Catalog Archive
Auction 138, Lot 67

"Ideal Section of a Portion of the Earth's Crust, Intended to Shew the Order of Deposition of the Stratified Rocks, with their Relations to the Unstratified Rocks"

Subject: Cartographic Miscellany

Period: 1837 (dated)

Publication:

Color: Hand Color

Size:
46.8 x 8 inches
118.9 x 20.3 cm
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This large-scale folding chart, by Webster and Buckland, shows the rock strata of the earth's crust. This was one of the earliest attempts to visually integrate Steno's principle of superposition with William Smith's use of fossils to identify the age of rock strata. The chart shows younger sedimentary rocks overlying older metamorphic and igneous rocks, and recent volcanic deposits above previously deposited strata. Buckland added 120 striking illustrations of fossil and living organisms, arranging them from left to right above the rock layers according to their presumed age. Dinosaurs, not yet named and recognized, are represented by a horned Iguanodon. A Dodo bird is shown, along with a note that it had not been found alive since 1691. The chart is accompanied by a detailed 17 pp. explanation, identifying the rock and numbered plants and animals. Published in the 1837 London edition of William Buckland's Geology and Mineralogy.

References:

Condition: B+

There is some light toning and a few faint spots, else very good.

Estimate: $550 - $700

Sold for: $400

Closed on 12/7/2011

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