Archives & Special Collections B
Skip to Main ContentSoffer Ornithology Collection Notes (alphabetical by author)
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Bacon, Francis (Baron Verulam, Viscount of St. Albans) (1561-1626)(translated from English by Grutero, Jacob). Sylva sylvarum, sive historia naturalis....
Bacon, M(ary) A(nn) (drawn and lithographed by C. L. Bateman; designed by Owen Jones). Winged thoughts.
Bailey, Alfred M.(arshall)(1894-1978), Niedrach, Robert J. Birds of Colorado.
Bailey, Florence Merriam (1863-1948). Birds of New Mexico.
Bailey, Florence Merriam (1863-1948). Handbook of birds of the western United States....
Bailey, Harold H(arris) (1879-1962). The birds of Virginia.
Bailey, Harold H.(arris)(1879-1962) (illustrated by Geo.[rge]M.[iksch] Sutton [1898-1982]). The birds of Florida.
Baily, William L.(1828-1861) Our own birds. First (1863) edition, colored example
Bainton, A. M., White, A. W. Biblography of Bahamian birds
Baird, Spencer F.(ullerton)(1823-1887)"with the co-operation of " Cassin, John (1813-1869) and Lawrence, George N.(ewbold)(1806-1895). The birds of North America.
Baird, Spencer F.(ullerton) (1823-1887) "with the co-operation of" John Cassin (1813-1869) and George N.(ewbold) Lawrence (1806-1895). Birds.
Baird, Spencer F.(ullerton)(1823-1887). United States and Mexican boundary survey....
Baird, S(pencer)F.(ullerton)(1823-1887), Brewer, T(homas) M(ayo)(1814-1880), Ridgway, R(obert)(1850-1929) (Gill, Theodore Nicholas, Coues, Elliott). A history of North American birds....
Baird, S.(pencer)F.(ullerton)(1823-1887), Brewer, T.(homas)M.(ayo)(1814-1880), Ridway, R.(obert)(1850-1929)(Whitney, J. D.). The water birds of North America.
Bairei, Kôno (1844-1895). Bairei hyakuchô gafu.
Bairei Kôno (1844-1895). Bairei kachõ gafu (Bairei’s book of birds and flowers).
(Bairei Kôno [1844-1895]). Album of ornithological watercolors.
Bairei Kôno (1844-1895). Bairei gafu (Bairei's picture book, volume 1).
Bairei Kôno (1844-1895). Bairei gafu (Bairei's picture book, volume 2).
Bairei Kôno (1844-1895). Inakanotsuki pictured by Bairei Kono.
Bairei Kono (1844-1895) Unidentified album
Baker, H(arold) R(obert) (1869-) and Inglis, Cha(rle)s M(cfarlane) (1870-1954). The birds of southern India.
Baker, E.(dward)C.(harles) Stuart (1864-1944). Indian ducks and their allies
Baker, Edward Charles Stuart (1864-1944). Indian ducks and their allies
Baker, E(dward) C(harles) Stuart (1864-1944). Indian pigeons and doves.
Baker, E(dward) C(harles) Stuart (1864-1944). The birds of Cachar.
Baldwin, Peter J., and Brian S. Meadows. Birds of Madinat Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah and its hinterland.
Balis, Jan. Van diverse pluimage tien eeuwen vogelboeker.
Ball, Alice E. (1867-1948) A year with the birds
Balston, R(ichard)J(ames)(1839-1916), C(harles)W(illiam) Shepherd, and E(dward) Bartlett (1836-1908). Notes on the birds of Kent.
Bangs, Outram (1862-1932), and W.R. Zappey. Birds of the Isle of Pines.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1979), and W. Mary Bannerman (volumes II-IV). Birds of the Atlantic Islands.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1980), and W. Mary Bannerman. Birds of Cyprus.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1979), and Joseph A. Vella-Gaffiero. Birds of the Maltese archipelago.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1979). Report on the birds collected and observed during the British Museum Expedition to Tunisia in 1925.
Bannerman, David A. (1886-1979). The Canary Islands. Their history, natural history, and Scenery.
Bannerman, David Armitage (1886-1979). The birds of west and equatorial Africa.
Bannerman, David Armitage (1886-1979). The Birds of Tropical West Africa.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1979), and W. Mary Bannerman, (illustrated by Watson, Donald). The birds of the Balearics.
Barbour, Thomas (1884-1946). The birds of Cuba.
Barboza du Bocage, J(osé) V(incente) 1823-1908. Ornithologie D'Angola.
Barnes, H.(enry) E.(dwin) (1848-1896) Handbook to the birds of the Bombay presidency
Barnes, H.(enry) E.(dwin) (1848-1896) Nesting in western India
Barnes, R. M., American oologists' price list
Barriere Les oiseaux de volieres et de parcs
(Barruel (1901-1982), Paul, Dorst, Jean (1924-), Etchécopar, R. D. [edited by J. Berlioz]). Iconographie des oiseaux de France.
Barruel, P. (1901-1982), Post cards
Barske, Charlotte (illustrated by Brasher, Rex [1859-1940]). Birds.
Bartlett, Harley H., and Hide Shohara. Japanese Botany During the Period of Wood-block Printing.
Bartlett, E., Monograph of the weaver birds
(Bartram, William [1729-1823])Ewan, Joseph (1909-). William Bartram Botanical and Zoological Drawings, 1756-1788....
Bastian, Scott. F. A fleld guide to the guide Identifying the many varieties of Roger Tory Peterson's premier book "A field guide to the birds
Bateman, Catalogue of rare and valuable books
Baumgartner, F. M., A. M. Oklahoma bird life
Bayne, Charles S. (illustrated by C.[harles]F.[rederick] Tunnicliffe[1901-1979]). The call of the birds.
Beebe, F. L., Compleat falconer
Beebe, (Charles) William (1877-1962). Pheasants their lives and homes.
Beebe, William (1877-1962) N. B. actually Charles William Beebe. A Monograph of the Pheasants.
Beehler, B. M., Pratt, T. K., Zimmerman, D. A. (with text contributions by H. L. Bell, B. W. Finch and J. M. Diamond). Birds of New Guinea.
Beehler, Bruce McP(herson) (illustrated by William J. Adams). Upland birds of northeastern New Guinea a guide to the hill and mountain birds of Morobe Province.
Belcher, Charles F(rederick) (1876-1970). The birds of the district of Geelong, Australia.
Belon, Pierre (1517-1564). L’Histoire de la Nature des Oyseaux, avec leurs Descriptions, & naïfs Portraicts Retirez du Naturel.
Benito-Espinal, Birds of the Lesser Antilles
(Bennett, Edward, T. [1797-1836]). The gardens and menagerie of the Zoological Society delineated
Bennett, George (1804-1893). Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia....
Bennett, E. T. On the Chinchillidae, a family of herbivorous Rodentia, and a new genus referrible to it.
Bennett, E. T. On the M'horr antelope.
Bennett, George. Notes on the natural history of the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus
Benson, C(onstantine) W(alter), Brooke, R. K., Dowsett, R. J., Irwin, Michael P. Stuart. The birds of Zambia.
Benson, S(tephana) Vere. The Observer's Book of British Birds.
Bent, A(rthur) C(leveland)(1866-1954). Notes On Birds Observed During A Brief Visit to the Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea in 1911.
Berg, Bengt (Magnus Kristoffer)(1885-1967). Birds of the north.
Berger, Andrew, J(ohn) (1915). Hawaiian birdlife.
Berlepsch, Hans (Hermann, Carl Ludwig) Freiherr von (1850-1915). Der gesamte Vogelschutz seine Begründung und Ausführung.
Bern, Naturhistorisches Museum. Der Vogel in Buch und Bild Führer durch eine Ausstellung schöner und seltener ornithologischer Bücher und Bilderwerke aus der Alten und Neuen Welt von Gesner über Naumann bis zur Gegenwart.
Bernal, Frank (1921-). Birds of Jamaica.
Bernard, P(ierre) (1810-1877), Couailhac, (J. J.)L., Gervais, (François Louis Paul)(1816-1879), Lemaout, (Jean)Emm(anuel Marie)(1810-1877). Le Jardin des Plantes.
Bertuch, Friedrich Justin (1747-1822). Tafeln der allgemeinen.
Bewick, Thomas (1753-1828). A History of British Birds.
Bianchi, V, Faune de la Russie, Colymbiformes, Procellariiformes
Beyer, G. E., Avifauna of Louisiana
Bien, J., Chromolithograph "Birds"
Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde. Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde.
Binford, Laurence C. (1935-)(paintings by Kenneth L. Carlson[1937-]). Birds of Western North America nonpasserines.
BirdLife International (Stattersfield, Alison, J., Capper, David R., Project Managers and Senior Editors). Threatened birds of the world..
Bird-Lore (edited by Frank M.(ichler Chapman [1864-1945]). Bird-Lore.
Birds illustrated by color photography (Marble, C. C and Marble, Elanora Kinsley). Birds illustrated by color photography a monthly serial designed to promote knowledge of bird-life.
Birds International (edited by Joseph M.[ichael] Forshaw). Birds international a quarterly journal devoted to the birds of the world.
Blaauw, F. E. (1860-1936). A Monograph of the Crane.
Blackburn, Mrs. Hugh (Jane, Jemima) (1823-1909). Birds drawn from nature.
Blackburn, Mrs. Hugh (Jane, Jemima)(1823-1907). Birds from Moidart and elsewhere drawn from nature.
Blackburn, J. Blackburn's birds
Blackwelder, Eliot (1880-). Research in China expedition of 1903-04, under the direction of Bailey Willis report on zoology.
Blakston, W.(illiam) A., Swaysland, W.(alter) and Wiener, August F. The illustrated book of canaries and cage-birds, British and foreign.
Blanford, W(illiam) T(homas)(1832-1905). Observations on the Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia, made during the progress of the British expedition to that country in 1867-68.
Blanford, W(illiam) T(homas) (1832-1905) (Goldsmid, Sir Frederic John [1818-1908]. Eastern Persia an account of the journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission 1870-71-72 Vol. II The zoology and geology.
Blumenbach, Joh.(ann) Fried.(rich)(1752-1840). Abbildungen naturhistorischer Gegenstände.
