The Animal Kingdom, arranged after its Organization; forming a Natural History of Animals, and an Introduction to Comparative Anatomy. By the late Baron Cuvier ... translated and adapted to the Present State of Science. A New Edition, with Additions by W.B. Carpenter ... and J.O. Westwood
London, A. Fullarton and Co., 1859 (new edition)/ 1816.
Large octavo, xxii, 706 pages with over 160 line illustrations plus 4 monotints, 40 hand-coloured plates and an additional engraved title page with a portrait vignette.
Contemporary full polished prize calf (see below), the spine extensively decorated in gilt in compartments, with a contrasting leather title-label; all edges and endpapers marbled; leather slightly marked, scuffed and a little rubbed at the extremities; head of the rear joint cracked but neatly sealed; minor adhesion damage to the inner margin of one leaf; an excellent copy.
A Collegiate School of St Peter prize binding, with the college crest in gilt on the front cover, and a presentation plate ('For Acting as Prefect ... June 1861') on the front pastedown. The recipient was Nicholas O'Halloran; his contemporary ownership signature is written in ink at the head of the engraved title page. Nicholas O'Halloran (1844-1912), sheep farmer and auctioneer ('Biographical Index of South Australians, 1836-1885'), was a son of Irish-born William Littlejohn O'Halloran (1806-1885), who came with his family to South Australia in 1840. 'In 1843 he was appointed private secretary to Governor Grey and also clerk of the Legislative Council, where he held office until 1851, when he was appointed auditor-general. He remained in that office under several governments until 1868 and was highly regarded as an able and conscientious civil servant. He died at Glenelg on 15 July 1885' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography'). The prize plate is signed by the head master, the Reverend George Henry Farr, who held the position from 1854 to 1878.
Item #110769
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