Perth Environs, Signed (1 results)

First edition, presentation copy to Napoleon, inscribed on each half-title verso "au Général Bonaparte; l'auteur". The work gives Saint-Fond's (1741-1819) account of his travels to Britain in the year 1784, with important observations on the geology of northern England and Scotland, most notably his recognition that Fingal's Cave was a volcanic formation, which had gone unnoticed by Joseph Banks. The work also includes anecdotes of Banks, Adam Smith, John Whitehurst and the Royal Society. The work was issued in octavo and the present large paper printing on quarto sheets; an English translation followed in 1799. At the time of publication Saint-Fond was professor of geology at the Jardin des Plantes; he was later involved in the extraction to French institutions of scientific materials across Napoleonic Europe. As one of the travelling commissaires of the clumsily, but explicitly, named Commission du gouvernement pour la recherche des objets scientifiques et artistiques dans les pays conquis par les armées de la République française, established under the Directory for the purposes of pillage directed by connoisseurship and scientific expertise, Saint-Fond certainly interacted with Napoleon who himself had refined the process by inserting clauses into peace treaties ensuring that governments would hand over the items selected. One of Saint-Fond's greatest triumphs was securing the fossil skull of the Monster of Maastricht, a massive aquatic reptile from its home in Belgium. His 1799 account whereby the piece was retrieved by twelve grenadiers in exchange for an offer of 600 bottles of wine helped elevate the fossil to wide cultural fame, but current informed opinion considers the narrative to be somewhat exaggerated. At publication, Napoleon was leading French forces to repeated victories against the Austrians in northern Italy, building his reputation as a national hero. It is well known that Napoleon was much taken with the myth of Ossian - he presumably read with particular attention the passages in the book relating to Fingal's legendary cave (vol. II, p. 454). So too, he may have paid particular attention to Saint-Fond's account of his meetings with Adam Smith, where Smith praised Rousseau and Voltaire, and took Saint-Fond to a bagpipe competition, much to his displeasure (II, pp. 277-283). Napoleon read the Wealth of Nations as a young man, responding enthusiastically to the text, though later affecting disdain for the economist. For Saint-Fond's role as a commissaire, see Pierre-Yves Lacour, La République naturaliste, 2014. 2 vols, quarto (255 x 196 mm). With 7 folding engraved plates. Contemporary calf, rebacked with original spines laid down and later twin red and green labels, spine compartments and covers ruled in gilt, new endpapers. Housed in a brown solander cloth box by the Chelsea Bindery. Book label of 20th-century French collector Hubert Heilbronn to front pastedowns (transposed from earlier endpapers when they were replaced). Extremities restored and gilt retouched. Contents with general soiling, spotting, and occasional rippling, short closed tear in gutter of vol. II sigs. L-N, 5.5 cm closed tear at foot of vol. II 2E3 not affecting text. A good copy.