The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates, First Edition (12 results)

Paperback. Condition: Good-. 1st Edition. xxiv / 383 pp bw illustrations. Spine ends & corners worn, pages tanned, solid reading copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First Edition Thus, First Published In 1863, VERY GOOD, CLEAN, LIGHT WEAR AT EXTREMITIES, GEORGE B. LOWE LABEL AT FRONT PASTEDOWN, MINOR SCATTERED FOXING, SM QUARTO, GREEN CLOTH, GILT COLOR LETTERING AND DECORATION ON COVER, PP.395, FOLDING MAP, TISSUE GUARDED COLOR PLATE OF BUTTERFLIES, ENGRAVING PLATES, FIGURES, TISSUE GUARDED LITHOGRAPH PHOTO OF BATES BY JOHN THOMSON AT FRONTIS.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Book - very good. Hardback, with map. A Record of Adventures Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature Under the Equator, During Eleven Years of Travel. 1892. Reprint of the unabridged edition. Weight exceeds standard 1.0 kg rates - extra postage may be requested for UK 1st class/overseas deliveries.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Volume two only of two volumes. Ex-libris bookplate on front endpaper, J. Cecil Le Sonet, with motto "Souef Sans Foyblesse" and tree and crown illustration. A minor dampstain to outer margin of a few leaves, extending 15mm into blank margin of a few leaves around the plate facing page 279. A minor dampstain 35mm long and extending 5mm into margin of most leaves up to about page 115. Joints and hinges very good. 12mm split to cloth at upper end of rear joint, and 6mm split near lower end of rear joint. Slight starting to gutter at front hinge. Tiny 3mm loss to cloth at tail of spine and tip of lower corner of front board. Minimal foxing. Overall a nice and original copy of the second volume only. ; Volume Two only of two volumes. Title continues: "A Record of Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature Under the Equator, During Eleven Years of Travel". vi, 423, [1 (blank)] pages + frontispiece + 3 plates. 20 in-text illustrations. Original brown cloth boards with gilt lettering and rule on spine, gilt illustration on front board. Page dimensions: 198 x 122mm. "I have already given a short account of the size, situation, and general appearance of Santarem. Although containing not more than 2500 inhabitants, it is the most civilised and imporant settlement on the banks of the main river from Peru to the Atlantic." - the opening sentences of Chapter One, page 1. [Reference: de Moraes "Bibliographia Brasiliana" p. 91: "Bates came to the Amazon with [Alfred Russel] Wallace in 1848, and remained in Brazil for 11 years. He formed an enormous collection of about 14,000 insects [. . .] It was Darwin who encouraged him to write this book, which today is a classic. In Darwin's words: 'Bates is only excelled by Humboldt in his description of the tropical forest.'"].

1st Ed. 2 vols. ix + 351pp. + 32pp. publ. catalogue. + vi + 423pp. 9 plates, 33 ills., folding map. Some light browning, bookplates, volume 2 with crudely taped hinges, original gilt lettered cloth with gilt ills. to upper boards, chipped spines with repair across tail of spine of vol. 2 with minor split to tail of upper joint, corners frayed. Moraes vol. 1. pp.77. Darwin It is a grand book, and, whether or not it sells, it will last.ODNB . a major contribution to the knowledge and literature of Amazonia. Bates had spent longer on the Amazon than any of his European predecessors, and the book was an immediate success and has become a travel classic . it provides a fascinating record of the natural environment and wildlife of Amazonia before the major impact of the rubber boom. There are also detailed descriptions of the way of life and customs of Amerindian groups Bates encountered on his travels . US$1048.

Cloth. Condition: Good. First edition of The Naturalist on the River Amazons by noted British naturalist and explorer Henry Walter Bates. (illustrator). First Edition. Octavo, [two volumes], 351pp [32pp ads]; vi, 423pp. Brown cloth, title in gilt on spines, illustration stamped in gilt on front covers. Red endpapers. Binder's ticket on rear pastedown endpaper of Volume I. Spine ends and edges rubbed with some loss of cloth, corners bumped and worn, light soiling to covers. Slight lean to text block of Volume II. Light foxing to preliminary and ending pages of both volumes and fore edge of Volume II. All illustrations present, including 1 fold-out Map of the Amazons (3 cm tear along top edge with light wear along fore edge). Volume I lacking Preface, Table of Contents and List of Illustrations, appears to be a publication error. No notations except for the previous owner's name written on front endpapers. In Volume I, endpapers and text block cracked in a few places, but binding is sound, also a few chips and tears along page edges. (Sabin 3932a) (Wood 225) A good example of this travel account to the Amazon rainforest.

