LYELL, Charles. Principles of Geology or the modern changes of the Earth and its inhabitants. London: John Murray. 1830-33.
8vo. 3 vols. Contemporary full brown calf, spines with raised bands, gilt tools and black morocco gilt lettering pieces; pp. xvi, 511, [1]; xii, 330; xxviii, 398,109, [1]; 9 plates and folding maps (maps in vol I bound in reverse order) , numerous text illustrations in each volume; front hinge of vol III recently repaired, occasional foxing especially to frontispiece of vol I, otherwise very good.
First edition. Scarce. This is the founding work of modern geology in which Lyell replaces the cataclysmic ideas of Cuvier with his uniformitarian theory of gradual geological change. Crucially, his vision of change as a steady process led to him to calculate that the Earth was far older than was previously believed, and that the process had a direct effect upon species variation. These two revolutionary ideas had a profound effect upon Darwin. As he wrote in his Autobiography, 'my books came half out of Lyell's brain'.
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