Bibliographic Detail
Durant, C.F., 1850
Reference:
Durant, C.F. (1850). Algae and corallines of the bay & harbor of New York, illustrated with natural types. pp. 1-43 and specimens. New York: George P. Putnam Printed by Narine & Co..
Location:
New York
Notes:
DURANT, GEORGE FERSON. Algae and Corallines, of the Bay & Harbor of New York, Illustrated with Natural Types. New York: George P. Putnam, Printed by Narine & Co. 1850.
4to, 343 x 255mm.(13 1/2 x 10 1/8in.), original red chagrine (or pebble-grained morocco) gilt and gilt-lettered, g.e., broken and stained, first few quires coming unsewn, some foxing to specimen mounts, scattered marginal foxing to text, occasional slight loss to specimens.
FIRST AND ONLY EDITION, ONE OF 50 COPIES PRINTED, CONTAINING 179 ORIGINAL DRIED SPECIMENS OF MARINE PLANTS FROM NEW YORK HARBOR, lithographed title and dedication leaf (included in pagination), 43 pp. text printed within decorative border, each specimen pasted or glued to its own mount with hand-impressed printed number corresponding to text description, on 40 heavy paper leaves, leaf of "Notices from the Press" at end.
Better known as the first professional American aeronaut than for his algological investigations, Charles Ferson Durant (1805-1873), a native of New York City, accompanied the French balloonist Eugene Robertson on several ascensions in Paris, before making the first solo balloon flight by a native-born American on American soil, on September 9, 1830. He made 12 more ascensions before giving up the dangerous sport upon his marriage in 1837, after which he set up shop as a printer and lithographer and became active in Jersey City politics. His many other interests included the fabrication of the first American native silk, for which the American Institute awarded him several gold medals. He devoted the remainder of his spare time to collecting and classifying the local seaweed, "doubtless because of a business connection with the fish and oyster trade of New York City" (DAB).
RARE: no copies have come up at auction in this century. Four copies are recorded in OCLC, held by the Botany Libraries of Harvard University, the American Museum of Natural History, Ohio State University Library, and Wellesley College Library.
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