History of the Earth and Animated Nature. By Oliver Goldsmith. With Numerous Notes from the Works of the Most Distinguished British and Foreign Naturalists. Illustrated by Upwards of Two Thousand Figures. Volume I ONLY.
DETAILS Leather bound with lovely hand painted coloured plates, folding map and further in text illustrations.
A marvellous collection of fascinating anecdotes sequentially arranged by Goldsmith.  Original plan had been to rearrange the material according to contemporary [pre-Darwin] Classification systems, but the work eventually appeared as originally published by Goldsmith in the year of his death, 1774. This is a landmark document of its era and belongs on the shelf of any serious naturalist or geologist, if not only for the beautiful illustrations. CONDITION
The binding is generally very good.  There is some wear to the extremities. The front inner hinge is strained and attached to the main text block by one cord only and may become detached in the post.  the rear inner hinge is slightly strained but holding.  There is some wear to the extremities.  Internally the book is generally clean and  bright apart from some spotting in places, and the odd handling mark. There is an handwritten inscription to the first blank end paper,<b> JAMES PICKARD, PENRHYN CASTLE 1856</b> James Pickard here at Penrhyn. He was the Head Groom in the stables for 52 years. This was a position of considerable standing as the Penrhyn family was renowned for its racehorses, many of which were stabled here when young. A few years ago they converted one of the rooms in the stable block so that it could house temporary exhibitions and decided to call it the Pickard Room in honour of the former Head Groom.