First edition. 2 vols, 8vo, I: viii, [2] (list of illustrations, blank), 351, [1](blank), 32 (publisher's ads)pp., with frontispiece, 4 plates, and 13 in-text illustrations (of which one full-page), II: [2](blank), vi, 423, [1](blank)pp., with frontispiece, 3 plates, and 20 in-text illustrations; a few leaves creased, minor spotting to early leaves; publishers brown cloth gilt by Edmonds & Remnants; corners and edges bumped, rubbed, a few marks, endpapers dust-stained, nonetheless a good copy. Henry Bates (1825 1892) was an English naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals. He was most famous for his expedition to the rain forests of the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1848. Wallace returned in 1852, but lost his collection on the return voyage when his ship caught fire. When Bates arrived home in 1859 after a full eleven years, he had sent back over 14,712 species (mostly of insects) of which 8,000 were, according to Bates, new to science.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. A record of Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature Under the Equator, During Eleven Years of Travels, Vol. 1 viii, 351 pp, folding map, Vol. 2 vi, 423 pp, numerous illustrations throughout, 20th century half calf, The Author during his eleven year travel, 1848-1859, collected nearly fifteen thousand different species of insect, birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes, etc. For the first two years Bates travelled in company with Wallace.

First edition, with the publisher's presentation blind stamp to the title page of volume I. Bates's narrative of his travels in South America is"one of the finest scientific travel books of the 19th century" (DSB). Darwin described it as "the best work of natural history travels ever published in England" (Life and Letters, p. 381). Bates travelled with his friend and colleague Alfred Russel Wallace through the Amazon basin for two years, 1848-9, and remained behind when Wallace returned to England; he eventually stayed for 11 years in all. Bates supported his own entomological collecting interests by supplying specimens for public and private collections, sending approximately 14,700 species back to England, 8,000 of them new to science. He was encouraged to write his account by Darwin, with whom he frequently corresponded, and who recommended Bates to his own publisher, John Murray. The resulting work became "a major contribution to the knowledge and literature of Amazonia" and "an immediate success and travel classic" (ODNB), selling successfully throughout the 19th century and being translated into numerous languages. Jointly a personal diary, account of the region, guide to the customs of its inhabitants, and detailed analysis of native fauna, The Naturalist on the River Amazons "provides a fascinating record of the natural environment and wildlife of Amazonia before the major impact of the rubber boom. The book's enduring appeal lies in its elegant yet scientific pen-portraits of places, people, and wildlife" (ibid.). The wood engravings, particularly the frontispiece in volume I, are beautifully rendered from drawings by several leading natural history illustrators. Borba de Moraes, p. 91; Sabin 3932a; Troelstra, Natural History Travel Narratives, pp. 55-56. Francis Darwin, ed., The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, 1887 2 volumes, octavo (194 x 125 mm). Contemporary green half calf, spine with five raised bands separating compartments tooled with floral motifs and ruled in gilt, green cloth sides, gilt supralibros to covers, likely of the Hamond family of West Acre, Norfolk, red marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, purple silk bookmarkers. Wood-engraved frontispiece in each volume, 7 plates, folding map of the Amazons at rear of vol. I, title-page vignettes, 33 illustrations within text after E. W. Robinson, Joseph Wolf, Josiah Wood Whymper, and Johann Baptist Zwecker. Armorial bookplates on front pastedowns, probably of Philip Hamond (1813-1886); a handful of neat pencil annotations to contents. A touch of wear to extremities, particularly at corners and head of joints, gilt bright, bookmarker laid into vol. II, endleaves a little foxed, small stain to folding plate: a very good copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. 351 pp.; 423 pp. First edition; first printing; Binding fine; text near fine, minor fading at edges; light damp stain title page vol. II. Vol. I: [iii]-viii; [1]-351; f.p., pristine folding map at rear, + 4 leaves of black and white plates, including 12 engravings; and [1]-32 pp. of Mr. Murray's adverts at the rear. Vol. II: [iii]-vi; [1]-423; fp.; + 3 leaves of plates including 20 engravings. 8vo bound in later maroon buckram rebacked with original cloth over new boards; gold lettering stamped upper cover and across the spine; marble endpapers; red and yellow headbands; fp; black and white plates; fold-out map. See additional images provided. 1250 copies; two frontispieces and plates illustrate Bates' adventures. Bates, a naturalist and amateur entomologist, accompanied Alfred Russel Wallace in their historic expedition to the Brazilian Amazon in 1847. Bates collected over 14,000 insects in 11 years, plus specimens of many animals and plants, many unknown, and sent them back to England. After a year they split up, Wallace staying three more years, Bates remaining a total of 11 years. Bates fascination with the rain forest and discovery of many species new to science made him one of the foremost naturalists of the 19th century. Quoting Borba 91, "The classification of all the insects Bates sent back to England occupied scientists for many years. It was Darwin who encouraged him to write this book, which today is a classic. In Darwin's words: 'Bates is only excelled by Humboldt in his description of the tropical forest.' ?Wallace, Bates, Darwin, and Spruce were the great English naturalists of the nineteenth century, and the founders and defenders of the theory of the origin of species, a theory originating from Bates' observations in Brazil. Size: 8vo. 0.0.

