Product Description
Mantell, Gideon Algernon; The Wonders of Geology or, A Familiar Exposition of Geological Phenomena; being the Substance of a Course of Lectures delivered at Brighton…….In Two volumes, 3rd edition, London, Relfe and Fletcher, 1839. Octavo, vol. 1 pp. xvi, 428, frontispiece, 3 plates, 82 text figures. Vol. 2, pp. vii, 429-804, 24, 4, colored frontispiece, plates 5-10, (colored) figures 83-151.
The set is complete and in the original ornately stamped cloth with gilt titles. The bindings are tight, light bumping and light soiling to covers, contemporary owner’s signature on an end sheet and title page, minor light foxing to a few page margins. In very good condition.
Gideon Mantell (1790-1852) was an English physician, geologist and paleontologist. His 1822 discovery of the teeth of Iguanodon initiated the scientific study of dinosaurs. “Wonders of Geology”, was written for the general public and became one of Mantell's most popular works. It was a widely influential treatise that introduced the latest geological discoveries to a curious and eager public. Topics encompass historical geology, stratigraphy, minerals, mines and precious stones, volcanoes, caves and caverns, corals and coral islands, dinosaurs, mammoths and numerous types of fossils. The frontispiece to volume one is a striking mezzotint showing an Iguanodon and other reptiles fighting; other plates show reptile and dinosaur remains, a color geological map of England, volcanoes and living corals.
