1879 The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates / John Murray, London / Richly Illustrated / Antique Natural History Book

Here is an antique copy of The Naturalist on the River Amazons, subtitled A Record of the Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature under the Equator, during Eleven Years of Travel by the British naturalist Henry Walter Bates.

The book is about his expedition to the Amazon basin. Bates and his friend Alfred Russel Wallace set out to obtain new species and new evidence for evolution by natural selection, as well as exotic specimens to sell starting in 1848. He explored thousands of miles of the Amazon and its tributaries. 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 new to science. His observations of the coloration of butterflies led him to discover Batesian mimicry. Bates wrote up his findings in this his best-known work. The book contains an evenly distributed mixture of natural history, travel, and observation of human societies.

This is a copy from 1879, published by John Murray, London. Richly illustrated throughout in black and white. It is 145 years old and so inevitably has some signs of wear but remains a super copy.

Inside the pages are tightly bound. Opens with a prize bookplate on the front paste down dated 1883 but has no other writing or markings of previous ownership. Has tanning and spotting to the pages and some dark handling marks. Has a partially cracked hinge at the back giving the rear board a mild wobble, but in no way effecting the binding of the text block which is good and strong.

Dark green cloth covered boards have a blind-stamped border, gilt decoration and titles to the front and spine. In good order. With a few light scuffs to the boards. Has some rubbing and rounding to the corners, spine ends and joints where there are a couple of tiny holes in the cloth. The gilt decoration remains bright.

Your antique copy of The Naturalist on the River Amazons will be wrapped with care in tissue and ribbon* and sent well packaged. A gift message can be included in the parcel if desired. 

H 19.5 cm x W 14.5 cm, 394 pages, 0.6 kg. I dispatch worldwide daily from the UK. (There are just a very few countries which I am unable to ship to).

* If you would prefer for your book not to be decoratively wrapped and sent simply in the full packaging please add a note to the order.

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