Estate / Collection: The Property of a New England Family

MAURY, M[ATTHEW] F[ONTAINE]
The Physical Geography of the Sea. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855. First edition. Publisher's dark brown rib patterned cloth, gilt decoration to front board, spine lettered in gilt. 9 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches (24.5 x 15.75 cm); [i]-xxiv, [25]-274 pp., with eight folding plates comprising one table and seven maps, and three woodcut illustrations in text. Wear to extremities, losses at spine ends, a few small losses to cloth mostly at rear board, large bump to edge of front board, cloth splitting along joints but sound, endpapers soiled, generally light foxing throughout, occasional toning, some creasing to folding plates, small hole in plate XI, old ownership signature, bookplate of Edwin Parsons, old newspaper cutting printing "Commander Maury's address at the laying of the cornerstone of the University of the South.

The first edition of Maury's best-known work, and the first comprehensive work of modern oceanography. The folding maps show the ocean's currents, wind directions, locations of whales, the paths of a hurricane, and the depth of the ocean's floor.