In part first edition, the two parts of the second volume being published in 1809, illustrated with 31 insert plates.
Bound in full marbled sheep, spines richly decorated with gilt typographic motifs, red morocco title and volume labels, gilt roll tooling on the spine-ends, fine gilt lace frame on the boards, gilt leading edges, marbled end papers, contemporary binding.
First volume: Fossil animals and plants with 18 insert plates (instead of the 17 indicated on the title page); Second volume: Minerals with 5 colour plates at the end of the volume; Third volume: Volcanoes with 8 plates, including 6 folded, at the end of the volume.
Slight minor rubbing on the edges, scratches and two pieces missing at the foot of the second board of the second volume.
Reference work by the great naturalist Faujas de Saint-Fond, first holder of the chair of geology at the Museum of Natural History: “Les trois volumes, qui représentent plus de 1200 pages [...] sont la conclusion finale de toute une vie de pratiques, d'explorations, d'expériences, de lectures et de vues de l'esprit” “The three volumes, which represent more than 1200 pages [...] are the final conclusion of a whole lifetime of practices, explorations, experiences, reading and reflections” (Guillaume Campanaro). Faujas writes a summary of the geology, a rapidly developing science, shared at the beginning of the century between the ideas of the philosophers of the Buffon generation and the scientific travellers like Alexander von Humboldt. Heir to Lamarck and Cuvier, he deals with the controversies affecting the world of scholars at dawn of the 19th century. Over the course of the three volumes, Faujas sets himself apart from the catastrophist theories close to the sacred texts, and intends to fill the gaps of his elders, while paying homage to his naturalist colleagues and friends - Dolomieu, Saussure, Fortis or the Italian scholar Spallanzani. Far from the image of being a room traveller or an office scholar , Faujas' exceptionally global approach is that of a man of nature who has travelled throughout the whole of Europe. 31 insert illustration plates with abundant commentary accompany his monumental work, the first volume of which starts with palaeontology. Following in the footsteps of the encyclopaedist Lamarck, Faujas is attached to the ideal of the continuity of species thanks to their adaptation to variations in their natural habitat. The work itself is therefore organised in an evolutionary way, drawing lessons from earth sciences in order to form geology. In each chapter, Faujas responds to a different controversy by classifying fossilised shells, fish and cetacean, amphibians or plants and coals. His mineralogical work reaches the important milestone of the “new chemistry” of the 19th century by adding the first studies of scientific mineralogy to the traditional nomenclature; the second volume contains the first table of the chemical composition of feldspar, which he complies with the help of Vauquelin. The Geology Essay ends with a volume dedicated to volcanology, Faujas' speciality which brought him fame, bringing together part of his lessons given at the Museum and his frequent explorations on the Auvergne and Strombolian volcanoes. Distilling his ideas on the world and his vision of volcanism across the pages, Faujas delivers his most successful classification of volcanic rocks, based on the very recent chemical descriptions of the crystals that make up lava. A rare copy of Faujas' great work, who paints an admirable picture of the evolution of earth science while becoming a historian in his own discipline. A beautiful and rare copy in three volumes complete with all its plates.
