Die Acantharia der Plankton-Expedition. Teil I: Acanthrometra. Teil II: Acanthophracta. [Complete].

Kiel und Leipzig, Lipsius & Tischer, 1904-1906. Two parts in two. 4to (32.1 x 26.2 cm). Two title pages each; 318 pp. [158; 160]; 28 [12; 16] lithographed plates, including one in chromolithography an two coloured maps; one large, multifolding table. Later uniform grey buckram with gilt title on the spine and original front wrappers mounted on the front boards. Speckled edges. = A rarely seen monograph of Atlantic Acantharia (Protozoa). With excellent illustrations. Part of the Ergebnisse der in dem Atlantischen Ocean von Mitte Juli bis anfang November 1889 ausgeführten Plankton-Expedition der Humboldt-Stiftung (Band III, part L. f. a, and Band III, part L. f. ß). The author, the German zoologist and microscopist Arthur Willy Karl Popofsky (1882- [after] 1933) also made the fine illustrations, reminiscent of the work by Ernst Haeckel. "Popofsky’s species descriptions and illustrations were generally of a high quality and are much more detailed than the very brief descriptions of earlier workers, such as Ehrenberg and Haeckel. . Popofsky continued the ‘evolutionary’ tradition established by Haeckel, and discussed possible evolutionary series and transformations of characters" (Lazarus, p. 15). Provenance: pictorial bookplate of the Bibliotheca Universitatis Sancti Andreae on the front pastedown of the first volume, with cancellation stamp of the same library. Some wear to the front board, otherwise a very good, clean set. Lazarus, D. (2012) The legacy of early radiolarian taxonomists, with a focus on the species published by early German workers. Journal of Micropalaeontology 33: 1-19); Nissen ZBI, 4624.