Blunt, Wilfrid (1901), Raphael, Sandra. The illustrated herbal.
Blyth, E., Natural history of the cranes
Bogel, Cynthea J. (introduction); Goldman, Israel (commentary on plates); Marks, Alfred H. (translation of poetry).Hiroshige Birds and flowers.
Bohlen, D., Birds of Illinois
Bohn, H. G., Catalogue of books
Boitard, M(onsieur) (Pierre). (1789-1859). Le jardin des plantes description et moeurs des mammifères de la ménagerie et du muséum d’histoire naturelle.
Bolton, James (d. 1799). Harmonia Ruralis or, an essay towards a natural history of British song birds.
Bombay Natural History Society. Common Indian Birds.
Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857). American Ornithology; or, The natural history of Birds Inhabiting the United States, Not Given by Wilson.
Bonaparte, C. L., Genera of North American birds
Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (sic) ( Lucien Jules Laurent) (1803-1857). Observations on the nomenclature of Wilson's ornithology.
Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857) A geographical and comparative list of the birds of Europe and North America
Bonaparte, Ch[arles] L[ucien](1803-1857), Schlegel, H[ermann](1804-1884). Monographie des loxiens.
Bond, James (1900-). Birds of the West Indies an account with full descriptions of all the birds known to occur or to have occurred
Bond, J., de Schauensee, R. M., Birds of Bolivia
Bond, James (1900-). Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies a guide to all the species of birds known from the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles and Bahama Islands.
Bond, Terance James Birds the paintings of Terance James Bond
Bonhote, J(ohn) Lewis (James) (1875-1922). Birds of Britain.
Bonhote, J(ohn) Lewis (1875-1922), ed. Practical bird-keeping being reprints of articles which have appeared in "The Avicultural Magazine," January, 1911-December, 1912.
Bonnaterre, l’Abbé (Pierre Joseph, 1752-1804). Tableau Encyclopédique..ornithologie.
Bonnaterre, l' Abbé (Pierre Joseph, 1752-1804)(from Avertissement). Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la nature dédié a la sérénissm Republique de Venise ornithologie.
Boonsong Lekagul, Dr. (introduction by Ripley, S.[idney]Dillon[1913-2001]). Bird guide of Thailand.
Boot, J., Birds of South Australia
Borrer, William (1814-1898). The birds of Sussex.
Borrow, Nik and Demey, Ron. A Guide to the Birds of Western Africa.
Bouet, G., Oiseaux de l'Afrique tropicale
Boutan, Louis'O (Marie August)(1859-). Mission Scientifique Permanente d’Exploration en Indo-Chine.
Bouvier, A., Catalogue des collections ornithologiques..
Bowdich, Thomas Edward (1791-1824). An Introduction to the ornithology of Cuvier for the use of students and travellers.
Bowdish, B., Reed, C. A., Guide to the birds of New Jersey
Boyer, Mimi. Reddish Egret.
Brabourne, Lord (Wyndham Wentworth Knatchbull-Hugessen[1855-1915]), Chubb, Charles. The birds of South America.
Bragança, D. C. de, Catalogo illustrado das aves de Portugal..
Braislin, William C(oughlin)(1865-1948). Ornithologia Americana a fine collection of books relating to the birds of America.
Braislin, William Coughlin (1865-1948). A List of the Birds of Long Island, N. Y.
Brandt, Herbert (1984-), et al. Arizona and its bird life.
Brandt, Johann Frederick (1702-1779)Tentamen / monographiae zoologicae generis / Phaëthon
Brandt, J. F. Icones avium Rossico Americanarum tabulae VII, ineditae
Brasher, Rex (1869-1960). Birds and Trees of North America.
Brasher, M. E. Rex Brasher painter of birds A biography.
Brasher, Rex (1869-1960). Secrets of the friendly woods.
Brasher, Rex (1869-1960). Birds and trees of North America.
Braun, Nancy & Robert. An Audubon concordance migration through the plate numbers.
Braun, Robert Identifying Audubon bird prints originals, states, editions, restrikes, and facsimiles and reproductions
Bree, G(eorge) R(obert) (1811-1886). A history of the birds of Europe, not observed in the British Isles.
Bree, C. R. (1811-1886). A history of the Birds of Europe not observed in the British Isles.
Brehm, A(lfred)E(duard) (1829-1884)(translated from German by H. M. Labouchere and W. Jesse). Bird-Life being a history of the bird, its structure, and habits together with sketches of fifty different species.
(Brehm, A.[lfred] E.(dmund][1829-1884]). Brehhm's Thierleben allgemeine Kunde des Thierreichs.
(Brehm, Alfred Edmund [1829-1884]) (Brehm’s Tierleben, Russian adaptation in Cyrillic) Three volumes (complete).
Brenchley, Julius L(ucius) (1817-1873). Jottings during the cruise of H. M. S. Curaçoa among the south sea islands in 1865.
Brewer, T(homas) M(ayo) (1814-1880). Wilson's American Ornithology, with notes by Jardine: to which is added A synopsis of American birds, including those described by Bonaparte, Audubon, Nuttall, and Richardson.
Brewster, W., Birds of the Cape region of Lower California
Brewster, W. (1851-1919). The Birds of the Cambridge region of Massachusetts.
Brightwell, C. L. (1811-1875) Difficulties overcome. Scenes in the life of Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist
British Museum. Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum.
British Museum.Catalogue of the books, manuscripts, maps and drawings in the British Museum (Natural History).
(British Museum), Oates, Eugene W.(illiam)(1845-1911), Reid, Savile G(rey)(1845-1915), Ogilvie-Grant, W.(illiam) R.(obert) (1863-1924). Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum (Natural History).
Brockie, Keith (1955-). Keith Brockie's wildlife sketchbook
Brockie, K., One man's island, a naturalist's year
Brookes, R(ichard)(fl. 1721-1763). (A new and accurate system of natural history) Vol. II. The natural history of birds: with the method of bringing up and managing those of the singing kind).
Brooks, Charles (1795-1872). Elementary Course of natural history, being an Introduction to zoology: intended for the college and the parlor. Elements of ornithology.
Brown, Peter (fl. 1770-1791). Nouvelles illustrations de zoologie....
Brown, Leslie (1917-1980) and Dean Amadon (1912-2003). Eagles, hawks and falcons of the world.
Browne, D.(aniel) J.(ay)(1804-). The American bird fancier....
Bruner, Lawrence (1856-1937), Wolcott, Robert H.(enry), Swenk, Myron H(armon). A preliminary review of the birds of Nebraska with synopses.
Brynildson, Inga and Hagge, Woody. Birds in art The masters.
Buchanan, Handasyde. Nature into art a treasury of great natural history books.
Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, Compte de (1707-1788). (Histoire naturelle des oiseaux. Planches enluminées)
Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, Compte de (1707-1788). Histoire naturelle, générale et particuliere oiseax
(Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, Compte de [1707-1788]). Oeuvres complètes de Buffon....
Buffon (George Louis Leclerc, Compte de [1707-1788]), (Flourens [Marie Jean Pierre{194-1867}]). Oeuvres complètes de Buffon,
(Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, compt de [1709-1788]).(Oeuvres Complètes Paris)
(Buhle, C. A. A. [1773-1856]). Die Naturgeschichte in vertreuen Abbildungen.
Bull, John and Bull, Edith (illustrated by Coe, James). Birds of North America western region.
Bull, John. Birds of the New York area.
Buller, Sir Walter Lawry A history of the birds of New Zealand, first edition
Buller, Sir Walter Lawry (1838-1906). A history of the birds of New Zealand second edition.
Buller, Sir Walter Lawry (1838-1906). Supplement to the Birds of New Zealand.
Buller, Sir Walter Lawry (1838-1906)(edited and revised by Turbott, E.(van)G.(raham). Buller's birds of New Zealand.
Burgess, Thornton W.(aldo) (1874-1964) (with illustrations in color by Louis Agassiz Fuertes [1874-1927]). The Burgess bird book for children.
Burleigh, Thomas D.(earborn)(1895-1973)(illustrated by Sutton, George Miksch [1898-1902]). Georgia birds.
Burma Research Society The birds of Burma
Burns, Frank L. (Franklin Lorenzo [1869-]). A bibliography of scarce or out of print....
Busby, J., Birds in Mallorca
Butler, A. The birds of Indiana
Butler, Arthur G(ardiner)(1844-1925). Birds of Great Britain and Ireland Order Passeres,..
Butler, Arthur G(ardiner) (1844-1925). Foreign finches in captivity. First editon
Butler, Arthur G(ardiner) (1844-1935) Foreign finches in captivity Second edition
Butterworth, Elizabeth (text by Rosemary Low). Amazon parrots.
Buttikofer, J. (ohann)(1850-1927). Zoological results of the Dutch scientific expedition to central Borneo the birds
Bacon, Francis (Baron Verulam, Viscount of St. Albans)(1561-1626)(translated from English by Grutero, Jacob)
Sylva / sylvarum, / sive / historia naturalis / et / nova atlantis Laid paper. 12o. 13.3 x 7.3. Catch words. [*1-*2]*3-*7X6(-X6)A-2E12[$1-7 signed]; 348 ll. Pp. (24)1-549(39)[12-22]32-602712-782(8)792-862(612-702 omitted by printer's error). Contemporary black-ruled polished brown calf. Rebacked with brown morocco to style. Spine with four blind-ruled raised bands, gilt lettered red morocco labeling piece in second compartment. Fore-edge floral design. Amsterdam, Elzevir, 1661.
*1r, metal-engraved decorated title page to the two works; •1v, blank; *2r, sylva sylvarum title page; *2v, printed matter; *3r-5r, dedication; *5v--7v, preface by Isaac Grutero; X1r-X2v, preface by W. Rawley; X3r-X3v, statement from Isaac Grutero to Jacob Grutero; X4r-X5v, tabula experimentorum; Air, sylva sylvarum; Z12v, index; 2B7r, nova atlantis, title; 2B8r-2B8v, preface by W. Rawley; 2B9r, nova atlantis. Contains metal engraved decorated title page, one wood-engraved head-piece, two wood-engraved tail-pieces, and several decorative initial letters.
