Symbolae physicae seu icones et descriptiones piscium, qui ex itinere per Africam borealem et Asiam occidentalem. Decas prima: Pisces. [The Elasmobranchia - sharks, ray plates].

Berlin, Officina Academica, "1828" [1899]. Folio (50.8 x 35.2 cm). Atlas with five, finely hand-coloured lithographed plates showing sharks (4) and a ray (1). In original portfolio with printed boards. = Part of a large work on the natural history of northeastern Africa and the Middle East, published piecemeal, always in issues with ten plates, over a long period. This "decas", however, is all that was published on the fishes. Four plates depict 12 species of sharks, and another one a large ray. Not included are the other plates (1, 3, 8-10), all showing bone-fishes. These are all Red Sea species. Traditionally the work is attributed to "Ehrenberg and Hemprich", but on the front board the names are switched. One caption mentions "H & E" as authors. Dean lists this under Hemprich and Ehrenberg. Hemprich died, en route, in 1825, and his compatriot and fellow explorer Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795-1876) published the results under both names. This section was supposed to be published in 1828, the date on the front wrapper, along with the mammals, and birds, but was delayed until well after Ehrenberg's death, finally being published in 1899. Uncut, with the widest possible margins. Unmarked. Some light spotting, but generally clean. The boards in excellent condition. Dean I, p. 562; Junk Rara, p. 138; Nissen ZBI, 1247.