FAUJAS DE SAINT-FOND (Barthélémy). - Lot 42

FAUJAS DE SAINT-FOND (Barthélémy). Recherches sur les volcans éteints du Vivarais et du Velay ; Avec un Discours sur les Volcans brûlans, des Mémoires analytiques sur les Schorls, la Zéolite, le Basalte, la Pouzzolane, les Laves & les différentes Substances qui s'y trouvent engagées, &c. Grenoble : Joseph Cuchet ; Paris : Myon aîné, Née, Masquelier, 1778. - In-folio, 440 x 288: (2 ff.), xviij pp., (1 f.), 460 pp. 20 plates. Scaly calf, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, ornate ribbed spine, marbled edges (period binding). In French in the text, 169. Original edition dedicated to Cardinal de Bernis, of this famous work by geologist and vulcanologist Barthélémy Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741-1819). Faujas de Saint-Fond, following extensive research, observation and harvesting in Auvergne, develops his theory on the formation of volcanoes, "a theory more ingenious than any previously put forward on this subject. It is based on the chemical nature of water, which, according to the author, must infallibly find itself in communication with the focus of volcanoes, which it sustains through its decomposition" (Nouvelle biographie universelle, 1873, tome 5, 169). Faujas de Saint-Fond "was the first to carry out a systematic survey in this province (Auvergne), the first to compile a rich collection of the different varieties of basalt, the first to publish the results of his investigations in an in-folio work" (En français dans le texte, 169). The edition is illustrated with a vignette on the taffy drawn and engraved by Savard, depicting a view of Mount Etna in eruption, 2 headbands, depicting Vesuvius and the prismatic basalt mountain of Castel à Mare, 2 initials and 20 very fine plates, one of which is folding. Beautiful copy in contemporary binding. Split at first board hinge, some wear rubbing, two corners dulled. Provenance: Bourlon de Rouvre, with bookplate.