I confess that had I wanted this book as reading material, I would have bought it with the English text. It has little or no connection to ornithology but I couldn't resist such a nice old book when it appeared in a Wheldon and Wesley catalog at a reasonable price. According to Casey Wood (p. 215), who describes an English edition of 1651, it is a treatise on trees that contains "many interesting references to the natural history of vertebrates…" I suspect there is more philosophy here than natural history. Apparently, the work was first published early in the 17th century and went through many quarto English editions. The "Nova atlantis" is a different work, a kind of utopia perhaps intended as a blueprint for the new world. The present volume is one of a series of "classics" published in Latin and in 12o format by Elzevir in the middle of the 17th century.
According to the Harvard entry for this edition, it was translated by Jacob Gruterus and revised by Isaac Gruter. The entry contains considerable bibliographic information.
This edition listed by Cornell, Harvard, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Trinity.
Bacon, M.(ary)A.(nn) (drawn and lithographed by C. L. Bateman; designed by Owen Jones[1809-1874])
Winged Thoughts 25.5 x 18.0 cm. Unpaginated. 28 leaves as described below. Beautiful decorative brown calf "relievo" binding by Remnant, Edmonds and Remnant (stamp on verso of front free endpaper) with blind decorated rolls, panels and designs over beveled boards. Upper cover with elegant frame of feathers surrounding ornamental gilt title. Lower cover with similarly framed peacock tail. Gilt dentelles with roll design. Coated and textured endpapers with overall gilt and red pattern of feathered paisley. AEG. (London) Longman & Co., 1851.
Leaf1: recto, gift inscription dated August 21st, 1856; verso, blank.
Leaf 2: recto, Title containing beautiful colored peacock feather design with gold embellishment and lettering; verso blank.
Leaf 3: recto, contents with decorative scarlet macaw and spray of green leaves and names of 12 birds and corresponding poems printed in gold gothic; verso blank.
Leaf 4: recto, decorative spray of green foliage with adage printed in gold gothic; verso blank.
Leaves 5-27: 12 thick sheets with gold ornamentally printed bird names on recto, hand-finished chromolithograph of bird on verso. Each such thick leaf followed by thin leaf printed in brick red on both sides with corresponding poem.
Leaf 28: recto colophon with spray of green leaves and credits in gold gothic print. Verso, blank.
This is one of the most beautiful of the Victorian "gift books" and perhaps the earliest British book with chromolithographs of birds. These are done very well and include, among others, Japanese Pheasant, Peacock, Mute Swan, Peregrine and Barn Owl. Owen Jones was a highly regarded and innovative designer, architect, illuminator and illustrator
Although not so rare as the gift books by Paul Jerrard, this one is also uncommon. Listed by Yale and Oxford. Unlisted by AMNH, BM(NH), Cornell, Harvard, Melvyl, Mengel, NYPL, Trinity, Wood, Zimmer. OCLC locates 18 copies.
Bailey, Alfred M.(arshall)(1894-1978), Niedrach, Robert J.
Birds / of / Colorado Two volumes. 30.5 x 23.0 cm. Publisher's pebbled red cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Pictorial dust jacket of lark buntings by Don R. Eckelberry for both volumes. (Denver), Denver Museum of Natural History, 1965.
Volume I [i-ii]iii-xxii1-454. i, Title; ii, copyright 1965; credits: "four color letterpress engravings" by Mueller-Krus Corporation, Milwaukee; typesetting, printing, binding by NAPCO, Inc., Milwaukee; iii, contents (both volumes); iv, photograph of DMNH; v, dedication to Persifor M. Cooke, Museum benefactor; vi, scenic photograph; vii, preface by Hudson Moore, Jr., President, Board of Trustees; viii, list of contributing artists (23) and photographers (36); ix, list of colored plates for both volumes; xiii, check-list of birds of Colorado; xii, topography of a bird, diagram; 1, foreword; 3, scope of work; 8, nomenclature; 10, acknowledgments; 11, introduction (general ornithological considerations); 26, Colorado (history, topography, etc); annotated list, Gavia immer-Chordeiles acutipennis texensis. Contains topographic line diagram of a bird and plates 1-68 printed in color half-tone with facing applicable legend printed on verso of antecedent plate. Plates and legends not included in pagination save for legend of first plate which has running text on its recto and is paginated. Also contains approximately 250 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text photographs (39 full-page).
Volume II [i-ii]iii-x455-895(1). i, Title; ii, copyright; credits; iii, contents for both volumes; iv, photograph; v, colored plates for both volumes; 455, annotated list, Cypseloides niger borealis-Plectropphenax nivalis; 845, added notes; 847, gazetteer; 851, bibliography (more than 1000 entries); 885, general index including Latin and English names. Contains uncolored county map on rear endpapers, colored plates 68-124, and about 166 uncolored text photographs (20 full-page).
This work presents the status of the 439 species of birds on the Colorado list at the time of publication. The brief accounts include a few words on recognition and general range, and a more extended discussion of status, migration dates and nesting in Colorado. The work was the first since that of Wells W. Cooke (1897-1900) to cover the state avifauna.
The 124 colored plates were solicited specifically for this book from virtually every contemporary American and Canadian ornithological artist as well as D. M. Henry and Peter Scott (Englishmen). The single most represented amongst the 23 contributors was Donald L. Malick, the able artist for the Denver Museum, who supplied 38 of the plates. Unfortunately, the printing of the plates was done by the same firm that did those of Gromme's Birds of Wisconsin (1963) and is mediocre. Many of the uncolored photographs were reproduced from other works.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bailey, Florence Merriam (1863-1948)
Birds of New Mexico With Contributions by the Late Wells Woodbridge Cooke 24.7 x 17.2 cm. Pp.[i-vi]vii[viii]ix-xxiv,1-807(1). Original green cloth with gilt title on spine, upper cover with title stamped in cloth on gilt rectangle, two gilt bird designs. Published by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish in cooperation with the State Game Protective Agency and the Bureau of Biological Survey, Press of Judd & Detweiler, Inc. Washington, 1928.
i, Half-title; iii, title; v, acknowledgment of financial assistance; vii, preface; viii, errata, ; ix contents; xiv, list of illustrations, ; 1, text, ; 762, bibliography; 795,index. Contains unpaginated plates 1-79 (25 colored, including map), text figures 1-136 and text maps 1-60.
This work won the Brewster Award for Mrs. Bailey and was certainly the most important and widely recognized ornithological contribution by a woman of its era. By the time it appeared, she had already established her reputation with several books including a Handbook of Birds of the Western United States. She was the sister of C. Hart Merriam who, in 1887, as Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey, first commissioned her husband, Vernon Bailey, of his department, to carry out a biological survey of New Mexico. Years later, Cooke was recruited to prepare the ornithological material for publication but died before the project was nearly completed at which time Mrs. Bailey was solicited as his replacement.
This work is an American ornithological classic as a state bird book. It is really a complete handbook supplemented with extensive regional information. Most of the colored plates were prepared specifically for the work by Allan Brooks whereas the uncolored plates and text illustrations were mostly by the recently deceased Fuertes and were culled by Mrs. Bailey from her antecedent publishing association with him. David Lank, in Perrault’s Nature Classics (1987), has characterized (p. 72) Brooks’s work in this book as “..coloured plates of transcendent beauty..” and has pointed out that Brooks’s uncolored plate of raptor silhouettes from below was probably the first of its kind, later used so effectively in field guides by Peterson and others. Lank also refers to Mrs. Bailey as “Miriam Bailey” so perhaps his opinion is not the last word yet the colored pictures do successfully project a southwestern ambiance that seems appropriate for the birds even with their plump shapes that are the hallmark of Brooks’s style.
Mengel, 129; Trinity, p. 22; Wood, p. 216; Yale, p. 17.
Bailey, Florence Merriam (1863-1948)
Handbook of Birds / of the / Western United States / including / the Great Plains, Great Basin, Pacific Slope, / and lower Rio Grande Valley. 18.4 x 13.0. Pp. (2, blank, other publications by Bailey)[i-v]vi-xc[1]2-512p513-514(4, advertisements for Houghton, Mifflin nature books); 260 ll. Original blue cloth with design of scissor-tailed flycatcher in gilt and black on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. New York and Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902.
i, Title; ii, copyright; iii, prefatory note; iv, blank; v, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations; xxiv, blank; xxv, introduction; 1, systematic text; 489, appendix, field color key; 487, index; Contains full-page uncolored plates I-XXXVI, so numbered only in list of illustrations, all but three portraits after Louis Agassiz Fuertes, all not included in pagination. Also contains two unnumbered diagrams and text figures 1-601, mostly line-cuts.
Mrs. Bailey was the sister of C. Hart Merriam and the wife of Vernon Bailey, both of whom were productive ornithologist and naturalists. Amongst the pioneering female ornithologists of her day including Fannie Eckstorm, Olive Thorne Miller and Mabel Osgood Wright, Mrs. Bailey was by far the most scientific. Although, like Miller and Wright, Bailey wrote some books designed for children, much of her opus was very serious ornithology and I think the present enduring work, of which this example is a first printing, is probably the most scientific ornithological book written by a woman up to the time of writing. Bailey went on to win a Brewster Award for her subsequent (1926) Birds of New Mexico.
The present work covers almost 600 species. For each, it provides descriptions in various plumages, measurements, descriptions of nests and eggs, and a small anecdotal section that deals with particularly interesting aspects of life history. Keys to orders, families, genera and species are also included. Much of the descriptive material is taken from antecedent works by Baird, Ridgway and Coues.
The introduction contains a general introduction to ornithology with sections on collecting, taxidermy, economic ornithology, life zones and, unusually, a series of local lists that were obtained from resident experts.
The illustrations are interesting. The plates and many text line cuts of heads were by Fuertes and appeared for the first time in this volume. In addition, there are many line cuts from antecedent works including additional pictures by Fuertes as well as other by Ernest Thompson Seton, the Ridgways and Frank Bond. Mrs. Bailey was an early champion of Fuertes and I think the plates in this volume are among the first full-page plates of his to appear.
Trinity, p. 22; Wood, p. 215; Yale, p. 17; Zimmer, p. 31 (1921 edition)
Bailey, Harold H.(arris) (1879-1962).
