The Natural History of Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals; with the Theory of Earth in general. [six volumes, complete] by Buffon, Count de; translated by W. Kenrick and J. Murdoch [George Louis Le Clerc] - 1775

London: T. Bell, 1775. English version of the 1769 Paris "Octavo Edition" of Buffon's Natural History, slightly rearranged to begin with "particular objects" rather than "general theorems", thus, starting with Buffon's observations on humans (most of volume 1), then animals (volumes 2, 3, most of 4), a very little on vegetables in volume 4, minerals & what we call physics in volume 5, theories of the Earth in volume 6, with a supplement, table of contents, & index in volume 6. Acclaimed for his style, Buffon was widely translated & read in Europe, and influenced generations of European naturalists. Here he discusses human life & senses, the various 'races' of mankind, domestic & wild mammals, comments on several metals & minerals, and also details his & other experiments in animal reproduction, microscopic examinations which he compares to those of Leeuwenhoek (quoted in Latin), experiments in heating materials, light & heat, drying & absorption of water by wood. Despite his belief in the immutability of species, Buffon discussed ideas of heredity implying evolution, proposed a history of the physical earth with little relation to the Biblical account, and was important in materials science research, particularly of wood. His ideas of human races & kinship, now discredited, were long influential. Six volume set, complete, as pictured; volumes I, II, & III dated 1775, volumes IV & VI undated, volume V dated 1776. Full calf with decorated spines, badly worn, chipped, scuffed, hinges split externally but all still fairly firmly attached; some internal foxing & staining, ink name (G. McAdam) & date in most volumes, some pencil marginalia - extensive on a few pages - minor pencil underlining, a few wormholes; page 107/108 in volume IV misplaced but present. [6], 472; 476; 479; 480; 479; 238, blank leaf, 92 (supplement), lx (contents & index) pages; 60 copper-engraved plates included folding frontispiece engraved by Lodge after a drawing by Teniers - there is no list of plates, but nothing appears to be missing. . First Edition in English. Full Calf. Fair/No Jacket. Illus. by Teniers / J. Lodge, et al.. Octavo. Set.