Mantell, autograph letter signed, 1824

MANTELL, GIDEON

Autograph letter signed, to Davies Gilbert, Vice President of the Royal Society

ANNOUNCING THE DISCOVERY OF THE IGUANADON ("...the discovery of the new reptile in Tilgate forest, the nature of which I have now established beyond a doubt..."), on the basis of which he wishes to be made a member of the Royal Society, with the latest news on his discovery ("...I discovered the recent prototype of my fossil animal: it is the Iguana of Barbados. I propose calling my zoolittie [sic], Iguanosaurus...") with his plans for the future of his collection, and commenting on that his correspondence with "the French naturalist [i.e. Cuvier] continues to be very flattering", 4 pages, 4to, Castle Place, [Lewes], 12 November 1824, autograph address panel, remains of red wax seal, seal tear, the letter taped onto a backing leaf, minor damp staining

[with:] "Sketch of the succession of strata in the neighbourhood of Lewes", coloured pencil sketch in another hand

This letter was written as Mantell was preparing to make a formal announcement of his identification of the first great herbivorous dinosaur. Mantell's wife, Mary, had recovered a fossil tooth from a quarry near Cuckfield in Sussex in September 1820. Several years of scholarly debate about the origin and significance of the find followed (as did the discovery of further teeth) until in June 1824 George Cuvier wrote to Mantell accepting that the teeth came from a hitherto unknown ancient herbivorous reptile, and in September of that year Mantell established the striking similarity between his fossil teeth and those of the modern Iguana. In the weeks that followed this letter William Conybeare suggested to Mantell that Iguanodon (Iguana-toothed) would be a more appropriate name than Iguanosaurus. The discovery of the Iguanodon was announced at the Royal Society in February 1825, and Mantell's membership was secured later that same year. 

Gilbert was, like Mantell, a Sussex man, and Mantell also mentions a local grandee's plan to buy his collection for the county: whilst, naturally, nothing would give him greater pleasure, he doubts the level of local interest ("I have not received that encouragement in my profession from the gentry of this neighbourhood, that I had reason to expect").

PROVENANCE:

Davies Gilbert; by descent to the Enys family of Cornwall; Bonhams, 28 September 2004, lot 271

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