Crampton's Great Study of Snail Evolution
Studies on the Variation, Distribution, and Evolution of the Genus Partula: The Species Inhabiting Moorea (vol. 3)
Notes: "Crampton made twelve expeditions to the Pacific and published three magnificent monographs—probably the finest work ever done on the evolution of land snails...How can we assess the importance of Crampton's work...? I am biased to be sure, for snail men (I am one) revere Crampton as a kind of patron saint, but I rank Crampton's Partula studies as one of the most important in the history of evolutionary biology"—quoted from the essay "Unenchanted Evening" in Stephen Jay Gould's Eight Piggies.
This is the third and final volume, considering the land snails of Moorea, a South Pacific island near Tahiti in French Polynesia.
335 pages plus 24 plates, including eight color plates depicting some 450 shells at full size. 9 by 12 inches.
Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing). A near fine hardcover copy, lacking the very scarce dust jacket. This was Stephen Jay Gould's copy, with a posthumous bookplate denoting the provenance.
Publication: Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1932.
Item No: #363018
Price: $125