3 Review(s)

The original French edition of this book appeared in 1866 as part of Hachette's extensive, popularising Bibliotheque des Merveilles series, which included several science titles by Frederic Zurcher (1816-90) and Elie Margolle (1816-84). Their books were illustrated with attractive wood-cuts, and remained in print until the 1880s; they were also translated into English. This volume was published in London in 1868, and is a good example of popular science publishing in Victorian Britain. The material is organised geographically, beginning in Europe with Vesuvius, Etna and Icelandic volcanoes including Hecla, all of which had recently seen major eruptions. The authors quote from eyewitness accounts, and refer to scholarly publications on volcanoes including Darwin (1844) and Scrope (1862), also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Later chapters describe oceanic volcanoes, the Andes, the volcanic zone of New Zealand's North Island, and recently discovered volcanoes such as Mt Erebus in Antarctica.