AUTHOR: Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de (1707-1788) TITLE: Buffon's Natural history, abridged: including the history of the elements, the earth, mountains, rivers, seas, winds, whirlwinds, waterspouts, volcanoes, earthquakes, man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, shell-fish, lizards, serpents, insects, and vegetables. IMPRINT: London: published for C. and G. Kearsley, 1792. COLLATION: 2 v., 107 leaves of plates: ill.; 22 cm. (8vo) NOTES: Includes index. “‘Georges Louis Le Clerc, Comte de Buffon … was born near Dijon. In 1735 he published a French translation of Hales’ Vegetable staticks. In 1739 he was appointed Director of the Jardin du Roi, and, although he was not really a working naturalist, he took such a lively interest in the Royal Gardens that he made them the centre of botanical research in France. During his directorship the gardens were considerably enlarged, and enriched with many additional plants from foreign lands. In this way, but much more so by his gift of lucid description and exposition, he helped enormously to make the study of biology popular; and this constitutes perhaps his chief claim to a place in the history of biology.’ (Wolf, A history of science, p. 461)” — Jeff Weber, catalogue no. 50 KEYWORDS: 1. Natural history. LOCATION: QH45.B83 1792