OWEN, Sir Richard (1804-1892). Researches on the Fossil Remains of the Extinct Mammals of Australia. London: J. Erxleben, 1877.

OWEN, Sir Richard (1804-1892). Researches on the Fossil Remains of the Extinct Mammals of Australia. London: J. Erxleben, 1877.

2 vols, text and atlas, 4° (282 x 210mm). Half-titles. Text volume containing large folding linen-backed lithographic plate by Erxleben, plate volume with 131 lithographic plates by A. T. Hollick , C. Griesbach, W. H. Wesley and others. (Occasional light spotting or browning, mainly marginal.) Contemporary blue cloth gilt (small split to spine). Ferguson 13711.

A pioneering work on the extinct animals of Australia, by one of the pre-eminent anatomists and palaeontologists of the Victorian age. The work comprises Owen's long series of papers on the Diprotodon, Thylacoleo, gigantic extinct kangaroos and wombats, following Thomas Mitchell's discovery of fossil bones in New South Wales. Ferguson 13711. Together with; 2 copies of the Transactions of The Royal Society of London: OWEN, R.'On the Fossil Mammals of Australia. -- Part VIII. Family Macropodidae... and Part IX'. January 23 and June 19 1823. 4° (300 x 223mm). Presentation copies, signed by the author, to Mr Erxleben and to Professor Harkness. (4)