First edition. TRAVELS IN AMAZONIA AND SUPPORT FOR DARWIN. First edition of Bates's wildly popular account of the years he spent in the Amazon region, during which he identified several thousand new species of insects and animals. He published it at the urging of Darwin, who wrote a lengthy appreciation of the book in the Natural History Review (vol. iii, 1863), and who considered it to be the best work of its kind. "During the whole of his sojourn amid the Brazilian forests his speculations were approximating to the theory of natural selection, and upon the publication of the Origin of Species he became a staunch and thoroughgoing adherent of the Darwinian hypothesis" (DNB). "In the autumn of 1847 Mr. A. R. Wallace, who has since acquired wide fame in connection with the Darwinian theory of Natural Selection, proposed to me a joint expedition to the river Amazons, for the purpose of exploring the Natural History of its banks; the plan being to make for ourselves a collection of objects, dispose of the duplicates in London to pay expenses, and gather facts, as Mr. Wallace expressed it in one of his letters, 'towards solving the problem of the origin of species,' a subject on which we had conversed and corresponded much together" (Bates, p. 3). Some scholars however, doubt that this quotation from Wallace is genuine. "'Wallace himself never claimed or confirmed that this was the inspiration or aim of his first expedition. Instead he gave the aims as 'to observe nature and make a living by collecting'" (Van Wyhe, p. 628). Nevertheless, Wallace later formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection in 1858, and Bates's discoveries in Amazonia provided support to Darwin's theory of natural selection. "After returning to England, [Bates] read Darwin's Origin-and put forward his famous idea of mimicry: poorly-defended butterflies could evolve to look like brightly-coloured, protected species avoided by predators. Starting with some initial, slightly deceptive resemblance, Bates argued this would be improved by natural selection to produce the remarkable similarities observed" (/the-society/history-of-science/henry-walter-bates). Bates (1825-92) was a self-taught English naturalist and explorer. He was born at Leicester, the eldest of four sons of a hosiery manufacturer. After leaving school he apprenticed with another hosier, and it seemed he would continue the family trade. He spent his free time in the careful observation and collection of insect life in the Leicestershire countryside and later around Burton upon Trent. In 1844 he met Wallace, then a master at Leicester collegiate school. They collected insects together and found a common interest in the writings of Darwin, and more unusually, in those of von Humboldt and Lyell. After Wallace returned to south Wales in 1846 they corresponded, and at Wallace's suggestion decided upon an expedition to the Amazon, to study the region's wildlife-collecting duplicate specimens for sale to defray their expenses-in the hope of contributing ideas to the debate about the origin of species. After rapid preparations at the British Museum and Kew Gardens, they sailed from Liverpool in the trading vessel Mischief on 26 April 1848, and arrived in Belém (then known as Pará) on 28 May. Their initial base was Belém, from where they collected locally, on the island of Marajó, and on expeditions up the River Tocantins in 1848 and 1849; they separated in 1849. Wallace returned to England in 1852, but Bates was to remain in Amazonia for eleven years, collecting around bases at Belém, Ega (1850-51 and 1855-9), and Santarém and Villa Nova (1851-5); along the Amazon; and on expeditions up the Tapajos (1852) and as far west as São Paulo on the Solimões in 1857. He worked alone, using local river craft, and, after their introduction in 1853, steamboats. Although his main interest was in insects, particularly butterflies and beetles, he also collected animals, birds, reptiles, plants, shells, and Indian artifacts. These were sold by his London agent, Samuel Stevens, to museums and private collectors, but he also sought specific items for public and private collections. In total he dispatched some 14,700 species back to England, 8000 of them new to science. During 1858 Bates's health deteriorated and he left the upper Amazon in February 1859 and spent two months in Belém before embarking for England on 2 June 1859. He settled in Leicester, describing himself in 1863 as a worsted hosier. However, he had begun to write up the collections he had made, and produced a series of major papers, published in the Transactions of the Linnean and Entomological societies, and the Annals and Magazine of Natural History between 1859 and 1862. The most significant was the 'Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon valley: Lepidoptera Heliconidae' (Transactions of the Linnean Society, 1862) which described resemblances between two families of butterflies, of which the similarity of one to the other served as protection against predators. Such protection, or mimicry, could be an aid to survival and thus to natural selection, and has come to be known as Batesian mimicry. The phenomenon offered supporting evidence to the arguments on natural selection expounded by Darwin in the Origin. In a letter to Bates in November 1862, Darwin described the paper as one of the most 'remarkable and admirable' he had ever read (Stecher, p. 36), and Bates became an advocate of Darwinian ideas, making early reference to them at meetings of the Entomological and Linnean societies. In 1860 the two men had begun a correspondence which lasted until Darwin's death in 1882. Darwin frequently asked Bates for information on the insects and other wildlife of Amazonia, and it was at his suggestion that Bates wrote an account of his travel experiences, Darwin recommending Bates to his own publisher, John Murray. The Naturalist on the River Amazons was a major contribution to the knowledge and literature of Amazonia. Bate.

