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James Hutton, the father of geology, was born on June 3rd, 1726. After a life spent in active scientific research and prolonged reflection he was persuaded, when nearly sixty years of age, to prepare a concise account of the theoretical views that he had adopted regarding the geological operations of the globe. This essay was read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in the spring of 1785, and appeared three years later in the first volume of the Transactions of the Society entitled Theory of the Earth. In the late summer of 1785 Hutton undertook a journey into the Highlands of Scotland to test his view on the origin of granite. He had been urged to expand his essay and so in 1795, he gave to the world his Theory of the Earth, with Proofs and Illustrations, in two volumes. He was the first to show that the Earth changes slowly and uniformly by the same processes that are occurring today. Hutton’s ideas became known as the Uniformitarian Principle, and served as an alternative to catastrophism.

It is thought that the manuscript for Volume III was nearly ready at the time when the first two volumes were published. Hutton died in 1797, two years after the appearance of these volumes. The manuscript passed into the hands of Hutton’s friend, commentator and biographer, Playfair. The Geological Society published the Volume III in 1899. Archibald Geikie edited the manuscript and he added his own notes which appeared in square brackets. Geikie also included an index in Volume III which covers all three volumes.

To celebrate the bicentennary of the death of James Hutton in 1997 the Geological Society re-published in facsimile form Theory of the Earth Volume III. This is your chance to buy a facsimile copy of this exceedingly rare volume.