The birds of Virginia / by / Harold H. Bailey / with fourteen full page colored plates, / one map, and one hundred and eight / half-tones taken from nature / treating one hundred and eighty-five species and subspecies; / all the birds that breed within the state 21.6 x 14.2 cm. [1]82-2282310248(-248)[$1 signed]; 193 ll. Pp. [I-iv]v-xxiii(1)[1-2]3-362. Original black cloth with gilt lettering, gilt and blind ornithological design on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Lynchburg, Virginia, J. P. Bell Company Inc., 1913.
i, Title with vignette; ii, copyright 1913; iii, dedication; iv, index of species; xii, index of colored plates; xiii, index of half-tones; xvi, blank; xvii, preface; xviii, blank; xix, introduction; 1, half-title; 3-362, species accounts, Larus atricilla-Sialia sialis, comprising about 185 species. Contains: 14 unnumbered colored plates including frontispiece, each depicting a single species, by E. L. Poole; printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination; 89 paginated, unnumbered, uncolored photographic plates displaying 108 images by several photographers with consecutive text on obverse; folding sketch map, probably by the author, bound at rear.
This book describes the breeding birds of Virginia. The essays for each species include dates of arrival, nesting and departure as well as occasional comments on food and other aspects of the life history. The author wrote and published privately The birds of Florida in 1925. I believe that the present volume was also privately published although this is not explicitly stated.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bailey, Harold H.(arris)(1879-1962) (illustrated by Geo.[rge]M.[iksch] Sutton [1898-1982])
The birds of Florida / a popular and scientific account of the 425 / species and subspecies of birds that are now, / and that have been found within the state / and its adjacent waters; with special ref-/ erence to their relation to agriculture 30.5 x 22.6 cm. Text printed on laid paper in folio configuration. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxi(1)(2)1-146. Original faux leather with gilt lettering to spine and in blind ornamentally ruled frame on upper cover. Limited Edition. Baltimore, for the author by The Williams & Wilkins Company, 1925.
i, Half-title; ii, blank;iii, title; iv, copyright; credits: color work by The Electro Tint Engraving Co., Philadelphia; printed by the Waverly Press, Inc., Baltimore; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, introduction; xi, acknowledgments; xii, blank; xiii-xxi(1), alphabetical index referenced to scientific and common names; unpaginated leaf: recto, line sketch of topography of bird by Bailey; verso, blank; 1-146, systematic accounts, Pedetaithya grisegena-Sialia sialis, comprising about 425 species and subspecies. Contains colored plates 1-76 printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination. Also contains folding sketch map bound at rear.
Although Sutton published his first illustration while still in his teens, this splendid atlas was his first major commission. The influence of Fuertes is obvious but there is also considerable novel use of dark backgrounds to emphasize light or strikingly colored birds. This set of colored plates deserves to rank with those done by Fuertes for Eaton's Birds of New York (1909-1914) and Forbush's Birds of Massachusetts.. (1925-1929) but unlike those, it was never reprinted, and thus is not nearly so widely known.
The text is brief but describes status, habitat, food and, where appropriate, nests and eggs. Regarding: the Carolina Paroquet (p.78), "…I have positive knowledge that there is still a small colony in existence"; the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (p.81), "… is still far from being extinct.."; Bachman's Warbler (p. 122), "..not a common migrant.." Bailey had previously (1913) written The birds of Virginia.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Baily, William L.(loyd) (1828-1861)
Our own birds / or, / a familiar natural history / of the / birds / of / the United States 15,8 x 10.1 cm. Signed in two ways:[1]62-216224[$1, 3 signed] 130 ll and [A]8B-Q8R2[$1 signed] 130 ll. Pp. i-x11-259(1) Contemporary sheepskin with black frame borders on both covers. Spine with four raised bands, gilt lettering in second to highest compartment. Machine-marbled endpapers. AEG. Philadelphia, Association of Friends for the diffusion of religious and useful knowledge, 1863.
i, Blank; ii, frontispiece, colored bald eagle; iii, title; iv blank; v, preface; vii, contents; 11, introduction; 30, systematic text. Contains 58 hand-colored woodcuts of which 10 are full-paged with blank versos, all included in pagination. “Many of the cuts… are original, others are after Audubon”.
This is an introduction to ornithology with general matters including anatomy, classification, flight, wings and appendages, color as protection, migration, nests and eggs and life histories covered briefly in the introduction. The remainder of the text provides brief coverage of most orders, family and genera in systematic order. The work is written at a popular level with quotations from well-known figures such as Washington Irving, Audubon and Gosse.
There were several later editions of this work revised by E. D. Cope, the commonest being that of 1869. None of these had colored plates or figures. The present first edition is rare and extremely so in the colored state. Wood (p. 216) and Zimmer (p. 32) list only the 1869 edition. OCLC locates only eight copies of the 1863 edition and just one of these, besides my own, is colored.
Bainton, Aileen M.(1925-), White , Anthony W. (1938-)
A bibliography of / birds, ornithology and birding / in the Bahamas and / Turks & Caicos Islands 1492-2006 27.8 21.3 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-96. Original color pictorial white glossy paper wrappers. Nassau, Media Publishing, 2006. This copy signed by White on title page.
1, Title; 2, copyright 2006; New ISBN 978-976-8170-83-5; printed by Media Enterprises Ltd., Nassau; 3, contents; introduction by Joseph M. Wunderle, Jr., dated June 2006; Foreword I by Sidney Moody (author’s brother) dated March 2006’8, foreword II by Anthony White dated March 2006; 10, bibliography.
This remarkable bibliography contains about 1950 references including author, title and citation for each. In addition, it is cross-referenced to Wiley’s "A bibliography of ornithology in the West Indies" which contains 11,648 items.
This copy was given to me by my friend Tony White in 2007. OCLC locates two copies.
Baird, Spencer F.(ullerton)(1823-1887)"with the co-operation of " Cassin, John (1813-1869) and Lawrence, George N.(ewbold)(1806-1895)
The Birds / of / North America / the descriptions of species based chiefly on the collections / in the / Museum of the Smithsonian Institution ////////// Atlas 29.2 x 23.3 cm. π1422[$1 signed]; Seven ll. Pp. (2)[I]II[III]IV-VIII[IX]X-XI(1, blank). Original publisher's plum cloth with blind-stamped panel and oval designs on covers. Flat spines with simulated ridges, gilt lettering in second, third and fourth compartments. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1860.
π1r, Title; π1v, blank; I, preface; III, explanation of plates; IX, systematic list of illustrations. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-C (designated by Arabic numbers in the list) by Bowen & Co., Philadelphia.
This is the atlas volume, designated "Vol II." in the signatures, for a text that originated in 1858 as part of the U. S. Pacific Railroad Surveys and was called by Zimmer (p. 646) "the most important work on North American birds up to its date since Audubon and Wilson." Of these 100 plates, 34 were from the Pacific Railroad Surveys, 25 were from the U. S. and Mexican Boundry Survey reports, and the remainder were newly drawn specifically for this title. The artists are not identified for these plates. I've always suspected that they included G. G. White and W. E. Hitchcock, however, Nissen (#62) ascribes them to Henry L. Stephens. Stephens painted the plates for exceedingly rare first issue of the first part of Cassin's Birds of California.. that was suppressed, supposedly due to Cassin's dissatisfaction with the illustrations. There were two imprints for the present book, Appleton, as for this copy and that in the Ellis collection, and the much commoner J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia. The intention was to depict species which had not previously been illustrated in the works of Audubon and Cassin. The "Explanation of Plates" provides Latin and English names, location of specimen, and a reference to the relevant page of the text. There are descriptions for three new species that are not mentioned in the text.
Mengel, #142(Appleton); Zimmer, p. 33(Lippincott). Lippincott imprints also listed for AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Baird, Spencer F.(ullerton) (1823-1887) "with the co-operation of" John Cassin (1813-1869) and George N.(ewbold) Lawrence (1806-1895)
Birds in (series title) Reports / of explorations and surveys, / to / ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad / from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean / Volume IX, / (part title)Part II.-General report upon the zoology of the several Pacific railroad routes 29.1 x 22.6 cm. [b1*]4b2*-b7*4(b5* misprinted 5b*)1b-125b4126b4(-126b4)[$1 signed]; 531 ll. Pp. [I-XIII]XIV-LVI[1]2-1005(1). Contemporary brown calf-backed marbled boards. Spine with four raised bands, black morocco lettering piece in second compartment, volume IX in fourth, the gilt in the lettering completely faded. 33d Congress, 2d Session, House of Representatives, Ex. Doc. No. 91. Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, Printer, 1858.
I, Series title; II, authorization from House of Representatives for printing 10,000 copies (!); III, contents of volume IX; IV, blank; V, letter of transmittal from Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution dated March 1, 1856; VI, blank; VII, leaf designating "Part II"; VIII, blank; IX, title page for part II; X, blank; XI, contents; XII, blank; XIII, preface; XVII, table of higher (ornithological) groups; XXV, list of species (1-738 of which 716 considered valid North American species); 1, introductory remarks; 2-920, systematic accounts; 921, additional remarks on North American birds; 926, birds found at fort Bridger, Utah, April-June, 1858); 928, list of authorities (bibliography, about 700 entries); 955, index of common names; 965, index of generic and specific names.
This is one of the most important of American ornithological books, comparable in significance to its predecessors by Wilson and by Audubon. The list of species is much expanded over the antecedent works. The work contains anatomical diagnoses for all orders, suborders, families and genera. The following information is provided for each species: synonymy; reference to published figures; physical characters; measurements; distribution; discussion of variations amongst the specimens; and a list of the actual specimens, whence and by whom they were obtained, and their individual measurements. The specimens include not only those in the national museum but also others from private collections and museums. The information is not restricted to birds found on the railroad survey although that venture did contribute many examples and new birds to the national collection.
I find it interesting that five specimens are listed for Podiceps cristata (Great-crested grebe), originally described for North America by Richardson and Swainson as well as by Audubon and not deleted from the national avifauna until publication of the first AOU list.
