James Parkinson, Organic remains of a former world
James Parkinson,
Organic remains of a former world : An examination of the mineralized remains of the vegetables and animals of the antediluvian world; generally termed extraneous fossils.
Volume I. The vegetable kingdom
London : Printed by Whittingham and Rowland, and published by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1808-1811.
Donated by Martin Rudwick. STORE 221:2
James Parkinson (1755-1824) trained as a surgeon and apothecary but an interest in chemistry soon introduced him to mineralogy and the history of the earth. A keen collector of fossils and minerals, Parkinson decided to produce a book of interest to the general reader, resulting in this three-volume work on the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Written as letters between a beginner and expert in the study of the earth, the work discusses field excursions, laboratory experiments, the names and locations of fossils, and the process of fossilisation itself. The three volumes were published and reprinted variously as each went out of print. The Whipple’s set has a first and third volume printed in 1811 and a second volume dated 1808.