Lacepede BernardABAA
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1789WRCAM47371Paris 1789. Two volumes. 171651; 4191144527pp. plus sixty-three plates and two large folding tables. Thick quarto. Contemporary patterned calf spines gilt leather labels. Head and foot of spines chipped corners lightly bumped hinges tender. Minor scattered foxing. Table in front of first volume torn in gutter margin. Very good. "One of the earliest treatises on natural history by this associate of Buffon" - Wood. Lacepede planned his work after assisting Buffon in his famous HISTOIRE NATURELLE. This work covers reptiles and a later work concerned itself with fishes. Lacepede always retained a love of an elegant and elevated style characteristic of Buffon's work but after his death in 1789 Lacepede increasingly came under the influence of Daubenton. The treatise is illustrated with sixty-three full page engravings showing lizards turtles frogs and snakes. A distinguishing feature of Lacepede's work is the large folding tables containing classifying orders according to the Linnaean system of nomenclature. Since he believed the classification system to be artificial and not natural he often invented taxa for which no species existed in order to ensure symmetry in his tables. WOOD 424. NISSEN ZBI 2346. hardcover books