This work was also printed as Senate Executive Document No. 78. It was reprinted in 1860 and combined with an atlas of 100 colored lithographic plates, mostly from the railroad survey, as The birds of NorthAmerica.
Mengel, #141; Wood, p. 217; Zimmer, p. 646. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Baird, Spencer F.(ullerton)(1823-1887)
United States and / Mexican / Boundary Survey, / under the order of / Lieut. Col. W. H. Emory // Birds / of the Boundary 27.8 x 22.4 cm. 1n-4n45n2(-5n2)[$1 signed]; 17 ll. Pp. [1-3]4-32[=4n4](2). Contemporary half-green leather, marbled boards. Spine with five gilt ruled raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments. (Washington, 1859).
1, title; 2, blank; 3, systematic annotated list; 29, alphabetical index; 5n1r, list of plates; 5n1v, blank. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates 1-2, III-XXV by Bowen & Co., Philadelphia, artist not designated. Bookplate and stamp on title page of Library of Zoological Society of Philadelphia.
This work was Part II of Volume II of the Emory Survey. It lists 226 species as well as the sex, location, date and collector in the cases that specimens were obtained. There are also brief field notes. According to Zimmer, the full report with complete descriptions was published as part of an article by Baird, Cassin and Lawrence in Volume IX of the Pacific Railroad Survey. That report did not contain the pictures which were included, after this publication, in the Birds of North America (1860) by the same three authors.
Wood, p. 217; Zimmer, p. 645. The work itself, or as part of the entire Emory survey, is present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard and Yale but unlisted by Trinity.
Baird, S(pencer)F.(ullerton)(1823-1887), Brewer, T.(homas)M.(ayo)(1814-1880), Ridgway, R.(obert)(1850-1929) (Gill, Theodore Nicholas, Coues, Elliott)
A / History / of / North American Birds // Land Birds Three volumes. 24.8 x 17.0 cm. Original publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering and gilt eagle design on spines. TEG.. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1905(1874). The three volumes contain 64 chromolithographic plates of heads interspersed throughout the text and three hand-colored lithographic frontispieces by Ridgway.
Volume I. [a]4b-c4d2[1]42-754[76]2(-762)[$1 signed]; 315 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xxviii[1]2-596[i2]ii2-vi2. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright dated 1874; printer designation:S. J. Parkhill & Co. Boston; v, preface by Baird; viii, blank; ix, contents; x, blank; xi, introduction, partly by T. M. Gill, with classification, technical descriptions and keys to taxonomic groups; 1-596, systematic text, thrushes-finches; i2-vi2, index to plates of all three volumes. Contains chromolithographed plates I-XXVI of heads after H. W. Elliot and Ridgway; hand-colored lithographic frontispiece (Catbird) after Ridgway; also contains numerous text wood engravings of birds and anatomical parts mostly by H. N. Nichols after E. L. Sheppard.
Volume II. π31-744[75]2; 301 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-590[i]ii-vi. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, copyright, printer designation; π3r, contents; π3v, blank; 1-590, systematic text, finches-parrots; i-vi, index t plates. Contains chromolithographed plates XXVII-LVI; hand -colored lithographic frontispiece (Red-headed Woodpecker; and numerous text illustrations.
Volume III π31-734744(-744); 298 ll; Pp. (6)1-560(2, subtitle page "indexes, verso blank)[I]ii-xxviii. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, copyright; printer designation; π3r, contents; π3v, blank; 1-560, systematic text, owls-partridges; 497, appendix; 499, I., additions and corrections; 524, II., explanation of descriptive terms; 533, glossary by Elliott Coues; i, index of English names; v, index to scientific names; xxiii, index to plates. Contains chromolithographed plates LVII-LXIV, hand-colored lithographed frontispiece (Parakeet); and numerous text illustrations.
This edition is basically a reprint of the original save for the following: it is printed on smaller paper; the date 1875 on the title page has been changed to 1905; the printer named on the copyright page is now S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston; the endpapers are not brown; the chromolithographed plates are distributed throughout the text rather than at the end; three hand-colored lithographic plates have been selected from the 36 by Ridgway in the 1875 edition, and have been used here as frontispieces. The original type appears to have been retained and the difference in page size is entirely due to smaller blank margins in this edition than in its predecessors. The work remains a handsome product.
This edition present at Cornell, Harvard and Yale but unlisted by AMNH, Mengel, Trinity, Wood, Zimmer.
Baird, S(pencer)F.(ullerton)(1823-1887), Brewer, T.(homas)M.(ayo)(1814-1880), Ridgway, R.(obert)(1850-1929) (Gill, Theodore Nicholas, Coues, Elliott)
A / History / of / North American Birds // Land Birds Three volumes. 27.2 x 20.7 cm. Original publisher's green pebbled green cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine, including incorrect date of 1874. Brown endpapers. TEG, others uncut. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1875(1874). From the library of John M. Schiff with his bookplate on the front pastedown of the first volume. The three volumes contain 64 chromolithographic plates of heads bound at rear, 36 hand-colored lithographs of full figures bound througout, and, according to the title page, 593 text woodcuts.
Volume I. [a]4b-c4d2[1]42-754[76]2(-762)[$1 signed]; 315 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xxviii[1]2-596[i2]ii2-vi2. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright dated 1874; printer wood-engraved logo: Welch, Bigelow, University Press, Cambridge, Mass.; v, preface by Baird; viii, blank; ix, contents; x, blank; xi, introduction, partly by T. M. Gill, with classification, technical descriptions and keys to taxonomic groups; 1-596, systematic text, thrushes-finches; i2-vi2, index to plates of all three volumes. Contains chromolithographed plates I-XXVI of heads after H. W. Elliot and Ridgway; 16 unnumbered hand-colored lithographed portraits of birds, including frontispiece after Ridgway; also contains numerous text wood engravings of birds and anatomical parts mostly by H. N. Nichols after E. L. Sheppard.
Volume II. π31-744[75]2; 301 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-590[i]ii-vi. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, copyright, printer designation; π3r, contents; π3v, blank; 1-590, systematic text, finches-parrots; i-vi, index t plates. Contains chromolithographed plates XXVII-LVI; 14 unnumbered hand-colored plates including frontispiece; and numerous text illustrations.
Volume III π31-734744(-744); 298 ll; Pp. (6)1-560(2, subtitle page "indexes, verso blank)[I]ii-xxviii. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, copyright; printer designation; π3r, contents; π3v, blank; 1-560, systematic text, owls-partridges; 497, appendix; 499, I., additions and corrections; 524, II., explanation of descriptive terms; 533, glossary by Elliott Coues; i, index of English names; v, index to scientific names; xxiii, index to plates. Contains chromolithographed plates LVII-LXIV, six unnumbered, hand-colored lithographed plates including frontispiece; numerous text illustrations.
This is perhaps the most authoritative of all books on North American birds. Its three authors are considered titans of early modern American ornithology. Baird in particular, as the first scientific director of the Smithsonian, shaped the destiny of ornithology in the contiguous states and selected the people who would carry it out. His protégé, the young Ridgway, here revealed his potential, not only as a scientist, but also as an artist.
This work is exhaustive. It provides definitive keys at all taxonomic levels and its species keys and descriptions of individual species were quoted, or used as a basis, in many less ambitious later works. The accounts for each species, in addition to the very thorough description with measurements, also provides synonymy, reference to published figures, distribution and life history including dates of passage, food, vocalization, behavior, nesting, and color and dimensions of eggs. Of course, Baird had recently gone through a very similar exercise with Cassin and Lawrence in their Birds of North America first published in 1858 as part of the Pacific Railroad Survey series.
The first edition of this work appeared with chromo- or uncolored lithographic plates of heads in 1874. This second edition differs in the presence of the 36 hand-colored plates by Ridgway, in addition to the chromolithographic plates of heads. The publisher must have had an overstock of bindings for the original edition since most copies of this 1875 edition have the date 1874 on their spines. A third edition was published in 1905 and Yale lists a 1917 imprint which may be a reprint of the latter.
Wood, p. 218; The 1875 edition, presumably with the 36 extra plates, is also listed by AMNH, Cornell and Trinity but not by Harvard,Yale and Zimmer.
Baird, S.(pencer)F.(ullerton)(1823-1887), Brewer, T.(homas)M.(ayo)(1814-1880), Ridway, R.(obert)(1850-1929)(Whitney, J. D.)
The / Water Birds / of / North America //// issued in continuation of the / Publications of the Geological Survey of California / J. D. Whitney, State Geologist Two volumes. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology / at Harvard College / Vol. XII. 27.3 x 20.6 cm. Publisher's beveled pebbled cloth with gilt lettering on spine and embossed gilt decoration of goose (volume I) or puffin (volume II) on upper cover. Brown endpapers. TEG, others uncut. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1884. Bookplates of John M. Schiff and Russell Robinson on front pastedowns of both volumes. The two volumes contain a total of about 336 text hand-colored wood engravings, most of heads and wings, and 167 uncolored illustrations and vignettes, most by H. N. Nichols after
E.L.Sheppardwith the coloring done by Mrs. F. H. Russell after patterns from Ridgway.
Volume I. π61-674X[$1 signed]; 275 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xi(1)[1]2-537(1). i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, entered for copyright by J. D. Whitney; wood-engraved printer designation: John Wilson, University Press, Cambridge, Mass.; v, contents vi, blank; vii, introduction by Whitney explaining history of publication; x, synopsis of North American orders of water birds; 1-537, systematic text, herons-ducks; 537, printer designation.
Volume II. π31-674[684, signature lacking]694(69 misprinted 65); 279 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-552. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, copyright; engraved printer designation; π3r, contents;P3v, blank; 1-534, systematic text, ducks-auks; 535, subtitle page "indexes", verso blank; 537, index of scientific names; 550, index of popular names; 552, printer designation.
