Lyell, Charles; Elements of Geology. 2nd edition, London: John Murray. 1841. Second Edition, two volumes, Octavo, vol. 1, pp: xxiv+437, 1; hand colored frontispiece, five plates (some folding, one hand colored), 214 text figures. Vol. 2, pp. xii, 460, 1 plate (a hand colored folding map), text figures 215-439.
The set is in a contemporary calf over marbled boards with gilt spine titles, marbled text block edges and marbled end sheets. John Reynolds book plate on paste downs. Text and plates very clean and bright, light scuffing to boards. In very good condition. Plate 7 is not present with no evidence it was issued in all copies.
Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875) was a Scottish barrister by profession who switched to writing and geology in 1827. After graduating from Oxford he travelled through Europe and based on his field observations started to publish “Principles of Geology” in 1830-1833. The work has been described as "perhaps the most important scientific textbook ever written” and was a major influence on Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle.
Charles Lyell's Elements of Geology, was first published in 1838 as a popular reading text for an interested public, students, and amateurs. In it Lyell describes the basic rock types and the processes that made them and their paleontology. Lyell originally intended it as a supplement to his major work, Principles of Geology. But Elements of Geology is based primarily on volume three of the Principles.
