Essai sur L’histoire Naturelle des Vertebres de la Province et des Departements Circonvoisins: Vertebres Anallantantoidiens (Poissons et Batraciens)

Pp. (7), 8-425 (3, index); 44 text-figures (line-drawings and halftones of fishes and frogs).  Publisher’s original reddish cloth over marbled boards, the spine is lettered in gilt and with blind-stamped panel lines, original marbled endpapers, sm 4to (10 x 6.5 inches; 255 x 170 mm).  This work provides a natural history of the fishes and amphibians inhabiting the southern provinces of France.  Jean Marius Francois Reguis (1850-1908) studied pharmacy at the School of Medicine in Marseille where he studied under Charles Lespes, Antoine-Fortune Marion, Alphonse Derbs, and Edouard Marie Heckel.  After finishing his education, he moved to Meyrargues in southwest France to begin his studies on the batrachians, reptiles, birds, mammals, anthropology, invertebrates, botany, and geology of the area.  He later joined the Faculty of Sciences at Marseille when he began writing a 16 volume encyclopedia on the natural history of southern France. Between 1876 and 1904 he published numerous monographs and journal articles on these topics, but they were never formally organized into his encyclopedia. This book appears to be one of the volumes in Regius’ proposed encyclopedia. This volume has long tables of the species Regius described in the volume.  Due to the extreme scarcity of the work, this volume was likely published in an edition of 500 copies or less.  All of his published works are very hard to find.  Regius died in 1908 after a lifetime of studying zoology, mycology, and botany of southern France.  This volume is warmly inscribed by the author to F. Letarte of Paris, dated July 30, 1882. Later from the library of ichthyologist J. Bohlke with his small name stamp at the bottom of the title page and the dedication page.  A rare regional work that seldom comes up for sale.