Goldsmith, Oliver. A History of the Earth and Animated Nature. With Corrections and Additions by. W. Turnton. A New Edition in Six Volumes. Vol. V. London: Printed for Wingrave and Collingwood etc. 1816.
(220 x 135 mm) pp. 444. Collated and Complete. A4, B-EE8, FF6. Full leather binding with stamping and gilt, likely rebacked. 19th century marble end papers and matching marbled foredges. Some foxing
Though primarily known for his literary works, such as The Vicar of Wakefield, Oliver Goldsmith, apparently did have ambitions to write something similar to the British analog to the Encyclopédie. Perhaps his multi-volume An History of the Earth and Animated Nature was a precursory attempt. Goldsmith’s literary spin on natural history helped popularize the scientific field, making the works from which he drew (Abbé Pluche and Le Comte de Buffon) more easily digestible by his Victorian audience.
This post-Linnean, pre-Darwinian illustrated text examines fish (including dolphins, whales, sea and land tortoises, and snails), as well as frogs, lizards, and serpents, and “spider kind,” among various insects.