Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland

Description:

The Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh Water Lochs of Scotland was the first comprehensive investigation of the depths and nature of Scottish lochs. Some 60,000 soundings were taken of all the 562 major Scottish lochs, resulting in the first detailed charts of all their depths. The entire project was conceived and organised by Sir John Murray, the oceanographer, and funded by his friend Laurence Pullar, whose son Frederick tragically drowned in the early years of the Survey. The survey was not only widely recognised at the time, placing Scotland at the forefront of organised lake studies or limnology, but the resulting published reports and maps are still of major value today. The Preface to this volume states ‘During the twelve years from 1896 to 1908 a bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland was carried out under the direction of Sir John Murray, the late Mr. Frederick Pattison Pullar, and Mr. Laurence Pullar’…‘eighteen separate papers were published in the Geographical Journal between April, 1900, and January, 1908’ (covering 213 Scottish Lochs). ‘The present volume contains descriptions and maps of the remainder of the Scottish lochs that were sounded by the officers of the Survey, namely, 349 lochs’. Scarce.

Condition

Roy. 8vo, orig. cloth-backed, printed boards, worn, rubbed and scuffed, joints splitting, hinges cracked, but firm; printed paper title-label to spine, rubbed and browned; edges uncut. A few neat archival tape reinforcements to several maps. Single cancelled ink stamp (Balfour Library, Pitt Rivers Museum) and label removed from pastedown. Ink inscription states 'Belonged to W. Harvey Moore - D. Baden-Powell - August 1963.' Donald Baden-Powell (1897-1973) was a geologist who taught geology and Palaeolithic archaeology at the University of Oxford; he was the nephew of R.S.S. Baden-Powell.