[NATURAL HISTORY]. BECKER, George Ferdinand (1847-1919). Geology of the Comstock Lode and the Washoe District. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1882.

2 volumes, comprising: text, 4to; atlas, large folio. Text: 7 plates; Atlas: 19 maps, most double-page and in color. Original gilt-lettered brown cloth (atlas volume repaired along joints, hinges and spine ends, fore-corners touched up). Provenance: John Wellington Finch (ownership signature, stamps on plates verso in atlas).

FIRST EDITION. Becker served as an instructor at the University of California, Berkeley, before joining the United States Geological Survey, where he became chief of the Division of Chemical and Physical Research. His most important work focused on the origin and occurrence of ore deposits, particularly in the western United States. Becker's research led to the establishment of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1901.

[With:] CHURCH, John A. The Comstock Lode, its Formation and History. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1879. Small 4to. 6 color plates. Original gilt-lettered green cloth (rebacked). FIRST EDITION.