Bourguignat, J. R.
Nouveautés malacologiques. 1. Unionidae et Iridinidae du Lac Tanganika. [AND] Iconographie malacologique des animaux mollusques fluviatiles du Lac Tanganika. [AND] Histoire malacologique du Lac Tanganika (Afrique équatoriale).
Paris, Mme. Ve Tremblay; Corbeil, Crété; Paris, G. Masson, 1886-1888-1890. Three works in one. 8vo (21.3 x 13.3 cm). 442 pp. [93; 82; 267]; 52 [0; 35; 17] lithographed plates and one double-sized chromolithographed map (in the second paper). Later black buckram with gilt lines and title on the spine. Original printed wrappers bound in.
The complete Bourguignat on the molluscs of Lake Tanganyika - the longest and second oldest lake in the world. Containing numerous new species and, in contrast to many other works by Bourguignat, the third, and especially the second paper are well-illustrated. Dance calls the French malacologist Jules-René Bourguignat (1829-1892) the bête noir of French conchology, saying that the "practice of species-mongering represents an unsavoury aspect of systematic conchology in the 19th century". The numbers, 29, 102 and 120, on the spine refer to the numbered list of papers in Oeuvres scientifiques de M. J.-R. Bourguignat, published by Servain. As most of Bourguignat's papers were published in only 100 copies, a set like this is rare. Provenance: the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland (their oval stamp on the first front wrapper); then purchased by Wheldon & Wesley (their stamp over the Conchological Society stamp, and dated May 1954), and finally bought by the American malacologist Richard Irwin Johnson (1925-2020), with his stamp in the top margin of the front free endpaper and first front wrapper. Occasional weak spots but generally surprisingly clean. Dance, S. P. A History of Shell Collecting, pp. 163-164. Nissen ZBI, 503 (second title only).