PRINTED 1857-1862 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Description

Up for auction is four volumes of a rare complete set by Swiss-born American biologist and geologist Louis Agassiz  :
Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America: First monograph : in three parts, - Essay on Classification - II North America Testudinata- III Embryology of The Turtle ; With Thirty - Four Plates. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1857-1862. 1st ed. 4tos
. 4 Vols. li,452d; [451]-643; xi,301,26;viii, 380,12 pp. Illustrated plates. four large quartos measuring  “10 x 13 “.
This is a First Edition of this ambitious undertaking bound in original cloth boards with 76 full page plates, some folding and many in color of various specimens. Volume II is devoted to plates of turtles and turtle embryology. The other plates are of acalephs in great detail.
"
Toward the close of his first decade in the United States, a work of colossal proportions began to shape itself in Agassiz's brain. This was to consist of Contributions to the Natural History of the United States, in ten volumes, each complete in itself
. The response to an appeal for public subscription was astounding, 25,000 people promising to buy the set at a rate of twelve dollars a volume.
Four only were finally completed, and of these only Part I, the Essay on Classification, had popular interest, the rest being of a highly specialized character.
The Essay Marcou regards as 'by far the most important contribution of Agassiz to natural history during his life in America,' more exactly, to the philosophical aspects of the subject. But its most valuable point is the recognition that 'the changes which animals undergo during their embryonic growth coincide with the order of succession of the fossils of the same type in past geological ages.'
The four large quarto issues of Contributions to the Natural History of the United States included (besides the Essay on Classification) an exhaustive study of the embryology of American turtles . as well as two volumes on 'radiate' animals, all four illustrated by many extremely fine plates. These monographs constitute Agassiz's last elaborate additions to biological knowledge. The ravages of ill health, added to increasing absorption in other interests, put a stop to further undertakings in the great series projected"
Condition :  Poor - Acceptable. Bound in the original black cloth boards with gold gilt titles This set would be a good candidate for rebinding and restoration. All volumes show heavy wear bumped corners, edge wear, three missing spine coverings Vol II remaining spine covering deteriorating text block split in half.  All boards very weak hinges with Vol I front board, and approx 20 pp. coming lose. Vol III shows inscription of” Robert Brown Jr. April 1862 Cincinnati Ohio”. Internally text is good for the most part age toning . Plates in some volumes suffer from spotting, damp staining etc. The text portion appears to be complete. My count of total number of plates is 77 although I see some mention of the set containing 81 plates.  Nevertheless this set is becoming scarce in any condition especially if it is complete. As always any questions feel free to ask.