Paris: Imprimerie Royale 1769. Hardcover. Good. 14 volumes. Bound in contemporary French mottled calf. Gilt stamps spines. Good bindings and covers. Some minor edge wear. All edges red. Marginal dampstaining affecting plates in Volume 9. Occasional spotting. Supplement and Volumes 7 and 8 have sprung leaves. Profusely illustrated with 202 engraved plates 2 folding maps folding chart. <br><br> Georges-Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon was a noted scientist whose monumental works in natural sciences influenced the next two generations of naturalists including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. Mayr The Growth of Biological Thought. p 330 Buffon's work was based on the methods of observation and experimentation. He raised many of the fundamental problems of biology in a scientific context. One of Buffon's most important contributions was the popularization of the old earth theory in opposition to Archbishop Ussher's biblical earth time-line. <br><br> Buffon was an important pre-cursor to Darwin. Cited as the father of biogeography Buffon's Law postulated that creatures "improved" and "degenerated" after dispersing from a center of creation. He based his theory on comparative anatomy studies. Buffon tried to explain the origin of living things by spontaneous generation of elementary particles and its development as a consequence of climate and diet. Buffon argued that all members of a family of species descended from the same ancestors a "unity of type". <br><br> Contents:T. 1. Premier discours. Second discours. Preuves de la theorie de la terre: article I-VIII --t. 2. Article IX-XIX. Conclusion --t. 3. Histoire generale des animaux: chapitre I-IX --t. 4. Chapitre X-XI. Recapitulation. Histoire naturelle de l'homme --t. 5. Varietes dans l'espece humaine. Discours sur la nature des animaux. Letters de MM. les deputes & syndic de la Faculte de theologie a M. de Buffon avec les reponse & declaration de M. de Buffon. Discours prononce a l'Academie francoise --t. 6. Les animaux domestiques --t. 7-12. Les animaux sauvages --t. 13. Concordance & table alphabetique des noms pour les animaux quadrupedes. Supplement III. <br> This is an oversized or heavy book that requires additional postage for international delivery outside of Canada and the US. Paris: Imprimerie Royale hardcover