Systems of consanguinity and affinity of the Human family.

Washington, DC, Smithsonian Institution, 1870 [1871]. Large 4to (31.7 x 24.1 cm). xii, 590 pp.; 14 plates, numerous tables. Contemporary half morocco over pebbled boards. Spine with five raised, gilt-bordered bands and gilt title. front board with large gilt vignette. Marbled endpapers. top edge gilt. = The very seldom-seen original edition, in a nice binding. Published in the Series, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, this being the complete volume 17. The author, Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) ".was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social evolution, and his ethnography of the Iroquois. Interested in what holds societies together, he proposed the concept that the earliest human domestic institution was the matrilineal clan, not the patriarchal family." (Wikipedia). This is his most important work. Provenance: the gilt vignette of the Bibliotheca civitatis Londoniarum on the front board, however no other markings. Boards a bit worn at edges, chip to front free endpaper inner lower margin, otherwise very good, clean.