Ueber den Bau der Erde in dem Alpen-Gebirge zwischen 12 Längen une 2-4 Breitengraden nebst einigen Betrachtungen über die Gebirge und den Bau der Erde überhaupt. .

Zürich: Orell Füssli und Compagnie, 1808. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Two parts in two volumes. 8vo (200 x 115 mm). xxx, 408; [2], [16], [1], iv-x, 428 pp., including 8 leaves of errata bound after title and 6 hand-colored engraved folding maps bound at end of vol. II. Uniformly bound in Swiss green half kidskin over blue marbled boards, yellow-dyed edges, spines ruled and lettered in gilt (spine and extremities slightly rubbed). Text with scattered pale foxing (titles and first preliminary pages stronger), but generally quite crisp and clean internally. Provenance: Claude-Ignace de Barante (bookplate to front-pastedown of each volume). A very good set. ----

FIRST EDITION and exceptionally rare, if complete as here, with all the 6 maps present that are almost always missing. This classic of alpine geology (of the structure of the earth within the Alps) is the main work of the German geologist and statistician Johann Gottfried Ebel (1764-1830). He studied medicine in Frankfurt-Oder, Vienna and Zurich. After practicing as a doctor in Frankfurt-Oder, he settled permanently in Zurich in 1810. He pioneered the study of the geology of the Alps. We also owe him a traveler's guide to Switzerland published in 1793 which influenced Friedrich Schiller for his Wilhelm Tell. The 6 engraved and hand-colored plates are: 1 map of the highest peaks in Europe, 2 maps of the Alps of Savoy and Switzerland, 3 panoramas of the Alps (Switzerland, part of Savoy, Mont Blanc via the St. Bernard, by Bonhomme and Mont Cenis). - Visit our website to see more images!