[MAILLET (Benoît de)]. Telliamed ou entretiens d'un philosophe indien avec un missionnaire françois Sur la Diminution de la Mer, la Formation de la Terre, l'Origine de l'Homme, &c. Amsterdam : L'Honoré et fils, 1748 - 2 volumes in an in-8 volume, granite calf, cold fillet framing the boards, ornate ribbed spine, red edges (period binding). "Posthumous first edition, dedicated to Cyrano de Bergerac, of this famous work by Benoît de Maillet (1656-1738), ambassador and director of establishments in the Levant. The work, whose title is an anagram of the author's name, presents a dialogue between an "Indian philosopher" and a "French missionary" in Cairo in 1715. In it, Maillet defends the thesis of the marine origin of all living beings, and proposes a theory according to which the continents were once submerged, gradually emerging as the sea receded. This system, based on geological observations and physics inspired by Descartes, challenges the biblical accounts of Creation and the Flood, putting forward a chronology of several billion years. Iconoclastic for its time, the text reflects the scientific and philosophical questioning of the 18th century, and although it was criticized by contemporaries such as Voltaire, it is seen today as a precursor of evolutionary ideas. Circulating clandestinely for over twenty years in manuscript form, it was finally published in 1748 with additions by Abbé Le Mascrier, who toned down its provocative character. A good copy in contemporary binding, very well preserved. Ink stain on the gutter, not serious."