United States and Mexico Boundary Survey: Reptiles of the Boundary with 41 lithographed plates

Pp. 35; 41 halftone lithographed plates, rendered in exquisite detail.  Early dark blue cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, 4to (11 x 8 3/4 inches).  The United States and Mexican Boundary Survey (1848–1855) determined the border between the United States and Mexico as defined in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which had ended the Mexican American War. The results of the survey were published in the three volumes entitled Report on the United States and Mexican boundary survey, made under the direction of the secretary of the Interior by William H. Emory (1857-1859).  In addition to its documentation of the new boundary, the survey report was notable for its natural history content, including paleontology, botany, ichthyology, herpetology, ornithology, and mammalogy (modified from Wiki entry).  The part offered here is the complete work on the Reptiles.  In this work, the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) was first illustrated.  It was not recognized as a new species until 1869 (see Adler vol. 1, p. 41).  Signature of Professor T. P. Haines on the front endpaper.