June 2021 Catalogue

8 S c i e n c e & M e d i c i n e • J u n e 2 0 2 1 With Hundreds Of Wood-Engravings Of Aboriginal Life By The Dalziel Brothers 6. WOOD, J.G. The Natural History of Man; Being an Account of theManners and Customs of the Uncivilized Races of Men. London, 1868-70. Two volumes. Tall, thick octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown morocco gilt. $1250. Click for more info First edition of Wood’s popular anthropological study designed for “non-scientific minds,” with hundreds of magnificent full-page and in-text wood-engravings by the Dalziel Brothers. John Wood’s sole purpose for producing his Natural History series was “to popularise the study of natural history by rendering it interesting and intelligible to non-scientific minds” (DNB). “Wood merely passed over such subjects as Darwinism and natural theology in silence and concentrated on persuading his readers that observing natural history ‘is far better than a play, and one gets fresh air besides’” (Samuel Weston-Smith). His Natural History of Man is divided into two volumes: “Africa”; and “Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, America, Asia, and Ancient Europe.” They contain hundreds of in-text wood-engravings by the famous Dalziel brothers. “Until photo process put an end to reproductive wood- engraving, the most familiar name in Victorian book illustration was Dalziel” (Hodnett, 148). Fine condition, handsomely bound and beautifully illustrated.