Die Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs. Dritter Band. Amphibien und Fische.

Leipzig, Otto Wigand, 1861. 4to (26.0 x 18.3 cm). xxi, 408 pp., 423 fine woodcuts. Contemporary half calf over black marbled boards. Spine with embossed lines and label with hand-written title. Mottled edges. = First edition of a lesser-known work by the German zoologist and palaeontologist Christoph Gottfried Andreas Giebel (1820-1881). The work has two title pages, viz. the one cited above, and "Die drei Reiche der Natur in drei Abtheilungen. Mit 8000 Abbildungen. Erste Abtheilung: Die Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs. Dritter Band". This is the complete section on reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. The first two groups occupy 163 pages, with 233 text engravings, the fish-part has 190 engravings. "Giebel's scope of research was broad and herpetology was one small, but significant part of it.He seems to have been the first to bring together in a single figure the enormous diversity of foot and toe structures in geckos" (Adler, referring to fig. 88 of the present work). Old owners inscription in the top margin of the front flyleaf. Some rubbing to the boards, light scattered spotting, mostly to the title pages, but not very obtrusive, otherwise a good copy. Adler III, pp. 115-116. Not in Nissen.