Details
FUHLROTT, Johann Karl (1804-1877) and Hermann SCHAAFHAUSEN (1816-1893). Menschliche Ueberreste aus einer Felsengrotte des Dsselthals. Ein Beitrag zur Frage ber die Existenz fossiler Menschen. Offprint from: Verhandlungen des naturhistorischen Vereines der preussischen Rheinlande und Westphalens 16 (1859). Bonn: Carl Georgi, 1859.
8o (117 x 120 mm). One lithographic plate, printed on India paper and mounted (.8 and 2.4 rehinged, slight overall discoloration to text, fore-edge of plate shaved not affecting image). Contemporary cloth-backed boards (slightly rubbed, upper inner hinge split); linen folding case. Provenance: unidentified contemporary owner (neat ink drawing of the excavation site with letter-keyed captions, on blank verso of final text leaf); unidentified German high school (illegible 19th-century inscription on front free endpaper); Rudolf Wolte (1944 inscription on same endpaper).
FIRST EDITION, RARE OFFPRINT ISSUE: THE DISCOVERY OF NEANDERTHAL MAN. In 1856 Fuhlrott, a science teacher in Elberfeld, received an asortment of fossilized bones that had been found by two quarry workers in the Feldhofer cave in the Neander Valley. The workmen had taken them for the bones of a bear, but after studying the specimens Fuhlrott "began to suspect that they were not bear bones but the remains of an ancient and primitive form of human being... [He] rushed to the grottoes in time to retrieve some ribs, the right radius, the left ulna, and part of the right scapula--all that remained of the probably perfect skeleton. At Fuhlrott's request Hermann Schaafhausen of Bonn examined the fragments and confirmed his diagnosis of their antiquity" (DSB). The two presented their findings to two regional natural history societies in 1857 (see lot 1027), but were dismayed by a generally hostile reaction. Undaunted, "Fulhrott and Schaafhausen refused to quit their positions in the extensive controversy that ensued. They appealed to the public for support and managed to attract attention beyond the borders of Germany. They gained an important ally in Sir Charles Lyell" (op. cit.), who after examining the remains declared himself in agreement with their conclusions. It was not until after Fuhlrott's death, in 1886, that more complete specimens were unearthed and analysed "with a rigorous scientific precision that left no doubt as to the antiquity and normality of 'Neanderthal man'" (PMM). PMM 342 (journal article); Norman 848.
8o (117 x 120 mm). One lithographic plate, printed on India paper and mounted (.8 and 2.4 rehinged, slight overall discoloration to text, fore-edge of plate shaved not affecting image). Contemporary cloth-backed boards (slightly rubbed, upper inner hinge split); linen folding case. Provenance: unidentified contemporary owner (neat ink drawing of the excavation site with letter-keyed captions, on blank verso of final text leaf); unidentified German high school (illegible 19th-century inscription on front free endpaper); Rudolf Wolte (1944 inscription on same endpaper).
FIRST EDITION, RARE OFFPRINT ISSUE: THE DISCOVERY OF NEANDERTHAL MAN. In 1856 Fuhlrott, a science teacher in Elberfeld, received an asortment of fossilized bones that had been found by two quarry workers in the Feldhofer cave in the Neander Valley. The workmen had taken them for the bones of a bear, but after studying the specimens Fuhlrott "began to suspect that they were not bear bones but the remains of an ancient and primitive form of human being... [He] rushed to the grottoes in time to retrieve some ribs, the right radius, the left ulna, and part of the right scapula--all that remained of the probably perfect skeleton. At Fuhlrott's request Hermann Schaafhausen of Bonn examined the fragments and confirmed his diagnosis of their antiquity" (DSB). The two presented their findings to two regional natural history societies in 1857 (see lot 1027), but were dismayed by a generally hostile reaction. Undaunted, "Fulhrott and Schaafhausen refused to quit their positions in the extensive controversy that ensued. They appealed to the public for support and managed to attract attention beyond the borders of Germany. They gained an important ally in Sir Charles Lyell" (op. cit.), who after examining the remains declared himself in agreement with their conclusions. It was not until after Fuhlrott's death, in 1886, that more complete specimens were unearthed and analysed "with a rigorous scientific precision that left no doubt as to the antiquity and normality of 'Neanderthal man'" (PMM). PMM 342 (journal article); Norman 848.