Outlines of Mineralogy

Oxford/London: Bliss, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Messrs, 1809. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 2 Volumes. Oxford: Printed by N. Bliss, for J. Parker & R. Bliss; Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme & Messrs. Rivingtons, London, 1809. 2 vols. 8vo (220x142 mm). xvii, [3], xxxix, [1], 255, [1] pp.; viii, 227 [1], 39 [1], [14: index], [2: errata],16 pp. Appendix, index, errata leaf (for both volumes) and 16 pages of publishers catalog at the end of vol. 2, recent papercard boards, pages untrimmed, very minor browning and occasional weak spotting, staining to pages 163 to 167, old inscriptions to titles verso. A fine, broad margined copy of a rare mineralogical treatise. ----

Partington, History of Chemistry, 1961-70: 4, 76. Porter, Making of Geology, 1980: 144, 183, 234 & 210. The Quarterly Review: 2 (1809), no. 3, 61-74. Smith, Early Mineralogy in Great Britain, 1978: 59. Woodward, History of Geology, 1911: 45 & 66. Mineralogical Record Library (Curtis Schuh's Bibl. of Mineralogy) -

FIRST EDITION. "Probably written as a companion textbook to the mineralogical lectures delivered by the author at Oxford, Outlines of Mineralogy is a derivative work that reflects the state of mineralogy during the first decade of the nineteenth century. It is principally based upon the earlier mineralogical writings of Richard Kirwan and René Just Haüy. For example, the system of classification that divides the mineral species has been lifted from Kirwan and uses the divisions of Earthy, Saline, Inflammable and Metallic Substances. An appendix handles rocks and other aggregates. The crystallographical information scattered through out is derived from Haüy" (Mineralogical Record Online Lib.). Kidd was a professor or chemistry at Oxford who also lectured on mineralogy and geology. He published two textbooks on the subject, viz. the Outlines in 1809 and A Geological Essay in 1815 (Ward & Carozzi 1254).