BUFFON (Georges Leclerc de). Histoire naturelle, classée par ordres, genres et espèces d'après le systême de Linné, avec les caractères génériques et la nomenclature linnéenne, by René-Richard Castel. Paris, Déterville, impr. de Crapelet, an VII [1799]-1803. 80 volumes in-18, seeded calf, gilt Greek, smooth spine decorated, inner lace, gilt edges (period binding). First edition of the Suites à Buffon, published by the Norman poet and naturalist René Castel (1758-1832). Buffon's Natural History, abridged and classified according to Linné's system, occupies the first 26 volumes (Theory of the Earth, Quadrupeds and Birds). The following 54 volumes comprise the Suites à Buffon: a "complete course of natural history" including Minerals by Patrin (5 vols.), Fishes by Bloch (10 vols.), Reptiles by Sonnini and Latreille (4 vols.), Insects by Tigny (10 vols.), Crustacea (2 vols.), Shells (5 vols.) and Worms (3 vols.), all three by Bosc, and finally Plants by Lamarck and Mirbel (15 vols.). The illustrations, engraved and finely coloured at the time, consist of a portrait of Buffon by C.-E. Gaucher based on the painting by F.-H. Drouais and 776 out-of-text natural history plates by J.-E. de Sève and J. Barraband, almost all coloured in brushwork, plus 4 folding tables. A very fine copy in attractive contemporary bindings. Some minor worm damage and spotting to the bindings. Nissen, ZBI, n°681.