London, William Phillips, 1824. 8vo (21.1 x 13.3 cm). xxii, 335 pp.; one hand-coloured folded geological map of France and the Netherlands including a great part of Germany, the Alps and northern Italy, by J. d'Omalius d'Halloy (numbered plate 11 [not II]) and two further hand-coloured geological maps or profiles (numbered I-II), eight folded lithographed plates (numbered III-X), including a very fine view of the coalmine at Treuil near St. Etienne, and another showing fossil gastropods and bivalves, one folding table. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Spine with gilt lines and title. Edges speckled red.

First edition of an important contribution to the geology and mining of France and adjacent countries - thought worth disseminating in the English-speaking world - by Henry De la Beche. It comprises of 24 papers by such authors as d'Omalius d'Halloy, Beudant, Dufrenoy, Brochant de Villiers, Von Buch, Brongniart, and Alexander Von Humboldt. A second - unaltered - edition was published in 1836. De la Beche (1796-1855) was the first director of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. Provenance: with, mounted on the front pastedown, the armorial bookplate of W. Thomas Lewis ("gwna a ddylit doed a ddel" ([do what you should do right]), i.e., the Welsh coal mining magnate Sir William Thomas Lewis, 1st Baron Merthyr (1837-1914). Rebacked with a part of the old spine preserved. Scattered, mostly marginal spotting; otherwise a very good copy. Complete copies, such as this one, are rare. Ward and Carozzi, 616.