The Giant Panda. A Morphological Study of Evolutionary Mechanisms. Fieldiana: Zoology Memoirs, Volume 3. FIRST EDITION. Offered with: DWIGHT DAVIS-RELATED MEMORABILIA.

1 leaf, 339 pp; 25 tables; 159 figures. Folio. Original wrappers. Upper corners of wrappers and pages creased. Very Good. First Edition. "Fortunately, the giant panda has its bible, a monograph by D. Dwight Davis, late curator of vertebrate anatomy at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. It is probably the greatest work of modern evolutionary comparative anatomy, and it contains more than anyone would ever want to know about pandas" (Stephen Jay Gould, The Panda's Thumb, p. 22). "At least two lines of influence link the publications and the fieldwork by which Dwight Davis contributed to the knowledge of mammals. A principal one, which begins in his first decade of work, is rapport with the Chicago Zoological Society. This resulted in his receiving rare specimens of mammals that died in the zoological park. In April of 1938 he received a giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Relationships of pandas to other mammals were subject of much controversy, and Davis undertook to solve the problem by comparative study of the entire gross anatomy of the panda, considering the evidence of each system separately. When a mammal to which he needed to compare the panda was inadequately known, he did the necessary original research on it also. . . . The memoir on the giant panda, completed after 25 years of study, thought, and toil, and published 2 months before his death, represents Dwight Davis' maturest work and the ultimate expression of his personal perfectionism. It reaches beyond the original goal of determining in an irrefutable manner the relationships of the panda. In it he asks if a new primary goal of comparative anatomy can be to discover the causal mechanism(s) that evolved the sometimes striking differences between related forms. He then presents his study of the panda as a test of whether comparative anatomy can do this" (Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 46, no. 2, May 1965, p. 372). OFFERED WITH DWIGHT DAVIS-RELATED MEMORABILIA. 1. Charlotte Davis: Autograph Letter, Signed, to Pete Winter, 1581 Masonic Avenue, San Francisco CA 94117, April 30, 1965, about the death of her husband Dwight Davis. 3 pp on 2 leaves. Horizontal fold. With envelope. Mrs. D. Dwight Davis, 22102 Millard Ave., Richton Park, Illinois. April 30, 1965. Dear Pete, I'm beginning to believe in Mental telepathy. I don't suppose I'd thought of you for years, but about the day you wrote that letter I did recall some old associations: the Ichtherps meetings, the Chisos trip, and suddenly I thought 'Did Pete Winter hear of Dwight's death?' Where is he now? I wonder? I am so pleased you wrote and filled in a bit of the long void. . . . I stopped in S.F. Dec. 4-6, 1963 en route to the Far East to join D. at the Univ. of Malaya. We stayed on until Mar. 2, 1964, returning via Cairo, London, etc. A trip that will warm my memories always! . . . Sincerely, Charlotte Davis. 2. Statement from Chicago Natural History Museum to Mr. Winter, for amount due (25 cents!) for this very copy of The Giant Panda. On verso of Statement: Typed Note, Signed, from Anne Anzak, Div. of Publications. Dear Mr. Winter: Since you weren't aware that Dr. Davis died I thought you would be interested in the enclosed New [sic] Release that the Museum mailed out and the Bulletin which covers a nice story about Dr. Davis. 3. News from Chicago Natural History Museum, Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive (in Grant Park), Chicago 5, Pula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel. February 11, 1965, three typed pages concerning memorial service for D. Dwight Davis on February 14, 1965, with a biography. 4. Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin, Vol. 36, no. 3, March 1965. 8 pp. Horizontal crease. On pp. 6-7 is a tribute to D. Dwight Davis by Rainer Zangerl, Chief Curator, Geology. 5. Photocopy of remarks at Memorial Service for D. Dwight Davis at St. Paul's Community Church, Homewood, Illinois, February 14, 1965, 4 pages.…