Beschreibung:

SMITH, William (1769-1839). Strata Identified by Organized Fossils, containing prints on colored paper of the most characteristic specimens in each stratum . London: W. Arding for the author, J. Sowerby, Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, [et al.], June 1, 1816. 4 o (306 x 243 mm). Collation: [1 4 2 2 3-5 4]. 18 leaves, paginated [4] 1-32. Hand-colored engraved frontispiece and 18 hand-colored or hand-tinted engraved plates, of which 2 printed on plain paper (one of these, plate 4, on thick paper), 5 on colored paper, and 11 on paper tinted on the printed side only, plates 1-3 numbered (plate 1 numbered "2"), the remainder unnumbered, all but the frontispiece with engraved captions. (Occasional light marginal foxing to text, also affecting frontispiece and plates 1-3, plates 4 and 7 more heavily foxed, very minor short marginal tears to plates 3 and 6.) Contemporary plum cloth over pasteboard, morocco gilt lettering-piece (endpapers renewed, spine and board edges faded, lower joint starting, corners rubbed, small dent at head of lower cover). FIRST EDITION of Smith's highly original presentation of his discovery of the correlation of particular groups of fossil types with different geological strata. The fine engravings of fossils are probably the work of James Sowerby (1757-1822); engraved plates by him are advertised on the printed part wrappers of this edition, which also list the contents of each part (cf. Eyles; the wrappers were removed from the Norman copy). Each fossil group is printed on a differently colored paper, intended to match the shades of the respective geological strata depicted. Smith originally intended to publish the work in 7 parts, but only the present four were published. Dibner Heralds 94; Eyles 14; Ward and Carozzi 2074; Norman 1959. [ Bound with :] SMITH. Stratigraphical System of British Organized Fossils, with reference to the specimens of the original geological collection in the British Museum . London: Cox and for E. Williams 1817. 4 o. Collation: a 4 (a1 + s1) b 2 B-P 4 R 4 S 2. 69 leaves (R4 blank). 2 hand-colored tables, the first folding and engraved, the second double-page and letterpress. (Some light foxing, the folding table lightly offset.) FIRST EDITION. Smith based this more detailed description of the fossils found in different geological strata in England on his own enormous fossil collection, which he had sold to the British Museum a year earlier. A second part, announced on the contents page, was never published. In his preface Smith explains that he deemed illustrations unnecessary, since "reference is constantly made to another work of the Author's now publishing by Mr. Sowerby, which consists chiefly of engravings". The engraved folding table, entitled "Geological Table of British Organized Fossils" (Eyles 16) also appeared in the second issue of Smith's 1815 Memoir to the map and delineation of the strata of England ; a variant edition, printed from a different plate (Eyles 16A), was also published separately. Smith's interest in fossils was purely practical; he regarded them as signposts for the identification of geological strata. Not only did his limited knowledge of biology cause him occasional errors of identification, but, more surprisingly from the modern viewpoint, as "a surveyor, a working man, not an academic" (DSB), he accepted without question the Biblical version of the age of the earth and recognized no age difference in the fossil beds. Nevertheless, both of the present related treatises, like his geological map, helped pave the way for the development of modern geology and evolutionary theory. Although Smith published little during his otherwise productive lifetime, "his geological knowlege was freely imparted, so that, notwithstanding his reluctance to publish, his labours bore fruit in the hands of other workers, and his position as the real founder of stratigraphical geology has never been questioned" (DNB). Both of these editions were published in very sm