Georges Cuvier - Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe - 1840

Georges Cuvier. Discourse on the revolutions of the surface of the globe and on the changes they have produced in the animal kingdom. Paris, Cousin, Legras, 1840, 355 pp. and 5 plates

A volume in 12mo (170x120 mm), half leather binding, spine with raised bands decorated (binding slightly later). Worn and rubbed on the boards and the spine. Interior fresh, rare foxing. Ex-libris of Philippe Taquet, French palaeontologist, pasted on the flyleaf.

New edition; complete with both folding plates and the 5 plates hors-texte

The work lays out the evidence for the existence of several geological revolutions, their sometimes sudden character, and the existence of changes preceding the appearance of living beings.

A large part is devoted to fossils and, in particular, to the bones of quadrupeds: Cuvier compares fossil species to current species, studies their distribution in the various geological layers, and argues that certain extinct species are not mere varieties of living species.

He also examines deposits, volcanoes, dunes, peat bogs, and the changes of the continents, before presenting his conclusions on the succession of lands (strata) and the history of the Earth.