Buffon

1766 · ref. 013538 — Paris: De l'Imprimerie Royale 1766. All 41 copper engraved plates of Apes & Monkeys are present. Georges-Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon September 7 1707 -- April 16 1788 was a French naturalist mathematician biologist cosmologist and author. Buffon's views influenced the next two generations of naturalists including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin. Darwin himself in his foreword to the 6th edition of the Origin of Species credited Aristotle with foreshadowing the concept of natural selection and stated that "the first author who in modern times has treated it in a scientific spirit was Buffon". Buffon is best remembered for his great work Histoire naturelle générale et particulière 1749-1788: in 36 volumes 8 additional volumes published after his death by Lacépède. It included everything known about the natural world up until that date. In it Buffon considered the similarities between humans and apes and the possibility of a common ancestry. Buffon debated James Burnett Lord Monboddo on the question of ancestry of the primates to man Monboddo insisting on the closeness of relationship of man and apes. Buffon's work is considered to have greatly influenced modern ecology. His Histoire was translated into many different languages making him the most widely read scientific author of the day. First Edition. Full Calf Leather. Poor. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Hardcover. De l'Imprimerie Royale Hardcover