The Fossils of the South Downs; or, Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex

FIRST EDITION, 42 engraved plates (2 folding), including the hand-coloured map, half title, 1p. Publisher’s advertisement at rear, some staining to frontispiece and plates, some leaves reinforced, modern half calf, gilt, 4to, Lupton Relfe, 1822

First edition of Mantell’s first and most important work. The work contains his early research into the fossil remains of the South Downs in southern England. Arranged according to rock type and strata, Mantell provides descriptions and analysis of fossil tropical plants, fish, molluscs and what he described as ‘an animal of the lizard tribe, of enormous magnitude’. Seventy-six of these fossils, new to science, were here named by him for his scientific friends.

This volume was the first published work to describe a collection of dinosaur remains. Mantell’s subsequent work on these remains was the origin of the scientific study of dinosaurs.