The Reptiles and Amphibians of South Australia (1st ed., 1929)

Adelaide: Government Printer. 1929. 1st ed., octavo, original printed wraps, pp. 270, Index, b/w illus. Previous owner's signature title page and front cover, fishing to upper cover with small chip at top of backstrip, closed tears rear cover, good condition. An important early scientific study, with 192 illustrations (drawings and photographs). Edgar Ravenswood Waite, who died shortly before this was published, was a British / Australian zoologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist and ornithologist, and was Director of the South Australian Museum. He was the first Australian ichthyologist to use detailed illustrations in his papers. "When speaking of reptiles, apparently one should not omit to use the word "loathsome" [...] Anything but slimy, a snake is perhaps one of the most highly polished of vertebrates, and there are few more attractive objects than one of our harmless, active, bright-eyed and beautifully coloured little lizards." (Author's Preface). 1st Edition. Wraps.