ALPES AND ALPINISM - Saussure, Horace-Benedict de. Travels through the Alps, together with an attempt on the natural history of the regions of Geneva. Translated from the French and enriched with notes [by J. S. Wyttenbach]. 4 vols. With gest. Title vignette, 2 folded. Engraved maps and 14 (13 folding) copper plates. Leipzig, Junius, 1781-1788. 8°. Full leather of the time with 2 spine labels and spine gilt (spine somewhat lightened, corners slightly rubbed and bumped). PMM 247 c - Poggendorff II, 755 - Wäber I, 39 - Zittel 82 - Beringer 44 - Lehner 296 - Fromm 23656 - Lonchamp 2615 - DSB XII, 121 - First German edition. - Contains mostly geological observations on the formation of glaciers, investigations of the waters of Lake Geneva and of rock formations. - Horace Benedict de Saussure (1740-1799) is considered one of the founders of the field of geology and mineralogy of the mountains. He was the second to climb Mont Blanc, established its altitude and thus initiated alpine tourism. His importance for geology lies in the geological-physical approach and in the use of the measuring instruments he developed (e.g. hair hygrometer for moisture determination). The experiments he carried out made him the first experimental researcher in the field of petrology. The main field of his scientific activity was in the Mont Blanc area and in the Valais Alps. - However, he also "fully grasped and demonstrated the beauties of the high Alps, and so the scenic descriptive part of his work is unique in alpine writing for a long time to come" (Lehner). - Slightly browned, endpapers somewhat shaded by glue. - On fly-leaf endpaper old handwritten ownership notes (illegible).