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Thomas Pennant, The View of Hindoostan. Volume I: Western Hindoostan. Volume II: Eastern Hindoostan, London: No Publisher, Printed by Henry Hughs, 1798, 1st edition

Set of 2 volumes
Volume I: Western Hindoostan, [2] + 1 frontispiece + [1] + (ii-v) + [11] + [1] + 2-263 pages, [1], [9] index, [1], 8 plates, 1 head piece at top of page 1; rebound with new marbled boards and ornamented leather spine with gilt title
32.5 x 26 x 3 cm
Volume II: Eastern Hindoostan, 1 frontispiece, [10] + [1] + 2-374 pages, [13] index, 1 13 plates, 1 head piece at top of page 1, 1 map (folding); rebound with new marble boards and decorative gilt tooling and titles at the spine
32.5 x 26 x 3.3 cm

Thomas Pennant was an antiquarian, explorer, naturalist, and writer from Wales. He recorded what he observed and witnessed regarding the topography, geology, vegetation, animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish in his vicinity due to his insatiable naturalist curiosity. British Zoology, the History of Quadrupeds, Arctic Zoology, and Indian Zoology were among his critically acclaimed works. He maintained relationships with numerous scientific figures of his time. Samuel Johnson was influenced in his writings by his works. He amassed a substantial collection of artworks and other objects as an antiquarian, selecting them primarily for their scientific value. A considerable number of these works are presently preserved at the National Library of Wales.

"Pennant's first publication, an account of an earthquake felt in Flintshire in 1750, was published in the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions. In 1766, he published British Zoology followed by Indian Geology (1769), and A History of Quadrupeds (1781). Between 1784 and 1787, the three-volume Arctic Zoology appear; written as a series of excursions north from Britain and drew upon correspondents with local knowledge such as George Low who contributed information on the birds of Orkney as well as upon the researches of Pallas in Siberia and of Joseph Banks in Newfoundland. It was one of the first major studies of the zoology of the northern hemisphere and was widely acclaimed. Pennant followed this with publications based on his tours of Scotland and Wales. As he grew older, his inclination to travel decreased and he planned his last work, a fourteen-volume series titled Outlines of the Globe which was not completed. The above work contains the only two volumes published in his lifetime. Pennant did not visit "Hindoostan" and instead relied on the accounts of others, including Rennell, William Jones and Maurice. Two posthumous volumes were compiled by his son and published in 1800. Pennant's travels and natural history are distinguished by his personal energy, a keen observational sense, and by methodological organization and attention to facts. In such ways, and in his friendship and widespread correspondence with others of like interests throughout Britain and Europe, he may be said to exemplify those gentleman scholars of nature in the later eighteenth century whose interests in natural knowledge aimed at national improvement through intellectual enquiry. While he is perhaps better remembered for his Scottish tours, his British Zoology and Arctic Zoology in particular were important pioneering works and established him in the eyes of contemporaries as a leading European natural historian. For one modern scholar Pennant should be considered 'the leading British zoologist after Ray and before Darwin'." (ODNB)

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