In his introduction, Whitney, the former State Geologist of California, explains the convoluted arrangements for publication of these volumes which were intended to complement the three-volume series by the same authors on Land Birds as well as Ornithology, Vol. I. Land Birds by J. G. Cooper, a protégé of Baird's, that had been published by the Geological Survey of California under Whitney's impetus. Whitney allowed Baird to use virtually all of the illustrations from the book by Cooper for the three volume series on land birds. In return, Baird agreed that the anticipated subsequent volume on Water Birds to be published by the Geological Survey would contain all the water birds of North America, not just those found in California and the work was carried out under that understanding. However, the Geological Survey was prematurely abandoned and the publisher refused to take the financial risk of underwriting such a scholarly book. Whitney moved to Cambridge and kept pushing for the book finally securing support from the Museum of Comparative Zoology and, according to him, "..continued-chiefly at his own risk and expense-…the publication of the material left in a more or less fragmentary conditon in his hands, finally concluded to take up the unfinished volumes of ornithology; and with the generous co-operation of the Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, now presents them to the public…" We are left to wonder whether an amicable relationship existed between Whitney and the authors who were still alive at the time of publication, namely Baird and Ridgway. It seems impossible that Baird, at this stage of his career, could not have found support for this publication had he not been annoyed by imposed conditions.
Although Little, Brown would not risk underwriting the costs, they did a fine job in following, for the most part, the format they had used in the publication of the three volume set on land birds for which they had paid the cost of publication. The scholarship of the work is of the same high quality as that of both its predecessors and the hand-coloring of the engraved heads in the text is superb and more attractive than the precisely ordered sequences on the chromolithographic plates of the three-volume work.
The work was issued as an Arno reprint in 1974. It is usually found uncolored and the colored version is decidedly uncommon. Colored copies are listed by Cornell, Bradley Martin (#1347), Mengel (#140) and Zimmer, p. 35 but not by AMNH, Berkeley, Harvard, LOC, Smithsonian, Trinity, Wood and Yale.
Bairei Hyakuchô Gafu (Bairei’s Album of 100 Birds), three volumes (first series), 1881, together with Bairei Hyakuchô Gafu. Zokuhen (Bairei’s Album of 100 birds, Continuation), additional three volumes (second series), 1884. Together six volumes. 24.8 x 16.5 cm. Traditional right-to-left Japanese string binding with decorated beige paper covers containing red paper labels on upper cover and with printed text on obverse of both covers, the upper cover obverse consisting entirely of red paper. Tokyo, ôkura Magobei, Meiji 14 (1881) and Meiji 17 (1884). Sealed throughout.
PL TL SPWB DPWB
First Series
volume 1 1 1 29 7
volume 2 1 0 22 11
volume 3 1 1 19 12
Second Series
volume 1 3 1 16 14
volume 2 3 1 10 17
volume 3 1 1 9 17
PL, preliminary printed leaves; TL, terminal printed leaves; SPWB, single-page colored woodblocks; DPWB, double-page colored woodblocks.
It should be noted that Kono was the artist's family name which is written first in Japanese. However, artists were usually known by a promotional given name, in this case Bairei. Since the works are usually attributed to "Bairei" rather than "Kono", I've chosen to list this and some other Japanese artists alphabetically by their promotional given names.
This is Bairei’s best known work and, although not so called, is actually a kachô, i. e. a work depicting both plants and birds. The coloring in this work is sumi or very muted, mainly various subtle dilutions of black and brown. The representations are thus artistic rather than realistic, at least as regards color. Bairei was a careful observer and the shapes and postures of his birds reflect very closely those displayed in life by the species that he depicts. This work is quite different from the Bairei Kachô Gafu which is printed on much larger paper and contains very vivid coloring that involves many pigments.
Although individual volumes and the complete first series are not uncommon, sets containing the entire six volumes are decidedly rare.
An edition of three volumes on larger (35.5 x 24.5 cm) paper was published by Magobei in 1891, 1892 and 1896 containing some or all of these prints. The backgrounds of the prints were slightly modified and an occasional bird was added. I have seen individual prints from this edition offered and described on ebay but have not encountered it elsewhere.
It should be noted that these various printed albums or books (gafu) on birds (cho) and flowers (ka) have been used as source material by many Japanese for producing “manuscript copy books”. These were not made as commercial ventures but rather as a means of practicing and improving one’s artistic prowess, initially developed during the mastery of calligraphy. These “copy books” were often given as gifts.
Bartlett and Shohara, p. 235 (first series); Wood, p. 422 (incomplete). Absent from Trinity, Yale and Ayer collections and unlisted in other major ornithological bibiliographies and catalogs.
Bairei Kachõ Gafu (Bairei’s Book of Birds and Flowers) Two volumes. 37 x 25 cm. All printed characters are Japanese. One volume has four pages of characters, the other two. Each volume contains 25 full-page colored woodblocks, all with a red woodblock signature. The volumes are bound from right to left with characters on the right cover. The sheets are apparently bound and folded in such a way that apparent leaves containing two printed surfaces are actually conjugate at their foreedges and contain a third conjugate leaf between them that is hidden, and without printing. Thus, six pages (three leaves) are used for each two that contain printed matter. The exception is the last two pages of each volume which are lacking the internal leaf. It follows that printing, if it occurs on a given leaf, is limited to a single side. The external binding is of corrugated card that is decorated with gold sprinkles and contains characters on the right cover. There is sidestitching with the threads externally visible and without either a supportive spine or gatherings other than described above. Tokyo, Õkura Shoten, 1899 (second edition).
This is an exquisite bound album of Japanese woodblocks that depict various species of birds and flowers in an extraordinarily decorative manner. The coloring is superb and was done either by hand or directly from blocks in a manner much superior to any western chromxylography. The pictures are not nearly so detailed nor accurate as comparable western albums but they are much more attractive and still allow recognition of most of the species. The work is meant to be artistic not didactic. The information that I give above comes from the underbidder for this lot, Mr. Charles Vilnus of the Boston Book Company, 705 Center Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, telephone (617)522 2100. According to him, each volume comprises two seasons and the work is complete. I have never seen anything resembling this beautiful production and there is nothing like it and no description of comparable Japanese material in any of my catalogues or anthologies including Taka-Tsukasa’s bibliography and discussion of Japanese literature in the Birds of Nippon. Illustrated oriental antiquarian books about birds are evidently unknown amongst ornithologists and information about them, if it exists, should probably be sought in the orientalist literature. Although the style of art is entirely different, this work reminds me conceptually of Traviés’ Les Oiseaux les Plus Remarquables... save that it depicts only birds found in Japan.
The prints in the first edition (1884-1885) differ from these in two respects. Firstly, they have decorative borders, and secondly, they each contain a printed square at one of their corners. I am not certain of the content but it could be poems or perhaps some sort of text for the specific image. The images, themselves, are identical in the two editions
Album of Ornithological Watercolors 26.2 x 18.5 cm. 65 Unpaginated leaves containing 28 double-page and 74 single-page watercolors. Japanese style binding and stitching. Plain tan canvas covers with unlettered vertical labeling piece on upper cover. (Japan, ca. 1890 [?])
This is a beautifully executed album of watercolors apparently copied from pictures in Bairei’s Hyakuchô Gafu (1881) and its continuation (1884). I say “apparently” because I suppose it is possible that these could be the original art from which the woodblocks were eventually derived. The paper is hand-made and extremely thin, almost tissue-like, and it is difficult to imagine how the artist was able to paint on such paper and then have the folded leaves bound Japanese style. The paintings are in the same direction as the published woodblocks. The names of the birds, usually in the upper right-hand corner of the page, are the same as those in the book although the calligraphy appears slightly different. Most of the pictures are sealed and the seals are different from those in the corresponding woodblocks. There is no text.
The technical execution of these paintings is superb and the artist has caught perfectly the form, posture and “jizz” of the bird as did Bairei. Amongst the pictures are examples from both the original work (1881) and its continuation and the complete album comprises the equivalent of three of the six total volumes. The coloring, although clearly restrained, is none-the-less, brighter than the subdued, sumi-e style of the woodblocks.
The album appears quite old and is presented in a simple Japanese style box in tan cloth. The box is faded on the top edge as though this part of it was exposed to light by protrusion for many years whereas the rest of it was protected.
Charles Vilnus, to whom I showed this item, told me that the Japanese elite at the end of the 19th century regarded draughtsmanship as an important skill and that they often practiced it by copying the work of acknowledged masters. The resulting “manuscript copy books” were often given as gifts and he feels this item may be an example of such a production. Like me, he was extremely impressed with how well it was done.
Bairei Gafu (Bairei's Picture Book, volume 1) 18.2 x 12.3 cm. Contains 26 leaves including three preliminary pages with vertical rows of Japanese characters and several seals; 24 framed colored wood-block diptych prints of birds (not sealed), and usually plants, in muted black, gray, brown and red; and a final blank page. Accordion-style right-to-left Japanese patterned maroon card binding with title label on right cover. Tokyo (?), Sosada Yahei and Murakami Kambei, 1887. Some years after I bought this volume, I came across another copy with, in addition to the Japanese title label, another title label "Bairei's Birds and Flowers".
The woman from whom I bought this attractive volume wrote in her description that it was done by Bairei and published in 1887. None of the 24 diptychs is identical to any of those in Bairei's Hyakucho Gafu (1881), its continuation (1884), his Kacho Gafu (1899) nor in his Inakanotsuki (1889), all of which I own. The style is unmistakably that of Bairei and the overall presentation is very similar to that of his Hyakucho Gafu although the binding is accordion-style and the volume is of smaller dimensions. The prints are very well done and are beautiful impressions and the condition is extraordinarily fresh and clean. As in all Japanese publications of the kacho genre, accuracy of the illustrations in terms of precise delineation of pattern and color of the birds is sacrificed for artistry. No such sacrifice is made in depiction of shape and posture which are superbly executed by Bairei.
The title label of this volume contains the Japanese character for "1" indicating that it is the first in a series. I subsequently obtained the second volume of the series. The label contains seven other characters, five of which are shared with the title label of Bairei's Hyakucho Gafu. Whatever the present work is, it is not specifically mentioned by Bartlett and Shohara in Japanese Botany During the Period of Wood-Block Printing (1961), nor by Christine Jackson in the section on Bairei (p. 145) in her Dictionary of Bird Artists..(1999). She does cite a reference (C. H. Mitchell, O. Ueda, The Illustrated Books of the Nanya, Maruyama, Shijo and Other Related Schools of Japan. A Bibliography, Los Angeles, 1972) which has a biography of Bairei, a "prolific artist", and a list of his publications.
