Histoire naturelle de l'homme [Natural History of Man]

..., comprenant des recherches sur l'influence des agens physiques et moraux considérés comme causes des variétés qui distinguent entre elles les différentes races humaines, comprenant des recherches sur l'influence des agens physiques et moraux considérés comme causes des variétés qui distinguent entre elles les différentes races humaines

First French language edition of Prichard's "Natural History of Man," published the same year as the original English 40 hand colored steel engravings and 90 woodcut illustrations throughout the text. Navy leather-backed with marbled boards with gilt stamped spines. 8vo, 416 + 406pp. Plates collated complete. Very good: rubbing and wear to fragile joints and spine ends with tidy color restoration. Old catalog description affixed to vol. 1 pastedown and occasional offsetting, otherwise clean. Plates unblemished and still remarkably vivid, with tissue guards intact. "...a pre-Darwinian text that attempts to categorize all known races in the world in order to create an organized account based on the varying characteristics of the races. Prichard's work emphasizes the university of man as a single species, thus holding the biblical notion of man derived from a single being true. He went against the current trend in anthology, lead by scientist Bluemenbach, in that he did not believe that a race's characteristics could simply be defined by mere observational information. Yet in this text, Prichard serves to provide a description of various races, both physical and cultural while simultaneously highlighting the unity of man as a single species. His work begins with a brief scientific overview of anthropological categorization popular during the time and then proceeds to provide numerous "case studies" of different races in which he incorporates various explorer's observations and insights along with his own commentary." (courtesy Tufts Library Archives)