Breislak, Scipio | Altas geologique, with engravings showing basalt formations across Europe

Breislak, Scipio

Atlas geologique; ou vues d'amas de colonnes basaltiques faisant suite aux institutions geologiques. Milan: n.p., 1818

One of 3 volumes only, the atlas volume, oblong (205 x 153 mm). Engraved double-page “Avis,” engraved double-page title, and 55 double-page plates engraved by Riboldi and Dall’Acqua; a few instances of light marginal foxing, mostly affecting plates 19 and 32. Quarter calf over marbled boards, spine decorated in gilt and blind with gilt-lettered spine-title and a printed paper label, all edges attractively sprinkled red and blue; some scuffing and light wear extremities, mostly at corners and spine ends.

A nice, clean, fresh copy of this scarce work.

The plates mostly show columnar basalt rock formations throughout Europe the British Isles, including ones at Fingal’s Cave in Scotland, The Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, and the Cascade du Ray-Pic waterfalls in the Ardeche, France. The two final plates are of detailed studies of rock specimens.

"Considered one of the founders of volcanology in Italy, Breislak was the first to determine that basaltic rocks were of extrusive origin; he also emphasized that the tufaceous deposits of Campania originated under water, and he reconstructed the evolution of Vesuvius" (Dictionary Scientific Biography, Scipio Breisak).

REFERENCES

Cole 198; Ferchl 68; Ward & Carozzi, 311

PROVENANCE

Joseph A. Freilich (booklabel; Sotheby’s New York, 10 January 2001, lot 95)