First edition of Bates's narrative of his travels in South America, "one of the finest scientific travel books of the 19th century" (DSB). The wood engravings, particularly the frontispiece in volume I, are beautifully rendered from drawings by several leading natural history illustrators. It was described by Darwin as "the best work of natural history travels ever published in England" (Life and Letters, p. 381). Bates travelled with his friend and colleague Alfred Russel Wallace through the Amazon basin for two years, 1848-9, and remained behind when Wallace returned to England; he eventually stayed for 11 years in all. Bates supported his own entomological collecting interests by supplying specimens for public and private collections, sending approximately 14,700 species back to England, 8,000 of them new to science. He was encouraged to write his account by Darwin, with whom he frequently corresponded and who recommended Bates to his own publisher, John Murray. The resulting work became "a major contribution to the knowledge and literature of Amazonia" and "an immediate success and travel classic" (ODNB), selling successfully throughout the 19th century and being translated into numerous languages. Jointly a personal diary, account of the region, guide to the customs of its inhabitants, and detailed analysis of native fauna, The Naturalist on the River Amazons "provides a fascinating record of the natural environment and wildlife of Amazonia before the major impact of the rubber boom. The book's enduring appeal lies in its elegant yet scientific pen-portraits of places, people, and wildlife" (ibid.). Borba de Moraes, p. 91; Sabin 3932a; Troelstra, Natural History Travel Narratives, pp. 55-6. Francis Darwin, ed., The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, 1887. 2 volumes, octavo. Original reddish brown vertical rib-and-diaper cloth, spines lettered and ruled in gilt, Amazonian scene stamped in gilt to front covers, red coated endpapers, binder's ticket of Edmonds & Remnants to rear pastedown of vol. I. Wood-engraved tissue-guarded frontispiece in each volume, 7 plates, folding map of the Amazons at rear of vol. I, title-page vignettes, 33 illustrations within text after E. W. Robinson, Joseph Wolf, Josiah Wood Whymper, and Johann Baptist Zwecker. With 32 pp. publisher's advertisements at rear. Armorial bookplates of the Tollemache family to front pastedowns. Cloth and gilt bright, a few faint marks to spines, corners and ends bumped, tail of spine of vol. I worn, bookplate adhesive resulting in slight stripping and tiny perforation to facing endpaper of same volume, foxing to edges and prelims but contents overall presenting very nicely, a handful of gatherings partially unopened, gauze occasionally visible: a very good copy in the fresh and unrestored original cloth.