A paper as rare as the dodo

Owen, R.

On the osteology of the dodo. [AND] On the dodo (Part II). Notes on the articulated skeleton of the Dodo ( Didus ineptus, Linn.) in the British Museum.

Published 1867-1872
Item ID 76033
Sorry, this item is currently not for sale. Please contact us for more information.

London, Zoological Society of London, 1867-1872. Two papers in two. Large 4to (32.5 x 25.5 cm). [I] (1867): 37 pp. [numbered 49-85]; ten lithographed plates [numbered 15-24], of which one very large, folded, giving a life-size outline of the bird; II (1872): 13 pp. (numbered 213-225); three lithographed plates (30.7 x 24.5 cm). Recent marbled boards. Red morocco label with gilt ornamental borders and gilt title mounted on the front board.

'On the osteology of the dodo' is a marvellous, very rare paper on the first bird known to become extinct in modern times. Written and illustrated by the greatest comparative anatomist and osteologist of the 19th century, Richard Owen (1804-1892). Published in two parts, with a five-year gap. The first in Volume 6(III) of the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, the second on pp. 513-525 of Volume 7(VII). Initially it was written as a single, complete publication (hence the 1867 paper does not contain the words 'Part I'). Retroactively it became "Part I" with the 1872 publication of a 'Part II' which contains some corrections and additions, based on new material submitted to Owen after the 1867 work was published. Plate 15 is a large, folding plate of the entire skeleton and outline of the animal. "Owen fitted the skeleton into an outline traced around Savery’s Dodo image, which he believed ... to have been painted from a living bird. This produced an unnatural, squat and overly obese Dodo, which became the orthodox image of the bird. Owen published again on the Dodo later, this time rectifying his mistake by reconstructing the bird in a natural more upright position, but the original image stuck; Owen has been associated with it ever since" (Hume et al.). Uncut. Some isolated spotting; a few, weak folds; otherwise an excellent, clean copy, attractively bound. Hume et al., 2009 How Owen ‘stole’ the Dodo, p. 45; Nissen IVB, 703. Not in Zimmer.

Very flexible return policy
Secure payments by Adyen
Sent in 2 business days with Track & Trace
We are members of ILAB-LILA and NVvA

Recently Viewed

Advanced Search