Fischer de Waldheim, Gotthelf; Oryctographie du Gouvernement de Moscou, publiee par le Directeur de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou. Moscou, 1830. Atlas only. Folio, pp. half title, title page with hnd-colored vignette, ix, second half title, 25 pages of plate explanations, 7 hand-colored plates, profiles and sections, 44 engraved plates of fossils, 15 engraved plates (some colored) of zoological and botanical specimens.

The atlas is complete and in a recent full tooled calf with eight gilt spine panels and gilt titles. The text, plates and maps are exceptionally clean, with no foxing, stains, marks or stamps. A very good copy of a very scarce work.
FREE SHIPPING ON ALL ITEMS

A German vertebrate paleontologist, stratigrapher and naturalist, Fischer von Waldheim (1771-1853) was born in Minsk and worked originally as a librarian in that city and studied medicine in Leipzig. His interests and research in geology and zoology brought him to the attention of Alexander von Humboldt and a lasting friendship formed. He was to travel extensively with Humboldt, touring Russia, and visiting the major scientists of Vienna and Paris. While in Paris he studied under Georges Cuvier and paleontology and mineralogy became a major interest. In 1804 he was appointed the Director of the Natural History Museum of Moscow where he founded the Society of Naturalists of Moscow. In 1834 he published the first major bibliography of paleontology-Bibliographia Palaeonthologica Animalium Systematica, Moscow 1834 and is credited with the first use of the term "paleontology". While his geological interests were primarily in paleontology and stratigraphy, Fischer von Waldheim also studied minerals and the mineral Fischerit (today known as Wavellite) is named for him. The work offered here is the atlas to his major study on the geology of the region around Moscow. This is the first systematic study of that area and the double page map is the first geological map of the region. The atlas was published in 1830, and the 202 page text in 1837. Copies of the work are exceptionally scarce.