Exploration scientifique de l'Algérie. Zoologie: Histoire naturelle des reptiles et poissons...with...Zoologie. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux, and Zoologie. Histoire naturelle des mammifères.

Conceived and directed by the naturalist Bory de Saint Vincent, one of the first modern, systematic biological surveys of northern Africa was undertaken by the French government in the early 1840s and resulted in a multi-volume series of scientific publications under the title of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie. The botanical and zoological volumes of this important expedition are of particular interest to researchers at NMNH, since they contain numerous descriptions of species new to science, but SIL's holdings of the set were incomplete. Alphonse Guichenot (1809-1876) was responsible for fish, amphibians, and reptiles during the expedition and afterwards at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. His volume covers 35 species of reptiles and amphibians and includes several new species of marine fish. The survey of the birds and mammals fell to Commandant Victor Loche (1806-1863), an active collector in northern Africa during and after the Expedition. These very rare volumes include extraordinarily detailed and superbly produced plates, color-printed à la poupée and finished by hand.