Henry Baker Tristram | The survey of Western Palestine, the flora and fauna of Palestine, London, 1884, original buckram

Henry Baker Tristram

The survey of Western Palestine, the flora and fauna of Palestine. London: the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1884

FIRST EDITION, 4to (286 x 215mm.), 13 coloured and 7 plain plates, original dark blue buckram, some spotting

A first edition of this ambitious investigation of the flora and fauna of Palestine, including plates depicting mammals and birds, hand-coloured, and predominantly lithographed by J. Smit.

Henry Baker Tristram (1822-1906) was an English clergyman, traveler and keen ornithologist, who published numerous naturalist works during his long international career, which took him to Bermuda, the Sahara, Japan and the wider Near East, as well as Palestine. He was an early clerical supporter of Darwinism, attempting to reconcile the theory with Christianity, but rejected it later in his career. This fine first edition of his Survey of Western Palestine has been described as "an account of the natural products of Palestine, based chiefly on the author's own observations and collections secured during four visits to the country. In the section on birds 348 species are enumerated, with the addition of brief notes on their occurrence and geographical distribution" (Anker).

LITERATURE:

Anker 510; Nissen ZBI 417