Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History)

Description:

New [second] Edition. Scarce. Fine lithographic plates by Peter Smit, printed by Mintern Bros. In 1880 the Belgian zoologist, George Albert Boulenger (1858-1937) was invited to become Curator of Reptiles at the British Museum (Natural History), then considered to be one of the most prestigious positions in herpetology. He commenced a revision of the Museum catalogues, publishing works that formed a major contribution to the classification of amphibians and reptiles. This important catalogue of the tortoises, turtles and crocodiles, illustrated with fine lithographs, was a revision of J.E. Gray’s earlier work, Catalogue of Shield Reptiles, in the collection of the British Museum (1855). (Porter, K.R., Herpetology 1972).

Nissen ZBI 486.

Condition

8vo, orig. cloth, neatly rebacked, with orig. backstrip laid down. From an institutional library, neat stamps to endpaper, title and occasionally to margin of text pages; plates clean.