The Scriptural History of the Earth and of Mankind, compared with the Cosmogonies, Chronologies, and Original Traditions of Ancient Nations; an Abstract and Review of Several Modern Systems.. by HOWARD, Philip

vi, [2], 602 pp., one leaf of errata. 4to, fine cont. tree calf (very slightly worn at head), gilt borders on sides, spine gilt in compartments, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: R. Faulder, 1797. First edition and a lovely copy. This book was written at a pivotal point in the history of geology, after the publication of Hutton's Theory of the Earth (1795) but before Playfair's Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth (1802). It was a time when no theory had been generally accepted and Biblical theories were still widely current. Howard's substantial book is a review of some current theories and the exposition of his own. The theories he reviews are those of Bailly, Buffon, Wallerius and Hutton. His own theory, while based on science, is Mosaical and is intended to be perfectly consistent with the Scriptures. Howard's theory of geology is one of nineteen reviewed by Accum in his A System of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry (1807), who devotes an entire page to it. Howard (d. 1810) was a member of the prominent Roman Catholic Howard family from Corby Castle in Yorkshire. This work grew out of two letters that he published in French in 1786, occasioned by a difference of opinion relative to the causes of the formation of mountains between him and his friend the Marquis de Montegny. Fine copy. ❧ Roy Porter, The Making of Geology. Earth Science in Britain 1660-1815, pp. 165 & 196-(who describes Howard as a "Scriptural-Geologist").