DARWIN'S GUIDE ON THE BEAGLE. Dictionnaire Classique d'Histoire Naturelle

Paris: Rey et Gravier, Baudouin Freres, 1822-1831. First edition.

BEAUTIFULLY BOUND 17-VOLUME ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NATURAL HISTORY WITH BRILLIANT COLOR PLATES: COPY OF THIS EDITION INCLUDED IN DARWIN'S LIBRARY ON HIS VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE.

17 hardcover volumes, 12.5x21.5 cm, full green calf binding, gilt rulings with dentelles, spines with raised bands, gilt titles and decorative compartments, marbled endpapers, small engraved book label bottom of each front paste-down of "Prof. W. Vrolik." vol.1, [2], xvi, 604 pp, double-sided folding table; Vol. 2, [4], 621 pp; Vol. 3, [4], 592 pp; Vol. 4, [4], 628 pp, 2 folding tables (1 double-sided); Vol. 5, [4], 653 pp, [1 errata]; Vol. 6, [4], 593 pp, [1 errata]; Vol. 7, [4], 626 pp, [1 errata]; Vol. 8, [4], viii, 609 pp, [1 errata]; Vol. 9, [4], 596 pp; Vol. 10, [4], 642 pp, [1 errata], 2 folding tables; Vol. 11, [4], 615 pp, [1 errata]; Vol. 12, [4], 634 pp, [1 errata]; Vol. 13, [4], 648 pp; Vol. 14, [4], 710 pp; Vol. 15, [4], 754 pp (including half-page table p 103), 1 folding table; Vol. 16, [4], iv, 748 pp (includes errata); Vol. 17, [4], vii, color frontispiece, 141 pp intercalated with 159 plates and 1 folding map. Overall very good condition, with only occasional scratches to leather covers; corners and spine ends are worn, scattered light foxing to several volumes; handstamps of Royal College of Surgery in Ireland to title pages (no other library marks). Hinges cracked on Vol. 17 (Atlas volume), but joints and boards are secure, plates unmarked, clean and 150 of them are brilliantly colored. As noted for the Hathi Trust copy, there are 160 plates including the map.

JEAN-BAPTISTE GENEVIÈVE MARCELLIN BORY DE SAINT-VINCENT (1778-1846) was a French naturalist, officer and politician. Biologist and geographer, he was particularly interested in volcanology, systematics and botany. A student of geologist and mineralogist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu at the Paris School of Mines, Bory came into contact with many established naturalists. In 1799, Bory learned about the upcoming departure of a scientific expedition to Australia and obtained the position of chief botanist. After several stops in Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde and then rounding the Cape of Good Hope, towards the middle of the trip Bory suddenly left the ship of Captain Baudin with whom he was in conflict and explored several islands of the African seas, including Mauritius, Réunion and Saint Helena. In 1804, he published his Voyage dans les Quatre Principales Iles des Mers d'Afrique. An officer in the army, from 1805 to 1814, Bory followed the greater part of Napoleon's campaigns within the Grande Armée. Having been promoted to major, Bory was mainly involved in military reconnaissance thanks to his skills in graphic work. After the first abdication of Napoleon in April 1814 and his exile to the island of Elba, Bory moved to Paris. He then saw the abdication of Napoleon I and the return of King Louis XVIII, and he was condemned to exile in Liège. He finally managed to reach Holland, disguised as a brandy merchant and with a false passport. On 1 January 1820, Bory was finally allowed to return to France. It was during this productive period in 1822, that Bory, along with most of the scientists of his time, including Arago, Brongniart, Drapiez, Geoffroy de Saint-Hilaire, von Humboldt, de Jussieu, de Lacépède, and Latreille, began the writing of one of his greatest works, the Dictionnaire classique d'histoire naturelle (offered here). In 1832, Bory published the report of his exploration in Greece, for which he was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences. Bory wrote on several branches of natural history, including the study of reptiles, fish, microscopic animals, and plants [all represented in the magnificent plates of the Dictionnaire Classique. Bory was a proponent of the theory of the transmutation of species alongside, among others, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck. According to historian Adrian Desmond Bory was a leading anti-Cuvierian materialist who blended the best of Lamarck's philosophy with Geoffroy's higher anatomy. His Dictionnaire classique d'histoire naturelle already contained information about Lamarck and the species debate.

FROM THE DICTIONARY OF SCIENTIFIC BIOGRAPHY: "Bory de Saint-Vincent is remembered as the leader of successful botanical collecting expeditions and for his contributions to the theory, principles, and knowledge of island faunas; the zoogeography of the seas; and the classification of man. As a disciple of Bufton and Lamarck, he accepted the idea of change in the natural world. He suggested that in earlier times the oceans had covered the globe and that fish were, therefore, the most ancient inhabitants. The continents emerged in their turn and, finally and recently, the volcanic islands. He accepted spontaneous generation but believed that, after initial creations, species changed under the influence of the environment. Developing the ideas of Butron, he argued that, on continents, species were relatively old and fixed in type but, on recent volcanic islands, such as Reunion, they were still in a state of flux, polymorphic. After many generations the stability of the environment would lead to a stable monomorphic species. Bory de Saint-Vincent was the first to notice that oceanic islands were without amphibia and speculated on the reasons for flightless birds occurring independently on different islands. While accepting that the Mascarene Islands had emerged from the ocean, he considered the Atlantic islands to be the remains of a continent, the lost Atlantis. He referred to the formation of coral reefs and, many years later, he attempted one of the first biogeographical classifications of the oceans."

Documented on Darwin Online, Darwin included the newly published Dictionnaire Classique d'Histoire Naturelle in his library aboard the Beagle. During the nearly 5-year voyage (1831-1836) young Darwin (in his 20s) would have had ample time to process the ideas of transmutation of species and island biogeography contained in these volumes. The numerous French titles in his library reveal that he was able to read the language.

PROVENANCE: WILLEM VROLIK (1801 – 1863) was a Dutch anatomist and pathologist, pioneer in the field of vertebrate teratology. He studied medicine at the University of Utrecht, and furthered his studies in Paris, where he received his degree in 1823. In 1829 he became a professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Groningen, and in 1831 a professor of anatomy, physiology and natural sciences at the University of Amsterdam, where he remained for the rest of his career. Vrolik made contributions in the fields of comparative anatomy and comparative zoology, and also did important research of skeletal disorders such as osteogenesis imperfecta. Along with specimens collected by his father, he had amassed an impressive anatomical collection during his career. The "Museum Vrolikianum" consists of various human and zoological body parts, fetuses and plaster casts that exhibit different aspects of embryology, pathology and anatomy,as well as congenital malformations. He was also the author of highly regarded treatises on the chimpanzee (1841), Hyperoodon (1847), and Manatus americanus (1852). Vrolik became a correspondent of the Royal Institute in 1829, and a member in 1832. When the Royal Institute became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1851 Vrolik became a member.