Telliamed ou entretiens d'un philosophe indien avec un missionnaire françois sur la diminution de la mer, la formation de la terre, l'origine de l'homme, &c. Mis en ordre sur les mémoires de M. de Maillet. Par J. A.G***

First edition. Telliamed constitutes an anagram of Maillet, the author's name. The edition was published by J. Ant. Guers. The work is dedicated to Cyrano de Bergerac.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title label. Skillful restorations, almost invisible to headcaps and bands. Good copy, very fresh.
In this fictional work, Maillet establishes important theories that he forged through his geological studies in Egypt and in Arabic countries, where he was also able to consult rare manuscripts of scientific theories. He believes that the earth is in fact a star and that it lives according to perpetual cycles that will lead it once again to become similar to the sun. This treatise is, moreover, known for bearing the premises of Darwinian evolutionary theory, with Maillet making the sea the origin of all living beings. Maillet's contemporaries did not admire his materialistic theories, which appear today so avant-garde and revolutionary.
Maillet was consul general of France in Egypt, and he produced several works on this country whose profound knowledge transformed his vision of the origin of the earth and geological theories.