Berlin, Georg Reimer, 1882. Large 4to (34.0 x 25.0 cm). Title page, [v]-xv, 191 pp.; 33 lithographed plates [numbered I-XXVI, III.A, III.B, IV.A, IX.A, XIII.A, XIV.A, XIX.A] of which 28 originally hand-coloured. Contemporary quarter cloth over plain boards. original printed label on the spine.

This amphibian and reptile part of the zoological results of an important scientific expedition to one of the least-known parts of Africa. Dealing mainly with reptiles, despite the title. The text part is exceptionally rare and almost always lacking, but it is present here. The atlas-part is occassionally on the market, but then usually with only a few plates coloured. The German herpetologist Wilhelm Carl Hartwig Peters (1815-1883) was "one of the last to use 'Amphibia' for both amphibians and reptiles" (Adler). The atlas is complete with 33 plates, as follows: I-XXVI, IIIA, IIIB, IVA, IXA, XIIIA, XIVA, XIXA), of which five, mainly osteological plates deliberately uncoloured, and four (XIIIA, XIVA, XIX, XIXA) partly coloured. All others are extensively coloured. This copy has the maximum colouring possible, often copies are found with only a few coloured or partly coloured plates. Provenance: small, pictorial (herpetological) bookplate of the American herpetologist Kraig Kerr Adler (b. 1940) mounted on the front pastedown, and his autograph on the front free endpaper recto; partly erased inscription, apparantly an autograph of the French herpetologist Marie-Firmin Bocourt (1819-1904), dated 1882, in the top margin of the dedication leaf. Boards slightly soiled and showing some signs of wear. Text and plates near-clean, save for an occassional, small spot; and in all a very good copy, exceedingly rare in this composition (with text ánd max colouring). Adler I, pp. 37-38; Nissen ZBI, 3139.