Memoire sur les pierres composées et sur les roches.

Paris, Cuchet, 1791. 4to (25.1 x 19.6 cm). Drophead title, 102 pp. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Spine with gilt ornamental bands and floral vignettes. = Dieudonné Guy Sylvain Tancrède, known as Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu (1750-1808) was a famous geologist during the end of the 18th century and Napoleonic time. He was one of the scientist of the Expédition d'Egypte and the geological institute and museum in Grenoble is named after him too, as is the mineral Dolomite, which in turn gave its name to the Dolomites, a considerable mountain range in the Italian Alps. In this very rare work, a repaginated offprint from the Journal de physique du mois de novembre 1791, he gives an overview of different types of minerals and rocks. Provenance: stamp of the rich, geological and mineralogical Élie de Beaumont library in the lower margin of the title page, next to a stamp of the Société des Mines de Nouzilleras. Some light foxing to a few leaves, otherwise an excellent copy, attractively bound. Ward and Carozzi.