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BRONGNIART, Adolphe-Thodore (1801-1876). Histoire des vgtaux fossiles, ou Recherches botaniques et gologiques sur les vgtaux renferms dans les diverses couches du globe. Paris and Amsterdam: Fain for G. Dufour and d'Ocagne (Vol. 2: Paris: E.-J. Bailly), 1828-1837.
2 volumes, 4o (306 x 234 mm). Half-titles, 11-pp. prospectus with conditions of subscription, 1-p. dedication to Cuvier, 199 lithographed plates of which 26 folding, by Meunier, Brongniart himself, Courtin, Decaisne, Houdart, Jouy and others after Brongniart's drawings. (Occasional mostly light foxing, very minor marginal tears to 1 or 2 plates, pl. 2:16 slightly creased.) Original plain linen-backed boards, uncut, a few quires unopened (rubbed, vol. 1 hinges broken, spine detached). Provenance: Yorkshire Philosophical Society (inkstamps on titles, second half-title and all plates [not affecting images], printed accession slips laid in, shelf-mark labels on spines).
VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST WORK OF PALEOBOTANY. In this, his unfinished masterwork, Brongniart extended his father Alexandre's initial work in the fossil classification to the entire domain of plant fossils. The Histoire is a methodical expansion of a paper published by Brongniart in 1822, at the age of 21, in which he set forth the basis of the science of paleobotany, giving it "a theoretical value of prime importance for biology as well as for geology... The Histoire... was a long, methodical, detailed and precise study that clearly showed Brongniart's two concerns: nomenclature and illustration" (DSB). Brongniart divided the history of plant life into four distinct periods, each corresponding to a geological reality, and divided the plant kingdom into six classes, a classification that foreshadowed modern views but was unfortunately discarded by Brongniart in his later studies. His depiction of gradual species change in the direction of increasing complexity, with the addition of a basic geological dimension, "led to the biological chain formulated by Hofmeister in 1851 [see lot ***]. Brongniart noted both the phenomena of extinction... and the correspondence between changes in fauna and flora and changes in climate" (DSB). The work, published in parts, was never completed: only the first three parts of a planned second volume appeared, in 1837 (fascicles 13-15, the last ending in the middle of a sentence). "The work, covering years, proved but a fragment to even so tireless an investigator as Brongniart because of the magnitude of the task" (Dibner). Dibner Heralds of Science 95; Nissen BBI 242; Pritzel 1172 (incorrectly calling for 194 plates); Stafleu and Cowan 800; Norman 350. (2)
2 volumes, 4
VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST WORK OF PALEOBOTANY. In this, his unfinished masterwork, Brongniart extended his father Alexandre's initial work in the fossil classification to the entire domain of plant fossils. The Histoire is a methodical expansion of a paper published by Brongniart in 1822, at the age of 21, in which he set forth the basis of the science of paleobotany, giving it "a theoretical value of prime importance for biology as well as for geology... The Histoire... was a long, methodical, detailed and precise study that clearly showed Brongniart's two concerns: nomenclature and illustration" (DSB). Brongniart divided the history of plant life into four distinct periods, each corresponding to a geological reality, and divided the plant kingdom into six classes, a classification that foreshadowed modern views but was unfortunately discarded by Brongniart in his later studies. His depiction of gradual species change in the direction of increasing complexity, with the addition of a basic geological dimension, "led to the biological chain formulated by Hofmeister in 1851 [see lot ***]. Brongniart noted both the phenomena of extinction... and the correspondence between changes in fauna and flora and changes in climate" (DSB). The work, published in parts, was never completed: only the first three parts of a planned second volume appeared, in 1837 (fascicles 13-15, the last ending in the middle of a sentence). "The work, covering years, proved but a fragment to even so tireless an investigator as Brongniart because of the magnitude of the task" (Dibner). Dibner Heralds of Science 95; Nissen BBI 242; Pritzel 1172 (incorrectly calling for 194 plates); Stafleu and Cowan 800; Norman 350. (2)