Essay toward a natural history of the earth, An: and terrestrial bodies, especially minerals : as also of the sea, rivers, and springs : with an account of the universal deluge, and of the effects that it had upon the earth.
London: Printed for Ric. Wilkin at the Kings-Head in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1695. First edition. First edition, 8vo (approx. 6¾" x 4¼"), pp. [16], 277, [2] ads; [1]; 20th century half brown morocco over terracotta cloth-covered boards, red morocco label on spine; L2(r) with ink failure at the beginning of 6 lines, otherwise a nice copy with the imprimatur leaf and the 2 pages of Wilkin ads at the back. Bookplate of Louis & Virginia Powell. Item #218
John Woodward (1665-1728) was an English naturalist, antiquarian and geologist, and founder by bequest of the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology at the University of Cambridge. He "asserted unequivocally that fossil remains that had been found in rocks were definitely the remains of living animals and plants, a view not universally held at that time. [His] essay was widely read both in Great Britain and, in translation, in other European countries" (DSB). In this and other works "he showed that the stony surface of the earth was divided into strata, and that the enclosed fossils were originally generated at sea; but his views on the method of rock formation remained unsupported" (ODNB). Wing W3510.
Price: $1,950.00