First edition of this splendidly illustrated classic. The plates show corals (2), an Arabic tent camp, and the sunset over the Sinai Peninsula, as well as a genealogical tree of corals.
Haeckel (1834-1919), the great biologist, was the first German to adopt the doctrine of evolution and was known as the "Darwin of Germany". On his journeys, he used to collect the material for his research. In 1873 he went to Egypt and Asia Minor; the culmination of this journey was a visit to the splendid coral banks of Tur in the Red Sea. The Khedive, Ismail Pasha (to whom the book is dedicated in appreciation), put a Government steamer at Haeckels disposal for the journey. The excursion has been superbly described by the author himself in this book. It also contains the first specimens of his landscapes in watercolour.
Printed title-page has autograph ink ownership of the German painter Elisabeth Engler (1875-1959), best known for painting Haeckels portrait in 1897, with her note "Geschenk des Verfassers 1898" ("gift of the author 1898") and presentation inscription to the famous collector Hans Conrad Bodmer (1881-1956), dated 1935. Binding insignificantly rubbed; extremeties slighly bumped. Interior a little browned or foxed in places, occasionally more so; plates affected mostly in the blank margins, but lithographed title and one plate affected throughout. Otherwise in good condition. Nissen ZBI 1780.