- 160
Lyell, Sir Charles.
Estimate
800 - 1,200 GBP
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Description
- Principles of Geology, being an attempt to explain the former changes of the Earth's surface. London: John Murray, 1830-1833-1833
first edition of volumes 1 and 3, second edition of volume 2, 3 volumes, 8vo (210 x 132mm.), 3 frontispieces (those to volumes 2 and 3 hand-coloured aquatints), 5 plates, 3 maps, 2 folding and coloured, woodcut illustrations in text, advertisement leaf in volume 2, uniformly bound in ninteenth-century calf, spines gilt, lacking half-titles, occasional light spotting, joints a trifle rubbed
Literature
Dibner 96; Horblit 70; Norman 1398; Challinor, History of British Geology, p.106
Catalogue Note
Through this work Lyell established the position of geology as a modern science, and by his uniformitarian theory of geology freed investigators from the earlier notions of supernatural intervention, and the Biblical story of the Creation. The effect of this work on Charles Darwin was of the greatest importance, the first two volumes being studied by him on the Beagle's voyage.