First edition of a work on mineralogy by the French botanist and naturalist Jacques-Christophe Valmont de Bomare (1731-1807). It opens with a preface, a table, and an introduction to mineralogy. The main text treats the different classes of minerals: water, earth, sand, (precious) stones, salts, pyrites, half metals, metals, flammable substances and fossils, each covering different genera and species. The last section deals with fossils, including examples of petrified plants and animals, petrified imprints of plants and animals, also covering human fossils. As mentioned on the title-page, included at the end of the second volume is a brief dictionary.
With a bookplate on paste-down. With some stains. Bindings rubbed along the extremities. Overall in good condition. Schuh II 4744; Ward 2218.