The geology of the south-east of England

Mantell, Gideon (1790-1852). The geology of the south-east of England. xix, 415pp. Lithographed frontispiece and 5 plates (1 folding), folding colored map, text illustrations. London: Longman, Rees, Orne, Brown, Green & Longman, 1833. 213 x 134 mm. 19th century half calf, marbled boards, light edgewear. Plates somewhat foxed, otherwise very good. 19th century bookplate.

First Edition. Announcing the discovery of Hylaeosaurus, the third dinosaur specimen to be discovered, and the first known specimen of the Ankylosauria. Mantell, a British obstetrician and enthusiastic amateur paleontologist, had discovered the first true dinosaur, the Iguanadon, in 1822 in the British county of Sussex. "In 1832 Mantell discovered the first strongly armored group of dinosaurs. He described this fossil, which he named Hylaeosaurus, in The Geology of the South-east of England. . . . Meanwhile, Buckland in 1824 had described the remains of the large carnivorous dinosaur Megalosaurus from the Jurassic near Oxford. Thus the first three dinosaurs to be known, the Iguanadon, the Megalosaurus, and the Hyaelosaurus, each belonged to a quite distinct group, later called Ornithopoda, Theropoda, and Ankylosauria, respectively" (Dictionary of Scientific Biography). 41172