[Rarebooks] FS: 1866 Trade Catalog of Fossils

[Joslin Hall Rare Books, ABAA]

Ward, Henry A.  "CATALOGUE OF CASTS OF FOSSILS, FROM THE PRINCIPAL MUSEUMS
OF EUROPE AND AMERICA, WITH SHORT DESCRIPTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS"

Rochester; Benton & Andrews, printers: 1866.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was accepted practice to furnish
museums with casts of all types, from classical statues to trilobites, and
this catalog caters to the latter trade. Here Henry Ward offers a complete
and comprehensive listing of casts of fossils for sale, from minute
Ammonites to a complete Plesiosaur or a Megatherium, many taken from
originals at the British Museum.

In the 1860s and 1870s dinosaurs were not yet a major subject for study-
few had been discovered. Paleontologists were very excited though, by
earlier plant and animal life, as shown here, and especially by another
set of animals amply illustrated here- early mammals. The fight to
discover and name early mammals was at least as heated as the dinosaur
wars which would erupt a few decades later, because it was through these
fossils that scientists were slowly attempting to prove Darwin's
controversial theory of Evolution. Ward catalogs everything in a
scientific manner and also includes fossil tracks, and even replicas of
the models shown at the Crystal Palace.

A unique view of 19th century natural history, a terrific Victorian-era
trade catalog, and also interesting from the standpoint of the religious
and scientific controversies then swirling amid the scientific community.

Henry Ward was one of the most interesting and omnipresent characters in
Victorian natural history. After making a fortune supplying museums with
natural history and paleontological exhibits he turned his attention to
meteorites with the same zealous thoroughness. The chronicle of Henry A.
Ward's career and various interests is well covered in Roswell Ward's 1948
biography.

Hardcover. 5.5"x9", viii + 228 pages, illustrated in b/w throughout, with
2 folding plates.  Ex-institutional with small mark on title page and
several notations on the reverse of the title; bound in neat new cloth
with a printed spine label; inside and outside a clean, nice copy. 
[30402]  $875.00

Some illustrations from this book on our book blog-
<http://tinyurl.com/2hmvqz>


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