Paris, Arthus Bertrand, 1838-1840. Two parts in one. Large 8vo (22.7 x 15.1 cm). Title page (to the text, dated 1840), xi, 469 pp.; second title page (to the atlas, dated 1838), [ii] pp. (contents leaf); 36 aquatint plates, several finished by hand; several text engravings. Contemporary quarter morocco over marbled boards. Spine rich gilt. Marbled endpapers. Speckled edges.

A very rare work by the French geologist Eugène Robert (1806-1882) on the geology of, mainly, Iceland with fine lithographed plates of volcanos, glaciers, and other geological features. Robert was perhaps the first to observe the geology of Iceland with a trained scientific eye. He is perhaps better known for his other "northern" geological work, which formed part of the Voyages de la Commission Scientifique du Nord en Scandinavie, en Laponie, au Spitzberg et aux Feroë (1852), but the Iceland part is much rarer, not appearing in Ward & Carozzi, who do list the later, 1852 work (as from 1845, with a query) and wrongly recorded 1879 as the year of his death. The title page mentions another goal of the expedition, namely to trace another French research vessel, the Lilloise, which vanished in 1833 in the waters between Greenland and Iceland. This part of the expedition was unsuccessful and it is still a mystery how, when, and where the Lilloise disappeared. Small old stamp on the title pages and plate versos (not shining through). Unobtrusive, very light traces of off-setting to about five plates, otherwise a very good, clean copy, complete with all 36 plates called for on the contents leaf. Nissen ZBI, 1468 (under Gaimard). Cat. BM(NH) p. 607 (under France, Commission Scientifique du Nord); Ward and Carozzi, 1885-1886 (not this work).