I subsequently came across another copy of volume 2 of this work and found that the entire work comprises three volumes, is called Bairei Gafu, and was published by Sosada Yahei and Murakami Kambei. The third volume of the work is devoted to insects and flowers so the two volumes that I possess comprise the entire ornithological section. The three volumes were reproduced in the early 20th centuury. This title is absent from most or all major ornithological libraries but UC-Berkeley has the same volumes, 1 & 2, as do I.
Bairei Gafu (Bairei's Picture Book, volume 2) 18.1 x 12.3 cm. Contains 27 leaves including three preliminary pages with printed characters and three seals; 25 framed colored wood-block diptych prints of birds (not sealed) and usually plants, in sumi-e style muted black, gray, brown and red; and a blank final page. Accordion-style right-to-left Japanese patterned orange card binding with title label on upper cover. Tokyo (?), Sosada Yahei and Murakami Kambei, 1886.
The woman from whom I bought this attractive volume wrote in her description that it was by Bairei and published in 1886. The title label is identical to the last volume I bought from her save that the Japanese character for 2 is present instead of that for 1 so I assume that this is the second volume in a series. I am confused, however, that it should presumably have been issued a year earlier and perhaps one of the dates is in error. This volume is similar in style to the first in the series and again shows to full advantage, Bairei's mastery of shape, posture and texture.
I subsequently found that this is one of three volumes called Bairei Gafu published by Sosada Yahei and Murakami Kambei. The third volume is devoted to insects and flowers so the two volumes I possess comprise the entire ornithological section. The three volumes were reproduced in the early 20th century. This work is absent from most, or all major ornithological collections but UC-Berkeley does list volumes 1 and 2 under the title Bairei Gafu. I have also seen the work under the title Bairei gafu kacho no bu.
Inakanotsuki Pictured by Bairei Kono 24.2 x 16.5 cm. 28 Folded leaves comprising three of text and 24-double-page and two single-page colored wood block pictures. Decorated card covers with vertical label and traditional Japanese sewn binding. Kyoto, Z. Tanaka, 1889.
Bairei was perhaps the most prolific of the artists specializing in natural history in Japan during the late 19th century. He was a native of Kyoto and is perhaps best known for his Hyakucho Gafu or Album of 100 Birds that was produced by Magobei of Tokyo in 1881. Much more attractive is his Kacho Gafu (Album of Flowers and Birds) first issued by Okura Shoten of Tokyo in the early 1880s and reissued in 1899. I possess a copy of the latter which is an exceptionally beautiful, large quarto-sized work with unusually vivid coloring for the kacho genre. This present work is perhaps even more satisfying although it is the equivalent of an octavo and its coloring is subtle and muted, a mixture of pastel and “sumi”, the latter a form of shading. This work was produced by Tanaka of Kyoto, the same firm that, approximately contemporaneously, issued Keinen’s great series of four volumes on Flowers and Birds of the Seasons.
Of the 24 double-paged plates in this book that show wildlife in various appropriate and scenic habitats, 12 illustrate birds and the pictures are both accurate and artistic. To me, the finest are the depictions of Eurasian Tree Sparrows and Barn Swallows. Bairei captures shapes and posture perfectly and must have studied birds in the wild extensively. The card cover is also decorated with an extremely subtle study of birds in flight that could easily be mistaken for a smudge! This is because it is printed in a way that greatly resembles pencil shading. Various animals are figured in the other plates. The wolf and wild boar are particularly striking. An unusual feature of this book is that the colophon and contents are given in English as well as in Japanese.
This work was said by the publishers to be the first, “Snow”, in a trilogy (Snow, Moon and Flowers). It is not clear to the bookseller who sold this to me whether the other volumes actually ever materialized. According to him, they are not cited in a number of bibliographies that describe this one. However, I did find the entire trilogy listed in the on-line catalogs of the Harvard and Yale libraries. The present volume is also present at UC-Berkeley Library.
Unidentified album. 24.5 x 17.5 cm. 22 Japanese-style, externally conjoined double leaves, of which four contain Japanese lettering without images. The remaining 20 leaves contain 42 images (28 of birds) as follows: four diptychs (three of birds); six pages divided by rule into two images; 26 pages with single image. The colors are various dilutions of black and gray as well as muted brown, orange and violet. Original gray card covers with leaf design on upper cover, Japanese style stitching, vertical white labeling leaf on upper cover. Tokyo (?), 1899.
I’ve been unable to identify this work which was described by the seller as “Bairai Gafu”. The individual pictures are not signed or sealed although their subjects are identified. It is entirely different from the smaller, accordion-format volumes that I possess and that are often referred to as “Bairei Gafu”. It also differs from the three volumes of the Hyakucho Gafu and from the three volumes of that work’s continuation, as well as from Bairei’s Inakanotsuki although it resembles this latter in that not all of its pictures are devoted to birds.
Baker, H(arold) R(obert) (1869-) and Inglis, Cha(rle)s M(cfarlane) (1870-1954)
The Birds of Southern India / including / Madras, Malabar, Travancore / Cochin, Coorg and Mysore 24.7 x 16.0 cm. [a]8b8(+b9)[1]82-308314328[$1, 2 signed]; 269 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xxxiii(1)[1]2-504. Addendum inserted 490/491. Original publisher's maroon ruled cloth, gilt lettering on spine, maroon endpapers. Madras, Government Press, 1930.
i, Title; ii, blank; iii, preface; v, list of plates; vii, diagram of a bird; viii, terminology; ix, scale; xi, systematic index; 1, systematic text comprising 544 species; 486, appendix; 492, alphabetical index of English and Latin names. Contains colored plates I-XXII printed on one side only with each containing two separate images from the Bombay Natural History Society, most signed H. N. Wandrekar.
Baker was a career soldier and this was his only well known ornithological contribution. Inglis was the Curator of the Darjeeling Museum of Natural History and a well known ornithologist. The work is well done and authoritative. It was more or less contemporary with Stuart Baker's eight volume work on Indian birds from which the authors claim to have gleaned considerable information for their more specifically regional treatise. They cover 544 species including description and measurements, locality, habits, breeding season and nests and eggs. The pictures were a small part of a series originally done for posters distributed by the Bombay Natural History Society. Subsequently, the Society published the individual pictures mounted in an album of which a sample is in my collection. They were later used by Salim Ali for the first edition of his important Book of Indian Birds (1941)
The present work, while relatively uncommon, is present in most libraries including those of Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale and Oxford.
Baker, E.(dward)C.(harles) Stuart (1864-1944)
Indian Ducks / and / their Allies 26.6 x 18.2 cm. [a]4b2B-T8U2[$1, 2 signed]; 152 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xi[xii][1]2-292. Original publisher's half green (faded to brown) morocco with green cloth sides. Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments. Marbled endpapers. TEG, others uncut. London, The Bombay Society of Natural History and R. H. Porter, 1908.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: London, Taylor and Francis; limitation statement: 1,200 (unnumbered) copies; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, list of plates; ix, introduction, including references; 1, species accounts covering species 1-45; 287, index; 292, printer designation. Contains additional uncolored photogravure (or collotype) title leaf by J. Green Photo imp. reproducing a painting by Grönvold not included in pagination. In addition to the title, this page states "Reprinted from the Bombay Natural History / Society's journal; with corrections & / additions."; also contains chromolithographic plates I-XXX by J. Green, Chromo. after Grönvold (16), Keulemans (9) and Lodge (4) with Grönvold and Keulemans each contributing a head to Plate I.
This work is an updated and revised version of a number of papers that Baker had published (1898-1900) in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. The original articles contained only the 10 colored plates by Keulemans. The work describes 45 species, including flamingos, of which 31 are illustrated. Baker's coverage is exhaustive with numerous quotations from well known works. He provides for each species, synonymy; a very comprehensive description with measurements; general distribution and local status; and an essay that includes detailed discussions of food, nesting, eggs and behavior even for species like the Golden-Eye, which occur in India only as stragglers. There are often anecdotes that are relevant to hunters and/or aviculturists.
The additional title page in this book is often mistakenly called "lithographed."
Wood, p. 218. This book is also present at AMNH, Cornel, Trinity and Yale but is unlisted by Harvard and by Zimmer
Baker, Edward Charles Stuart (1864-1944)
Indian Ducks and their Allies 22.5 x 15.3 cm. Pp. 1-21; 171-198; 347-367; 555-584; 1-31; 235-264; 437-464; 593-620; 1-24; 199-222. Twentieth century tan half-calf with marbled boards. Brown morocco labeling piece on spine. Bombay, 1898-1900. From volumes XI, XII and XIII of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Contains chromolithographs I-X by Mintern Bros. after J. G. Keulemans.
This is the rare original presentation by Baker of his important monograph on Indian flamingos, swans, geese and ducks. It appeared as ten articles each containing one colored plate. Baker published an updated edition with additions and revisions in 1908. The print run of that edition was 1200, considerably more than the number of copies of the original here described. The later work had 30 colored plates, all lithographed and printed by J. Green, the additional 20 after original drawings by Gronvold and Lodge. It is interesting to compare the 10 plates by Keulemans in the original and later editions. It is clear that the same lithographic plates were employed but the coloring of backgrounds is very different reflecting the different printers. There is one other interesting difference. The head of the Bewick’s Swan by Keulemans on plate I of the original is replaced in the later work by the head of a Whooper Swan drawn by Gronvold. The reason, as explained in an erratum at the end of the last part of the original work, is that Blandford had shown clearly that the specimen on which the identification was based was a Whooper Swan not Bewick’s as originally thought. Baker issued a work entitled The Game Birds of India, Burma and Ceylon in three volumes in 1921-1930. Volume I. of that work, Ducks and their Allies, published in 1921 is, in effect, a third edition of the present work although it is virtually identical to the 1908 version.
The present work is a collection of extracts not of offprints or author’s extras. This is indicated by the versos of the two articles that contain an odd number of pages. In each case, the verso represents the initial page of an unrelated article instead of a blank as is the case for an author’s extra. Baker did issue some volumes containing collected author’s extras for this work (e. g. Mengel #144) and for The Birds of Cachar which appeared as a series of 12 articles in the same journal. Those volumes that Baker thus issued contained a specially printed title page and were usually signed by him.
