Paleontology: 3 inscribed works by Witham 1831-33

59.

Res. 250 Est: 400-600

GEOLOGY and PALEONTOLOGY. - Henry Thomas Maire Silvertop WITHAM (1779–1844).
[Three works on fossil plants - all inscribed by the author].

1.Observations on Fossil Vegetables. Edinburgh & London: 1831. Quarto (11 x 8 1/2in; 280 x 216mm). Six engraved plates by W.H. Lizars after Wiliiam MacGillivray. (Some soiling, spotting and dampstaining). Original cloth-backed boards (worn, disbound);

2.On the Lepidodendron Harcourtii … read at the Natural History Society of Newcastle. [Newcastle: no date but ?1832]. Quarto. Two hand-coloured engraved plates by Lizars after MacGillivray. (Old dampstaining). Original wrappers (worn);

3.The Internal Structure of Fossil Vegetables. Edinburgh and London: 1833. Quarto. Sixteen engraved plates by Lizars after MacGillivray, most coloured or tinted by hand. (Plates spotted and dampstained). Original leather-backed boards (worn, disbound).

Three works in 3 volumes. Provenance: Mechanics Institute, Barnard Castle, Teesdale, co. Durham. England (each work inscribed by the author to the ‘Mechanics Institute of Barnard Castle’, with associated stamps and bookplates).

Three presentation copies from a pioneer geologist: the first and second works are rare on the market. Witham, a subscriber to J.J.Audubon’s ‘Birds of America’ (see Audubon’s diaries), was also a friend of Sir Humphrey Davy and Sir Roderick Murchison. He seems to have been enthusiastic but un-disciplined, and perhaps unscrupulous: he upset William Nicol (the inventor of the method used to create the specimens pictured in all three works) by not acknowledging that the first title was basically pinched by Witham from Nicol. The Mechanics Institute provenance is particularly appropriate as Witham is known to have been an enthusiastic supporter of the enterprise.
Retail prices: $850 for just the third work; auction: $426 for signed third work in 2014; $205 for the third work on 19 Sept 2015).