1st general work on geology printed in the US
Dr. Horace Henry HAYDEN (1869-1844). Geological Essays; or, An Enquiry into some of the geological phenomena to be found in various parts of America, and elsewhere. Baltimore: printed by J. Robinson, for the Author, and sold by the principal booksellers…, 1820. Octavo (9 x 5 5/8 inches; 228 x 143mm). Pp. [i-]vi-viii; [1-]2-412 + small format errata slip addressed to ‘The Reader’, uncut. (Old dampstaining to first and last few leaves, inner hinges of title and four other leaves with paper repair using archival tape, some leaves detached, spotted throughout). Stitched, original letterpress label to backstrip, contemporary boards present but detached. Provenance: A.B. Hayden (page [1] inscribed ‘A.B. Hayden / Presented by the Author’).
First edition, a presentation copy of “the first general work on geology to be printed in the United States.” An important American geological work … with the conclusion that the alluvial erosion and deposits evident in America must have been formed by the Biblical deluge.
“The work is verbose in the extreme ... , and more argumentative than logical. Indeed, were it not for its historical interest and for the light which is thrown upon the crudities of early observation and deduction, it would be scarcely worthy of consideration” (G.P. Merrill. The First One Hundred Years of American Geology p.81).
“Dr. Hayden was one of the founders of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and served as its president in 1825. In 1820, as a pioneer geologist and botanist, he published the first general work on geology to be printed in the United States. He discovered a new mineral, named Hadenite in his honor.” (https://www.fauchard.org/publications/11-dr-horace-henry-hayden).
See https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Horace_Hayden_(1)
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Dr. Horace Henry HAYDEN (1869-1844). Geological Essays; or, An Enquiry into some of the geological phenomena to be found in various parts of America, and elsewhere. Baltimore: printed by J. Robinson, for the Author, and sold by the principal booksellers…, 1820. Octavo (9 x 5 5/8 inches; 228 x 143mm). Pp. [i-]vi-viii; [1-]2-412 + small format errata slip addressed to ‘The Reader’, uncut. (Old dampstaining to first and last few leaves, inner hinges of title and four other leaves with paper repair using archival tape, some leaves detached, spotted throughout). Stitched, original letterpress label to backstrip, contemporary boards present but detached. Provenance: A.B. Hayden (page [1] inscribed ‘A.B. Hayden / Presented by the Author’).
First edition, a presentation copy of “the first general work on geology to be printed in the United States.” An important American geological work … with the conclusion that the alluvial erosion and deposits evident in America must have been formed by the Biblical deluge.
“The work is verbose in the extreme ... , and more argumentative than logical. Indeed, were it not for its historical interest and for the light which is thrown upon the crudities of early observation and deduction, it would be scarcely worthy of consideration” (G.P. Merrill. The First One Hundred Years of American Geology p.81).
“Dr. Hayden was one of the founders of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and served as its president in 1825. In 1820, as a pioneer geologist and botanist, he published the first general work on geology to be printed in the United States. He discovered a new mineral, named Hadenite in his honor.” (https://www.fauchard.org/publications/11-dr-horace-henry-hayden).
See https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Horace_Hayden_(1)
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