Spectacle de la Nature: Or, Nature Display'd. Being Discourses on such Particulars of Natural History As were thought most proper to Excite the Curiosity and Form the Minds of Youth. 7 vols. Complete. Mixed original editions. Pluche, Noël-Antoine (1688 - 1761); Samuel Humphreys, translstor; John Thomas de Burgh, the 13th Earl of Clanricarde,provenance. Natural History

Small 8vo , 10 x 17cm. ( 6 vols.) and 8vo 12.5 x 19.5cm (vol. 2). Translated by Samuel Humphreys. Illustrated profusely with copper-engraved plates including frontispieces, many folding. 17x10 cm (6¾x4"), contemporary full calf, raised bands, morocco spine labels, spines tooled in gilt. Mixed editions.OCLC Number / Unique Identifier:7065467.Vols V, VI, and VII are Fifth edition. Vols I, III and IV are a later further revised edition, all are uniformly bound. Heraldic bookplates of the John de Burgh, Earl of Clanricarde.; Vol. II is the second edition and slighly larger. .The Spectacle de la nature of the abbé Noël-Antoine Pluche (1688-1761) was a huge publishing success in 18th century France and Europe (with translations into five other languages), but has attracted the attention of historians only recently. Its form of natural theological argument, though widely read at the time, has been overshadowed in historical accounts by the better-studied arguments from design rationally understood. Pluche emphasized instead the limits of human reason and argued for the greatness of God from the wonderful and unfathomable harmony of nature.PROVENANCE: John Thomas de Burgh, the 13th Earl of Clanricarde, was a British Army officer and politician who was the governor of Kingston-upon-Hull. He was born in 1744 and died in 1808, and was also created the 1st Earl of Clanricarde (with a special remainder to his daughters) in 1800. Another notable person with this name is his son, Ulick John de Burgh, the 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, who lived from 1802 to 1874 and was a prominent politician and ambassador. .