Rare Geology ".. .Huttonian Theory of the Earth", John Playfair 1802, 1st ed.

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“Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth” by John Playfair. Edinburgh: printed for Cadell and Davies,London and William Creech, Edinburgh; 1802. Hard cover with full leather boardsmeasuring 5.5”x 8.5”. Flat spine decorated in gilt with green label. 528 pages. First edition of "one of the most conspicuous landmarks in the progress of British geology”. Playfair’s fame as a scientist rests almost entirely on his work in geology in presenting James Hutton’s momentous theory in a clear and palatable form (which Hutton himself had failed to do)."–D.S.B., XI, p. 34. Regarding Playfair’s work, Sir Archibald Geikie wrote: "Of this great classic it is impossible to speak too highly. After the lapse of a century (now two centuries!) it may be read with as much profit and pleasure as when it first appeared. For precision of statement and felicity of language it has no superior in English scientific literature…. How different would geological literature be to-day if men had tried to think and write like Playfair!"–The Founders of Geology Playfair himself had significant firsthand knowledge of Hutton from about 1785 onward. Though they had at least been introduced well before then, it was surely their prolonged geological discussions following the presentation of Hutton's theory in March and April 1785 that drew them together. . . . Playfair's concise narrative of the Siccar Point adventure [1788] by Hutton, Hall and himself and his description of the unconformity discovered there is the most famous field report in the literature of modern geology. Though its eloquent language is obviously Playfair's, the imaginative reconstruction of past geological events . . . remains Hutton's own, as Playfair himself affirmed" (Dean, James Hutton and the History of Geology, pp. 117, 119). JAMES HUTTON (1726-1797) Scottish geologist, was born in Edinburgh on the 3rd of June 1726. Educated at the high school and university of his native city, he acquired a passionate love of scientific inquiry. He was apprenticed to a lawyer, but his employer advised that a more congenial profession should be chosen for him. The young apprentice chose medicine as being nearest akin to his favorite pursuit of chemistry. He studied for three years at Edinburgh, and completed his medical education in Paris, returning by the Low Countries, and taking his degree of doctor of medicine at Leiden in 1749. Finding, however, that there seemed hardly any opening for him, he abandoned the medical profession, and, having inherited a small property in Berwickshire from his father, resolved to devote himself to agriculture. He then went to Norfolk to learn the practical work of farming, and subsequently travelled in Holland, Belgium and the north of France. During these years he began to study the surface of the earth, gradually shaping in his mind the problem to which he afterwards devoted his energies. In the summer of 1754 he established himself on his own farm in Berwickshire, where he resided for fourteen years, and where he introduced improved forms of husbandry. As management of the farm became less of a challenge, it grew less interesting, and he was induced to lease it. In 1768, he left the farm and established himself for the rest of his life in Edinburgh. He was unmarried, and from this period until his death in 1797 he lived with his three sisters. Surrounded by congenial literary and scientific friends, he devoted himself to research. At that time geology in any proper sense of the term did not exist. Mineralogy, however, had made considerable progress. But Hutton had conceived larger ideas than were entertained by the mineralogists of his day. He desired to trace back the origin of the various minerals and rocks, and thus to arrive at some clear understanding of the history of the earth. For many years he continued to study the subject. At last, in the spring of the year 1785, he communicated his views to the recently established Royal Society of Edinburgh in a paper entitled Theory of the Earth, or an Investigation of the... read more

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