The foot-prints of the creator: or, the asterolepsis of stromness ... From the third London edition. With a memoir of the author by Louis Agassiz

Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1851. First American edition, and first edition with Agassiz's Memoir; 8vo, pp. [5] ads, [1], xlii, [1], 26-337, [1], [22] ads; engraved frontispiece portrait by Sartain, from a Talbotype; nearly 60 figures in the text; original brown cloth, gilt-stamped spine; slight cracking at the spine ends, very good. With the ownership signature in pencil on the front free endpaper of Chester Averill (1836-1883), "State Geological Survey of Cal., San Fran, 1862." Also with pencil annotations by Averil in a dozen or so places throughout the text, often taking exception to Miller's observations. Hugh Miller was an uneducated quarry man who came to prominence by writing letters to his local editor in Scotland condemning the House of Lords for demanding changes made to the Church of Scotland. His skills as a writer were immediately recognized and he was encouraged to write and publish more articles. Since his first love was the quarry in which he worked he began writing articles on geology which were very well received and published in book form. His autobiography went through numerous editions and was seen as an example for the working class of how a uneducated man could succeed by hard work and trust in his opinions. Miller, whose work was praised by such men as Agassiz, Carlyle, Hunt and Huxley, committed suicide two days before Christmas in 1856.