LYELL, Charles, Sir (1797-1875)

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£ 4 788
Auction dateClassic
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +01:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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ID 794365
Lot 169 | LYELL, Charles, Sir (1797-1875)
LYELL, Charles, Sir (1797-1875)

Principles of Geology. London: John Murray, 1830-1832-1833.

First edition of 'a classic by the "father of modern geology", presenting the doctrine of uniformitarianism, namely, that the processes of the past must be judged by those of the present' (Grolier/Horblit). Lyell's work had enormous impact on Darwin's thinking with its development of the concept of 'deep geological time' through observation of current geological processes as a 'key to the past' and, by extension, 'the past as a key to the present'. In Challinor's view, it 'proved a greater influence on the progress of the science [of geology] than any work before or since'. Challinor 125; Grolier/Horblit 70; Norman 1398; PMM cf. 344.



3 volumes, octavo (212 x 134mm). 3 engraved frontispieces, 2 of which hand-coloured, 2 hand-coloured maps, one of which folding, one plain folding map and 5 plain plates. (Without half-titles, plates lightly spotted and browned, more heavily in vol. I with frontispiece and title stained, occasional light scattered browning and spotting to text). Contemporary calf, marbled endpapers and edges (neatly rebacked to style, covers of vol. III somewhat scraped). Provenance: William and Elizabeth Bennett (19th-century bookplates).





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