First [and Second] Biennial Report on the Geology of Alabama

TUOMEY, Michael. MALLET, J. W. (ed.). First [and Second] Biennial Report on the Geology of Alabama. Tuskaloosa: Printed by M. D. J. Slade, 1850 & Montgomery: N. B. Cloud, 1858. 1st eds. 2 vols., bound in one. 8vo. xxxii, 176; xix, [1], 292 pp., map, folding plate, illus. In early 3/4 morocco with marbled paper over boards. Lacking the map to accompany the first report. Neatly rebacked with original backstrip laid down. Former library copies with stamps and numbers. Contents foxed. Contemporary gift inscription on the title page of the second report. Conservation to folding plate with infilling to some loss, extending into the illustration. Map has also had conservation work done to discreetly mend closed tears. Generally, very good. Ellison 729 & 1098. Owen, p. 946. Marcou and Marcou, Mapoteca Geologica Americana 547 & 552. Tuomey (1805-1857) was Alabama's first geologist and responsible for the foundation of the Geological Survey of Alabama. "Tuomey's scientific description of the state's geology was the beginning of a true understanding of its mineral resources, particularly the coal and iron ore that led to Birmingham's rise as an industrial center" - Encyclopedia of Alabama. Regarding the Second Report, Owen notes: "Pending the publication of this report, Mr. Tuomey died. Dr. Mallet [1812-1923] was appointed to supervise its issue, and after many difficulties, recounted in the preface, it appeared. In addition to the general editorial work, Dr. Mallet contributed the report on the chemical department of the survey" (p. 946). The first edition of Tuomey's map is "the rarest geological map of the New World. Only 5 or 6 copies are known to exist" - Marcou and Marcou. The second edition of Toumey's map is present here, which the Marcous claim is in some ways inferior to the first edition because Toumey died before its publication and so it was printed by J. H. Colton without supervision. Also, the scale is smaller than the first. "However, it contains some corrections brought about by Tuomey's survey and explorations of the years 1854 and 1855. It is the first geological maps colored by chromolithography in America" - Marcou and Marcou, 552. These reports and the map are rare in commerce.…