Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and other Volcanos: In a series of letters, addressed to the Royal Society . . . To which are added, explanatory notes by the author hitherto unpublished, new edition by HAMILTON, Sir William - 1774

London: T. Cadell, 1774. 3rd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 3rd Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 8vo (192 x 122 mm). iv, 179 [1] pp., five engraved plates, folding engraved map, additional engraved plate showing the eruption of Mt. Vesuve of Aug. 8, 1779, and not belonging to this work, pasted on inner front board. Contemporary sprinkled calf, spine with 5 raised bands gilt in compartments and with gilt-lettered morocco label, gilt-tooled board edges (hinges split, extremities rubbed, corners and spine-ends worn). Text crisp and clean, title page a bit browned, light offsetting from plates as usual. Provenance: William Ambler (signed and inscribed "Durham, 1776" on title-page), St. Hugh's College, Tollerton (ink stamp on first flyleaf). A fine copy internally with wide margins and in untouched binding of the time. ----

Hoover 385; Ward 1002; Zittel 6. THIRD, ENLARGED, EDITION of the observations on the volcanoes of southern Italy and Naples by the diplomat and noted collector Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803). The fine engraved plates are the same as those in the 1772 first edition and show the Vesuve, Aetna and Stromboli volcanoes. William Hamilton is best known for his gathering up examples of classical vases, frescos and other antiquities. The folding map shows the Gulf of Naples with Mt. Vesuve. The final page contains an advertisement for the four folio volumes of 'A Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities'.
"First collected edition, edited by Thomas Cadell, with additional notes supplied by Hamilton, of papers first published in Philosophical Transactions. Hamilton was elected FRS in 1766, and these papers were the first published the results of his extensive studies on volcanoes - he climbed Vesuvius at least twenty-two times. These detailed reports were important in the development of "vulcanism" (Porter, Earth Sciences 5-14). His great colour plate book of views of volcanoes, Campi phlegraei, was not published until 1776." (Schuh, Curtis, Bibliography of Mineralogy, The Mineralogical Record, Online resources. Visit our website to see more images!