Paris, Baudouin, an 6 [1798]. 8vo (19.6 x 12.5 cm). xiv, 710 pp.; 14 engraved plates. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Spine with gilt and ornamental lines and title, marbled endpapers; marbled edges.

Rare first edition of the first important work on comparative anatomy by George Cuvier. "This is the first considerable work on zoology written by the famous Baron Cuvier" (Wood); "...based on a course of lectures he had delivered at l'École du Pantheon...it was the first general statement of his natural classification of the animal kingdom" (Sparrow). Mollusca are treated on pp. 372-438. Armorial bookplate on the front pastedown. It contains three lion heads. The motto and/or name, however, largely erased. Boards a bit rubbed; upper 3.5 cm of spine cover perished; internally, however, a very good copy, with both the text and plates near-entirely free of the usual foxing. Nissen ZBI, 1012; Sparrow " Milestones of Science", pp. 31-32; Wood, p. 307.