History of British Fossil Mammals, and Birds

Description:

First edition. Scarce large paper copy. Richard Owen (1804-1892) was a controversial and influential palaeontologist and anatomist. After qualifying as a surgeon, he became assistant conservator in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, and then superintendent of natural history in the British Museum. He became an authority on comparative anatomy and palaeontology, coining the term 'dinosaur' and founding the Natural History Museum. He was also a critic of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, and engaged in a long and bitter argument with Thomas Huxley, known as 'Darwin's bulldog' for his belligerent support of the theory. This book contains Owen's comparative anatomical analysis of the fossils of British birds and mammals. It compares living species with extinct ones, and explains the characteristics that help identification.

Condition

Roy. 8vo (264x170mm), orig. cloth, gilt title to spine, corners of boards slightly bumped, endpapers foxed, page edges uncut. Previous owner's blind stamp to endpaper. Vg.