BATES, Henry Walter (1825–1892)

Fifth edition in the same decorated cloth as the first edition of 1863 in two volumes. This splendid work was one of the finest scientific travel books of the nineteenth century. It went through many editions and was translated into several languages. Bates remarked that he would rather spend another eleven years on the Amazon than write another book. Darwin called this book “the best work on natural travels ever published in England” and Bates' paper on mimicry, “Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley. Lepidoptera: Heliconidae”, Darwin commented on as “one of the most remarkable and admirable papers I have ever read in my life.” During the expedition to the Amazon undertaken by him and Alfred Russel Wallace to gather facts “towards solving the problem of the origin of species” Bates estimated that he had collected 14.712 animal species (primarely insects); more than 8.000 of these were new to science. After arriving in England in the summer of 1859, Bates began to work on his enormous collections. In November 1859 Darwin published On the Origin of Species and Bates was an immediate convert, and had some substantial and impressive evidence of his own to contribute to Darwin’s arguments.

Collation: Pp x, 394. With frontispiece and numerous full-page and other wood-engraved illustrations included in the pagination.

Binding: Publisher’s green cloth, blind and gilt decoration.

Provenance: Bookplate: Whitmore C. Richards.

References: DSB, I. pp 500-504.First edition 2 vols (1863) Rootenberg 11/6 (2003).