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Third Annual Report on the Geology of the State of Maine.
Augusta, Maine: Smith & Robinson, printers to the State, 1839. 8vo (8.5” x 5.5”), later blue paper spine and covers with original printed blue wrappers laid down, later endpapers. xiv, 276, lxiv pp. Front wrapper inscribed to “Richard W. Green, Providence R.I. with the respects of the author.”. First edition. Inscribed by the author. This is the third of Jackson’s three reports on the geology of Maine. Born in Plymouth, Mass., Charles T. Jackson (1805–1880) was a physician and pioneering geologist and mineralogist who played an important role in the emergent state geological survey movement of his day. While studying at Harvard Medical School he undertook a geological exploration of Nova Scotia, deepening his interest in geology. By 1836, he had abandoned medicine and was appointed state geologist of Maine. Jackson’s three reports on the geology of the state were published in 1837, 1838, and 1839. Subsequently, he served as state geologist of Rhode Island and New Hampshire. In 1847, he was appointed U.S. Geologist for the Lake Superior land district; however, his leadership of the survey was a disaster and he was dismissed from the position. Over the course of his career, Jackson was involved in a number of controversial priority claims surrounding the discovery of guncotton, the telegraph, the digestive action of the stomach, and the anesthetic effects of ether. In 1873, he was admitted to an insane asylum where he lived out the rest of his life. Jackson was a brother-in-law of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Richard W. Green (1792–1875) of Providence, Rhode Island served as Judge of the Rhode Island Supreme Court between 1848 and 1854, and represented Providence in the state legislature in 1847. REFERENCES: Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L., eds. “Jackson, Charles Thomas.” American Medical Biographies (Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Co., 1920); Charles Thomas Jackson at britannica.com. CONDITION: Good, damp-stains to wrappers, loss to lower right corner of original front wrapper, light dampstains to title-page, contents generally good.
Item #5777
Price: $275.00