translator. In ten Volumes / Natural History of Birds, Fish, Insects, and Reptiles. Embellished with Upwards of Two Hundred Engravings. In Five Volumes. Ten plus Five Volumes. Two complete Sets in 15 Volumes Total. London, Printed for the Propietor and sold by H.D. Symonds 1797 / 1798. 19 x 11.5 cm. Vol.1: viii, 333 pages / Vol.2: iv, 348 pages / Vol.3: (2), 348 pages, 4 plates / Vol.4: (2), 352 pages, 1 plate / Vol.5: (2), 347 pages, 16 plates / Vol.6: iv, 346 pages, 19 plates / Vol.7: iv, 338 pages, 13 plates / Vol.8: iv, 343 pages, 18 plates / Vol.9: vi, 355 pages, 15 plates / Volume 10: (2), 366 pages / Vol.11: vii, 322 pages, 13 plates / Volume 12: vii, 332 pages, 8 plates / Vol.13: viii, 320 pages, 9 plates / Vol.14: viii, 322 pages, 8 plates / Vol.15: viii, 386 plates. See comments below for plates. Contemporary uniform tree calf. Two spine labels and gilt line decorations. Two red spine labels on all volumes. Some spine labels replaced at a later stage. Gilt line decorations on spine. Very good condition. Bindings rubbed and bumped. Front hinge of volume 12 weak, but holding. Ex Libris of previous owner on front paste down of all volumes. Edges and end papers age darkened. Front free end paper of volume one with small paper losses. Internally a very clean set. Some age darkening, Overall a very nice complete set.

Notes on the number of plates:

The first set of ten volumes contains all plates (86) as specified in each volume as per the ‘Directions for placing the Plates’ in each volume.

The second set of five volumes (numbered volumes 11-15) the ‘Directions’ in volume 11 call for 14 Plates and in volume 12 for 10.

However, there are differing ‘Directions for placing the Plates’ for all five volumes at the end of volume 15, which call for 13 plates (vol.11), 8 plates (vol.12), 9 plates (vol. 13), 8 Plates (vol. 14) and 6 plates (vol.15).

Based on the ‘Directions’ at the end of volume 15 all volumes are complete and contain the correct number and type of plates in each volume at the correct position in the text. Therefor all 15 volumes are COMPLETE.

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707 – 1788) was French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste. His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including two prominent French scientists Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. Buffon published thirty-six quarto volumes of his Histoire Naturelle during his lifetime, with additional volumes based on his notes and further research being published in the two decades following his death. Ernst Mayr wrote that “Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century”. Buffon held the position of intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Jardin des Plantes.

• Keywords: Classical & Old Literature · Fine Bindings & Editions · Geo Sciences · Natural Sciences · Reference · Science & Nature
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 103002AB

Our price: EUR 950,--