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an open book with illustrations of various types of rocks and stonesan old book with a brown cover sitting on top of a white surface
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1501 - Geology – Mineralogy
See original version (German)

Estimate €900 - €1,200
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Description
Geology – Mineralogy Dezallier d’Argenville, Antoine Joseph Natural History Elucidated in One of its Principal Parts, Oryctology, which deals with earths, stones, metals, minerals and other fossils; a work in which a new method, in Latin and French, is set out for classifying them … With 26 copperplate plates. Paris, de Bure, 1755. 4 leaves, XVI, 560 pp., 2 leaves. Large 4° contemporary leather binding with roundel and gilt edging. (Minimally rubbed, with minimal defects to the binding at the corners). Brunet II, 522 – Graesse I, 194 – Cf. Nissen, ZBI 144 - An important work featuring illustrations of minerals and fossils, which brings together the known world of earths, stones, metals, minerals and ‘fossils’ for the first time in a standalone, clearly structured handbook. It revises and expands the mineralogical section of the 1742 edition and clearly distinguishes oryctology from conchyliology, thereby establishing mineralogy and conchology as separate disciplines. The book combines scholarly theory with the practice of collecting by devising a new Latin–French classification of all fossilised bodies whilst at the same time critically discussing the older literature. The plates play a key role: in meticulous copperplate engravings, they visualise crystal forms, rocks, ores and supposed fossils, making the text’s taxonomy immediately apparent. They serve not only as decorative illustrations, but as a precise identification tool that highlights similarities and differences in detail, thereby training the collectors’ eyes. Together with the detailed ‘Essai’ on fossil resources in the French provinces, the work becomes an important source for the geological knowledge of its time and for the history of natural history in 18th-century France. – Only minimally stained in places. Overall, a good copy in a decorative binding. Geology. – Mineralogy. – An important work featuring illustrations of minerals and fossils, which brings together the known world of earths, stones, metals, minerals and ‘fossils’ for the first time in a standalone, clearly structured handbook. It revises and expands the mineralogical section of the 1742 edition and clearly distinguishes oryctology from conchyliology, thereby establishing mineralogy and malacology as distinct disciplines. The book combines scholarly theory with the practice of collecting by devising a new Latin-French classification of all fossil specimens whilst critically discussing the older literature. The plates play a key role: in meticulous copper engravings, they depict crystal forms, rocks, ores and supposed fossils, making the text’s systematics immediately apparent. They serve not only as decorative illustrations but as precise identification tools that reveal similarities and differences in detail, thereby training the collectors’ eyes. Together with the detailed ‘Essai’ on fossil resources in the French provinces, the work becomes an important source for the geological knowledge of its time and for the history of natural history in 18th-century France. – Only minimally stained in places. Overall, a fine copy in a decorative binding.
See original version (German)
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
Auction location
Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
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