Le Règne Animal

Paris: Déterville and Crochard, 1829. SECOND EDITION. With 20 full-page etched plates. Contemporary gilt green sheep-backed marbled boards. Ownership stamps of J.E. van der Dussen. A fine set. Second edition, enlarged, of this landmark in the history of zoology and comparative anatomy, the most comprehensive biological work since Linnaeus. “Cuvier’s valuable work represented the fruits of a lifetime’s study of living and fossil animals. In his day Cuvier exerted an enormous influence on science. He played a leading part in the development of the science of palaeontology and stimulated the study of comparative anatomy” (G&M).
“It is in his classification of the animal kingdom into four main groups, Vertebrata, Mollusca, Articulata and Radiata, that he is so notably succeeded in giving a lead that has been followed by all his successors. . .Cuvier was the first to apply analyses and comparison to the entire animal kingdom. He also saw that this homogeneity in an individual should enable a competent naturalist to reconstruct a complete animal from any significant part of its anatomy” (PMM).
See PMM 276; Garrison-Morton 327; Dibner 195.