Chang-Hai, Pères de la Compagnie Jésus (Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique), 1882. Very large 4to (34.9 x 25.6 cm). [ii], 87 pp.; ten lithographed plates (numbered XII-XXI) with explanatory text leaves. Later half morocco over marbled boards. Spine with five gilt-stippled, raised bands, gilt ornamental bands and title. Marbled endpapers.

Pierre Marie Heude (1836-1902) was one of the first to describe the rich and diverse terrestrial malacofauna of China. This rare work (we found no auction records) deals with the land and freshwater molluscs of central China, along the main river, the Yangtze or Yangzi: "the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows 6,300 km (3,900 mi) in a generally easterly direction to the East China Sea. It is the sixth-largest river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population" (Wikipedia). The results were published over a long period, in parts in the Mémoires concernant l'histoire naturelle de l'empire Chinois par des pères de la Compagnie Jésus,which contained other, unrelated papers too, and, therefore, the plate numbering starts with 12, not with 1). Many species are new. In fact, one can hardly imagine any other work as important to Chinese malacology. The illustrations are very good. This is the first of three parts. The other two were published in 1885 and 1890, for a total of 191 pp., and 31 plates. All parts are extremely rare and complete sets are virtually non-existent. Provenance: stamp of the American malacologist George Alan Solem (1931-1990) in the top margin of the title page. A few underlinings in pencil; some light, mostly marginal spotting, otherwise, a very good, clean copy. Nissen ZBI, 1929 (in part).