first edition cloth binding
1861, 1862 · London
by Gosse, Philip Henry
London: James Nisbet and Co., 1861, 1862. Vol. I, second edition, first series; Vol. 2, first edition, second series.
DECORATIVE BINDINGS AND DRAMATIC WOOD ENGRAVINGS ILLUSTRATE WONDERS AND LEGENDS OF NATURAL HISTORY BY CONTEMPORARY OF DARWIN.
Two 13 x 20.5 cm hardcover volumes, green cloth binding with blindstamped borders and gilt images to covers of people interacting with animals, gilt titles to spines; pencil inscription to front free endpaper of each volume, "Ann Thwaite's Copy" (author of "Glimpses of the Wonderful: The Life of Philip Henry Gosse,"). Vol. 1 (First Series), ink signature, Margaret St. Blick 1861 top of front free endpaper, i-xv, 372 pp, 12 full page wood engravings, 4 pp publisher's book list; Vol. 2 (Second Series), bookplate of Lladmer Godfrey Goadby Griffiths to front paste-down; ink signature of Danbury Hilliard 1865 top of free endpaper, i-xii, 393 pp, 10 full page wood engravings, 2 pp publisher's book list. Covers clean with bright gilt cover illustrations and spines, browning to page edges, hinges cracked but covers secure in both volumes; scattered light foxing and binding tender in Vol. 2. Good+ in custom archival mylar covers.
PHILIP HENRY GOSSE (1810 – 1888) was an English naturalist, scientific illustrator, lecturer, entrepreneur, and pioneer in the study of marine biology and ornithology. At 15, he began work as a clerk in the counting house of George Garland and Sons in Poole. In 1827 he sailed to Newfoundland to serve as a clerk in the Carbonear premises of Slade, Elson and Co. There he became a dedicated, self-taught student of Newfoundland entomology. In 1838 Gosse taught for eight months for Reuben Saffold, the owner of Belvoir plantation, near Pleasant Hill, Alabama. In this period, planters often hired private tutors to teach their children. Returning to England in 1839, Gosse opened a "Classical and Commercial School for Young Gentlemen" while keeping detailed records of his microscopic investigations of pond life. In 1843, Gosse gave up the school to write An Introduction to Zoology. Writing the work inspired him to further his interest in the flora and fauna of the seashore. In October 1844 Gosse went to Jamaica, where he collected natural history specimens for sale. Meanwhile, Gosse had taken up the study of orchids and exchanged a number of letters on the subject with Darwin, though he never published on this subject himself. However, he did publish many popular illustrated books on natural history, including the two volumes offered here--embellished with some fanciful images. The engraving of The Gorilla (frontispiece of Vol. I) is pictured in Boria Sax, "Imaginary Animals: The Monstrous, the Wondrous and the Human" (2013). (Inventory #: 1748)
DECORATIVE BINDINGS AND DRAMATIC WOOD ENGRAVINGS ILLUSTRATE WONDERS AND LEGENDS OF NATURAL HISTORY BY CONTEMPORARY OF DARWIN.
Two 13 x 20.5 cm hardcover volumes, green cloth binding with blindstamped borders and gilt images to covers of people interacting with animals, gilt titles to spines; pencil inscription to front free endpaper of each volume, "Ann Thwaite's Copy" (author of "Glimpses of the Wonderful: The Life of Philip Henry Gosse,"). Vol. 1 (First Series), ink signature, Margaret St. Blick 1861 top of front free endpaper, i-xv, 372 pp, 12 full page wood engravings, 4 pp publisher's book list; Vol. 2 (Second Series), bookplate of Lladmer Godfrey Goadby Griffiths to front paste-down; ink signature of Danbury Hilliard 1865 top of free endpaper, i-xii, 393 pp, 10 full page wood engravings, 2 pp publisher's book list. Covers clean with bright gilt cover illustrations and spines, browning to page edges, hinges cracked but covers secure in both volumes; scattered light foxing and binding tender in Vol. 2. Good+ in custom archival mylar covers.
PHILIP HENRY GOSSE (1810 – 1888) was an English naturalist, scientific illustrator, lecturer, entrepreneur, and pioneer in the study of marine biology and ornithology. At 15, he began work as a clerk in the counting house of George Garland and Sons in Poole. In 1827 he sailed to Newfoundland to serve as a clerk in the Carbonear premises of Slade, Elson and Co. There he became a dedicated, self-taught student of Newfoundland entomology. In 1838 Gosse taught for eight months for Reuben Saffold, the owner of Belvoir plantation, near Pleasant Hill, Alabama. In this period, planters often hired private tutors to teach their children. Returning to England in 1839, Gosse opened a "Classical and Commercial School for Young Gentlemen" while keeping detailed records of his microscopic investigations of pond life. In 1843, Gosse gave up the school to write An Introduction to Zoology. Writing the work inspired him to further his interest in the flora and fauna of the seashore. In October 1844 Gosse went to Jamaica, where he collected natural history specimens for sale. Meanwhile, Gosse had taken up the study of orchids and exchanged a number of letters on the subject with Darwin, though he never published on this subject himself. However, he did publish many popular illustrated books on natural history, including the two volumes offered here--embellished with some fanciful images. The engraving of The Gorilla (frontispiece of Vol. I) is pictured in Boria Sax, "Imaginary Animals: The Monstrous, the Wondrous and the Human" (2013). (Inventory #: 1748)
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