KUNSTFORMEN DER NATUR [ART FORMS IN NATURE]

First bound edition. Publisher's original grey-green illustrated cloth, with titles in black and white. Professionally rebacked with the original spine laid down. Quarto, 36.5 x 28cm. All edges marbled. Illustrated with 100 lithographic plates, many in colour, 34 of which have captioned tissue overlays, all with a corresponding page of explanatory text. Text in German. 55 page supplement to the rear. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, with light rubbing to the extremities and a few light marks to the boards. The contents, with staining to the outer margin (not affecting the text) of pages 13 to 16 of the supplement, are otherwise clean and bright throughout. The plates are all in clean and bright fine condition, with light toning to some of the tissue overlays. A very attractive example.

The German biologist Ernst Haeckel's most influential work, a landmark publication of naturalist illustration that bridged the gap between science and art in the early twentieth-century. In 1861 Haeckel became a professor of Comparative Anatomy and a year later, the Director of the Zoological Institute at the University of Jena. Throughout his career he studied a variety of zoological areas, his most notable work being on marine organisms, including poriferans, cniaraians and radiolarians. Travelling to Messina, Sicily in 1859, Haeckel studied the structure of radiolarians, a group of microscopic single celled organisms (zooplankton) with silica skeletons, previously little researched, he named nearly 150 new species. This experience encouraged him to study doctorate zoology and in 1862 led to the publication of his first illustrated two volume monograph, 'Die Radiolarien (Rhizopoda Radiaria)' in which he provided positive evidence in support of Darwin's theory of evolution. He was later commissioned to document radiolarians for the British Challenger expedition (1872-1876), a global survey of ocean life and was awarded the Linnean Society's Linnean Medal in 1894. Throughout his career he would discover, describe and name thousands of new species of marine organisms, illustrating them with graphic precision in over 40 works.  'Kunstformen der Natur' [Art Forms in Nature] was originally published in portfolios of ten illustrations between 1899 and 1904. The complete work, with a preface and supplement was first published in book form in 1904. Haeckel's highly detailed drawings, beautifully illustrating plants, mammals, invertebrates and previously unseen microscopic marine life, would popularise science and bring the natural world to a wider audience. The striking natural forms would influence the fields of art, architecture and design with many artists associated with the Art Nouveau directly influenced by his work.,