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70. DARWIN, Charles Robert. The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. London: William Clowes and Sons for John Murray, 1876.
£350
8vo. Original green cloth gilt; pp. viii, 208, 32 (advertisements dated January 1882), wood-engraved illustrations in the text after George Darwin; previous owner’s inscription to prelim, corners slightly bumped, otherwise very good.
Second edition, second thousand. Darwin’s investigation of the adaptive value of climbing plants was originally issued in the Journal and Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London in 1865 and was only published in book form in 1875 in its second edition, which greatly enlarged the original work of 118 pages to 208 pages. Darwin “found that `climbing’ is a result of the process of nutation; the apex of the plant’s stem bends to one side while it grows and the plane of the bend itself revolves, clockwise or counterclockwise, so that the apex describes circular sweeping movements. In the hop plant — in hot weather, during daylight hours — it takes a little over two hours for each revolution. If the growing stem hits nothing, it continues to circle; if it hits an object it wraps itself around it by twining. Twining thus enables a young and feeble plant, in one season, to raise its growing point and leaves much higher from the ground, with more exposure to sunlight and air, without expending time and energy in the synthesis of woody supporting tissues. There is a further delicate adaptation here; a twining plant will not twine around an object larger than approximately six inches in diameter. This adaptation prevents it from climbing up a large tree, where it would be deprived of air and sun by the tree’s own leaves” (DSB III, p. 575). Darwin continued these researches further after publication through his investigations into the mechanics of the bending of a plant’s stem, which were published in The Power of Movement in Plants in 1880.
Freeman 837.
71.DARWIN, Charles Robert. The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, Under the Command of Captain FitzRoy, R.N., during the Years 1832 to 1836. C.I.L. Limited, 1994.
£1,200
4to. 4 vols.original three-quarter calf, housed in the original wooden bookcase, lid hinged so as to act as a lectern; numerous text illustrations; a handsome production, fine..
RGS commemorative edition, no. 289 of 1000 copies, signed by John
Hemming.This is the commemorative reprint of Darwin’s magnificent study of the birds, fish and mammals collected on the Beagle expedition. Darwin joined the Beagle for her second surveying voyage under FitzRoy, which continued the survey of South America begun on the first voyage. The Zoology was published on Darwin’s return in 1838-1843, with contributions from leading scholars of the day such as John Gould, Richard Owen, and Thomas Bell. The present edition, reprinted from the original edition, is housed in a purpose-made bookcase, the top of which opens to form a lectern for displaying and reading the books.
72
72. DAVIS, J.R. Ainsworth. The Natural History of Animals. The Gresham Publishing Company. 1903.
£200
4to. 8 vols. Original red Arts and Crafts cloth binding, possibly by Talwin Morris; pp. xii + 256 + 8, 4 coloured plates; xii + 257-499 + 8, 3 coloured plates; xvi + 256 + 8, 5 coloured plates; xii + 257-470 + 8, 3 coloured plates; xvi + 280 + 8, 3 coloured plates; xvi + 281-494, 4 coloured plates; xvi + 260 + 8, 4 coloured plates; xx + 261-555 + 8, 5 coloured plates, coloured model of pigeon attached to rear board; slight rubbng to ebindings, very good, a handsome set.
First edition. A comprehenesive and lavishly presented survey of the animal kingdom
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73. DERRY, Ramsay. The World of Robert Bateman. Viking. 1985.
£45
Oblong 4to. Original cloth and wrapper; pp. 180, illustrated throughout in colour; spine sunned, very good.
First edition. A very attractive survey of the work of the celebrated Canadian wildlife artist and environmental activist.
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