FORSTER, Johann Reinhold.

£3,750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Descriptiones animalium, quae in itinere ad maris Australis terras per annos 1772, 1773 et 1774 First edition of Forster's study of the Australasian fauna encountered on Cook's second voyage, listing 305 animal species; "the most important zoological work with full results" (Rookmaaker, p. 48). This a particularly desirable tall copy in the original boards, largely unopened. LibraryHub cites copies at just 4 British libraries (BL, ZLS, Cambridge, and Natural History Museum). A distinguished naturalist, Forster (1729-1798) was employed as official naturalist on Cook's second voyage, accompanied by his son Georg (1754-1794) as an assistant; "the elder Forster proved to be a highly capable scientist and a keen observer - his works proved him a veritable genius in many disciplines - but he had a disagreeable personality and alienated the expedition's staff" (Rosove). The seven-decade delay in publishing the work impeded its immediate scientific influence: "The work was finished in outline as early as August 1775, only 3 weeks after return from the voyage. However, Forster continued to work on the manuscript while in London until 1780. It was in fact ready for publication but feuds and debts again intervened. In 1787, the Göttingen publisher C. Dietrich was willing to publish it and a manuscript of 458 pages was available. Forster wanted engravings to accompany the Latin text, Dietrich wanted a German text. No compromise could be reached. The manuscript later passed to the Royal L

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