A General Natural History, or new and accurate descriptions of the animals, vegetables and minerals of the different parts of the world.

London, Thomas Osborne 1748-1752. Royal Paper Copy, Text Ruled in Red Throughout, Folio, Contemporary Red Morocco gilt. pp. 6 ll., 654 pp., 3 ll .; XXVI, 642 pages, 4 sheets; 4 ll., 584 pp., 2 ll

Royal Paper Copy in Contemporary Red Morocco

FIRST EDITION of Hill's popular work describing fossils, animals and plants, with altogether 56 hand coloured engraved plates and folding table,

Contains: Volume I: A history of fossils. With 12 plates and 1 folding table. - Volume II: A history of plants. With 16 plates. - Volume III: A history of animals. With 28 plates, all coloured by a contemporary hand.

Of the seventy-six separate works with which he is credited in the Dictionary of National Biography, the most valuable are those that deal with botany particularly The British Herbal. He is said to have been the author of the second part of The Oeconomy of Human Life (1751), the first part of which is by Lord Chesterfield, and Hannah Glasse's famous manual of cookery was generally ascribed to him (see Boswell, ed. Hill, iii. 285). Dr Johnson said of him that he was "an ingenious man, but had no veracity."

Repair to 1 text leaf and plate without loss.

Provenance: Royal Society of Edinburgh (stamp on title page).

Nissen, Zool. 1939. - Agassiz III, 241, 2. - Henrey 809. - Freeman 1672. - Pritzel 4061