Thomson's The Voyage of the HMS Challenger - Volume with 30 Originally Hand-Colored Lithographs

Artist or Author: Sir C. Wyville Thomson

Work: Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76

Date of Publication: 1881

Style: Volume with 30 Originally Hand-Colored Lithographs

Paper Size: ~ 10 1/4" by 12 5/8"

Condition: The work is in good to excellent condition overall. The bindings and board have significant wear and some have separated. There are library stamps on the verso of the plates that cannot be seen from the front. There is a library blind stamp in the upper right corner of the plates. There may be some toned or foxed spots to the work. There may be a few minor imperfections or fox marks to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.

Description of the work: This is volume two on zoology with 30 originally hand-colored lithographs of Sir C. Wyville Thomson's Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76. The Captains of the HMS Challanger are also credited for the work, George S. Nares and Frank Turle Thomson. This volume was published in 1881 in London and Edinburgh for Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

This is an important volume focused on birds from the 50 volume publication. Sir C. Wyville Thomson served as the director of the civilian scientific staff and oversaw the initial publication.

The volume is bound in quarter red leather with gold gilt lettering and lines to spine with five raised bands. There are 30 originally hand-colored bird lithographs by Philip Lutley Sclater.

The work itself helped found the modern science of oceanography. Its findings were based on the expedition in the HMS Challenger sponsored by the British Royal Navy. HMS Challenger traversed 69,000 nautical miles attempting to map the sea floor, ocean currents, chemistry, and life from the deep ocean. It ultimately resulted in the discovery of 4,700 new species of marine life and took the first soundings of the Mariana Trench.

Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913) was a prolific ornithologist and longtime editor of The Ibis. His personal collection of 9,000 birds was given to the British Museum in 1886.

Provenance: Owned by Professor William Gardner Hale, top British authority on wading birds