J.-J. Virey - Histoire des moeurs et de l'instinct des animaux - 1822

History of the Manners and Instinct of Animals.

By J.-J. Virey.

Complete in 2 octavo volumes (21 x 13 cm). Half-cherry calf, spine with raised bands, title pieces and卷 numbers. Roll tooling at the headcaps, fillets. Wear on the boards, spine, corners. Interior contents very good (see photos).

History of the Manners and Instinct of Animals is a pioneering two-volume treatise (vertebrates first, then invertebrates) arising from his courses at the Athénée royal of Paris. The work offers a systematic classification of species while analyzing their behaviors, habits, and intelligence. Virey defends the idea that animals are not mere machines, but beings endowed with sensitivity and a form of perfectibility, thus laying the foundations of modern ethology.

Julien-Joseph Virey (1775–1846) is a French physician, pharmacist and naturalist. A disciple of the ideologue Cabanis and influenced by Buffon’s work, he distinguished himself with writings on natural history, anthropology and pharmacology. A member of the Royal Academy of Medicine, he greatly contributed to the scientific popularization of his era by closely examining the links between physiology and mental faculties.