First edition, one of two simultaneously published issues, of the French translation of an essay regarding natural history and geology by the English naturalist John Woodward (1665-1728), translated by Pierre Noguez. "An important figure in the history of geology, Woodward proposed that a universal flood had once disintegrated all the stony and mineral matter forming the earth's crust along with animals and plants, ... Fossils, he asserted, were definitely the remains of once living animals or plants. This essay had a wide effect in Great Britain and Europe" (Hoover). The folding plate shows a cross-section of the earth at a scale of about 1:90,000,000, with a four-layer crust surrounding a water core. The essay is followed by Woodward's response to Camerarius's critique on Woodward's theory. Included at the end are letters written by or to prominent scholars and some extracts from texts supporting Woodward's theory, mostly dealing with fossils.
Endpapers waterstained. Binding worn along the extremities. Internally in very good condition. Zittel, pp. 29-30; STCN (6 copies); cf. Hoover 896-897; Ward 2362; for Woodward: DSB XIV, pp. 500-503.