Pierre Barrere Essai sur l'histoire naturelle de la France equinoxiale (1741; First Edition) First

First edition copy we offering here last time has been sold on an auction by Sotheby's in 1971, and later only once offered on an auction (again by Sotheby's in 2009, with an estimation of GBP 2.500 - 3.000, not sold).

"Reptile called the Matamata (Chelus fimbriatus) first came to the attention of European explorers around 1730. The first time that the species was however described was by Pierre Barrere (1690-1755) in his work “Essai sur l’histoire naturelle de la France equinoxiale, ou Denombrement des plantes, des animaux et des mineraux qui se trouvent dans l’isle de Cayenne, les isles de Remire, sur les cotes de la mer et dans le continent de la Guyane” (1741; page 165). This Latin text describes the appearance habits of the Matamata that Barrere obtained on his journeys to Guyana and represents the oldest European description of Matamata. He calls it “Testudo terrestris, major putamine echinato, & striato” basically this is saying it is a terrestrial tortoise with an echinate shell that is striated. Again by terrestrial he means not oceanic." (From "Reptile Names: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Systematics of Reptiles" - https://reptilenames.wordpress.com/2015/09/20/why-nomenclature-a-case-of-history/)

"Essai sur l'histoire naturelle de la France equinoxiale, ou Denombrement des Plantes, des Animaux & des Mineraux, qui se trouvent dans l'Isle de Cayenne, les Isles de Remire, sur les Cotes de la Mer, & dans le Continent de la Guyane. Avec leurs noms differens, Latins, Francois, & Indiens, & quelques Observations sur leur usage dans la Medecine & dans les Arts."

Contemporary full leather binding; Colation complet - xxiv, 315 [i.e. 215], [7]pp.; Binding is tight and firm, with some scuffings and little chipped to the extremities, overall in very good condition. Text block/pages with some yellowing and light foxing, overall in very good condition, but there are also wetting aureoles (traces of wetting) throughout the book at the bottom of the pages (only in the margin, not on the text).