Mengel, 144. Not listed separately by Trinity, Wood nor Yale.
Baker, E(dward) C(harles) Stuart (1864-1944)
Indian Pigeons / and / Doves 26.5 x 18.2 cm. [A]8B-Q8R2S8[$1, 2 signed]; 138 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xv[xvi]1-260. Original publisher's half dark green morocco, green cloth sides. Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments; marbled endpapers. TEG. London, Witherby & Co., 1913.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Witherby; v, preface; ix, contents; xi, list of plates; xii, blank; xiii, bibliography; 1, species accounts covering species 1-51; 256, index. Contains 27 four-color half-tone plates including frontispiece and numbers 1-26 after H. Grönvold (21) and G. E. Lodge (6).
Although it was published by a different company, this book was produced as a companion volume with the same style and format as that on Indian Ducks and their Allies (1908) by the Baker. As always with Baker, the coverage of the subject is exhaustive. The account for each of the 51 species includes; synonymy; vernacular name; a comprehensive description wit measurements; general and local distribution and status; nidification and eggs; food; habits; and any other observations of interest made either by Baker, his correspondents, or other authors. These may include material of interest to hunters and aviculturalists. Baker became the early 29th century expert on Indian ornithology in the tradition of Blythe, Jerdon and Hume. This role was filled by Salim Ali after India achieved its independence.
Baker claims (p. vi) that this book "..introduces for the first time into India the trinomial system-that is to say, the system which recognizes subspecies."
Wood, p. 218; Zimmer, p. 36. This book is also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Baker, E(dward) C(harles) Stuart (1864-1944)
The / Birds of Cachar 24.0 x 16.0 cm. 135 leaves Pp. (2, separate title page, blank verso) 1-50(volume VIII of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, pp. 162-211); 1-24(IX, 1-24); 1-35(IX, 112-146); 1-12(X, 1-12); 1-8(X, 161-168); 339-371(X); 539-567(X); 222-233(XI); 390-405(XI); 486-510(XII); 399-405(XIII); 563-570(XIII). Late 20th century marbled boards with printed tan paper lettering piece on spine. "Published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 1900-1901" from title page. Contains nine chromolithographed plates lettered A-I after Baker by Mintern Bros. Chromo lith, London. Inscribed and signed by Baker on a blank initial leaf.
Baker was the premier student of Indian ornithology between the eras of Jerdon and Hume on the one hand, and Salim Ali on the other. This is a collection of offprints from the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society concerning the ornithology of northeastern India that Baker intended to be a comprehensive monograph. It covers the status, and in some instances extensively, the life histories, including nest and eggs, of 675 species. These are numbered successively in systematic order and then referenced to Hume's list of Indian birds that had been published in Stray Feathers.
The papers that constitute these articles were actually read before the Society from 1893-1900 and published 1894-1901 despite the misleading information on the title page. Although the articles appeared over a span of about seven years, Baker assembled a few sets, supplied a special title page (with incorrect dates of publication) and inscribed and signed most of the sets which were doubtless intended for presentation. As indicated above, some of the offprints had separate pagination, others did not. That the latter are offprints not extracts is indicated by the fact that those which end on an odd page have blank versos rather than the first page of the next article.
The collected set of 12 offprints in book form with a separate title is extremely rare.
Wood (p. 218) lists a copy with 10 offprints. The work is unlisted by AMNH, Berkeley, BM(NH), Cornell, Harvard, LOC, Oxford, NYPL, the Smithsonian, Trinity, Yale and Zimmer.
Baldwin, Peter J., and Brian S. Meadows.
Birds / of Madinat Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah/ and its Hinterland 23.9 x 22.9 cm. Pp. In English: [1-4]5-38; in English and Arabic: 39-136; in Arabic: 38-5[4-1]; 87 ll. Original publisher's simulated morocco with gilt titles in English on upper cover, Arabic on lower cover. Gray endpapers decorated with white silhouetted flying birds. Ryadh, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, 1988.
Verso upper end paper, copyright, English; 1, dedication, English; 2, blank; 3, title, English; 4, contents, English; 5, foreword, preface, English; 6, introduction, English; 7, acknowledgements, English; 8, habitat, English; 21, seasonal occurrence of selected birds in specific habitats, English; 24, migration, English; 30, occurrence tables, English; 39, systematic list, English and Arabic; 38-lower end paper, mirror image of upper endpaper-38, Arabic. Contains colored figures 1-8 (pie graphs, migration maps, two colored paintings, 19 colored photos of habitats, all unnumbered in duplicate in the English and Arabic sections of the text. Also contains 22 colored paintings, 76 colored photos of birds by Baldwin, all unnumbered, in the systematic list. Most of the paintings are signed by Ed Gonzalez and dated Yanbu Alsinaiyah, 1987. This copy is signed by Baldwin on the English title. There is a note in pencil on the verso of the inner endpaper indicating that only 500 copies were printed.
Yanbu is located about two-thirds of the way up the Western side of the Arabian peninsula on the Red Sea not far from Medina. It is the site of an industrial city and the authors recorded the birds within 75 kilometers from 1979-1987. The systematic list contains 290 species for each of which a brief status report is supplied. There is a substantial section on the various habitats and another on migration. The work is completely bilingual with the Arabic preliminary section printed right to left as indicated above. The artwork is quite good, the bird photographs variable.
The work seems to be quite uncommon and is lacking from the AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale. It is present in the Library of Congress as well as those of the BM(NH) and Oxford.
Van / diverse / pluimage / tien eeuwen / vogelboeker 25.4 x 18.7 cm. [I-IV]V-VIII1-163[164-168]. Original card covers with colored figure of giant kingfisher on upper cover. (Brussel, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, 1968).
I, Half-title; II, blank; III, title; IV, schedule of exhibitions; V, preface by officials of host institutions for exhibition; VII, foreword by J.(ean) Delacour; VIII, Bruikleengevers; 1-157, annotated list of 146 pictorial ornithological works; 158, full citations for references used; 159, literature; 161, list of illustrations; 165, contents; 166, printer designation: Drukkerij Erasmus Lederberg/Gent. Contains: uncolored text line figures 1-10; uncolored half-tone plates I-XXXII printed on both sides of 16 leaves, not included in pagination.
This is a catalogue that was prepared for an exhibition held in institutions in Antwerp, the Hague and Brussels during 1968 and 1969. It was also issued in French under the title: Merveilleux plumages. Dix Siècles de livres d'oiseaux, Brussels, 1968. It describes 146 works, some of which are extremely rare. The emphasis is not on descriptive bibliography but rather on biographies of the various artists and authors. There is much information here that is not easy to find. Balis was apparently a librarian at the Royal Museum in Brussels. He was also the author of the commentary accompanying a facsimile edition of two ornithological suites of plates by Collaert that was published in Brussels.
Listed (Dutch version) by AMNH. Neither version listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Ball, Alice E.(liza)(1867-1948).
A year with the birds 23.4 x 15.8 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-191(1). Original publisher’s green cloth with blind frame and gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Original pictorial dust jacket. New York, Gibbs & Van Vleck, Inc., 1916 (first printing)_ This copy with dated and signed authorial inscription in ink and dated signature in pencil of “R. Bruce Horsfall Jr” (probably son) on front free endpaper and ink signature “R. Bruce Horsfall” ([1869-1948] artist and presumably father) on title page under “Illustrated by / Robert Bruce Horsfall”.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright, April, 1916; 5, dedication; 6, blank; 7, contents; 8, blank; 9, list of illustrations; 10, blank; 11, introduction; 15, part one, winter residents and visitors, our winter neighbors; 47, part two, the early spring birds; 95, part three, the later spring birds; 163, part four, nesting time; 169, part five, birds’ song, interlude; 183, part six, fall migration. Contains 56 unnumbered, half-tone colored plates after Horsfall depicting 57 eastern species, printed on recto only and not included in pagination.
This book was intended for children and consist of poems, mostly by Ball, that concern 57 common American birds, all of which are illustrated. The sequence of birds mirrors their presence in winter or arrivals in the spring. The reader is told explicitly when to expect each species (in the northeast) and the poem then presents something more about the bird.
The book is quite original in concept. The illustrations by the underappreciated Horsfall have considerable charm and ambiance. Horsfall did some of the diorama work at the American Museum of Natural History and was particularly skilled at depicting colorful backgrounds. Most or all of the plates in this work appeared in the leaflet series of the National Audubon Society, 22 before the publication of this work, and others after it. The same plates also appeared in later works by Ball (Bird biographies [1923]; American land birds [1936])
The present work is not uncommon and appeared in later printings including at least one with a different (Dodd, Mead) imprint. This copy is special in containing its original dust jacket as well as the signatures and an inscription by the author and artist.
Balston, R(ichard)J(ames)(1839-1916), C(harles)W(illiam) Shepherd, and E(dward) Bartlett (1836-1908).
Notes / on the / Birds of Kent 22.2 x 14.8 cm. [A]8B21-298302(-302)[$1 signed]; 243 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xix(1)[1]2-465(1). Original green cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Uncut, unopened. TEG. London, R. H. Porter, 1907.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; ix, contents; x, blank; xi, illustrations; xii, blank; xiii, introduction; xx, blank; 1, systematic text; 456, index. Contains uncolored photogravure frontispiece, eight unnumbered hand-colored lithographs by Bale & Danielsson Ltd after Joseph Smit and a folded, color-printed map of Kent by George Philip & Sons Ltd.
Bartlett, who wrote the preface, tells us that 320 species have been recorded for Kent up to the date of publication. For each species, the reference for nomenclature of the type specimen is given and all references for occurrence in Kent are supplied and discussed. Dates of arrival, departure and nesting are given and there is usually an extensive anecdotal discourse. This work was the first complete treatment of the birds of Kent. I've read that the print run was only 300 copies.
Smit must have known most of these Eurasian birds first-hand and, in my view, his depictions here are amongst his very best ornithological illustrations.
Trinity, p. 25; Wood, p. 220; Yale, p. 19; Zimmer, p. 38.
Bangs, Outram (1862-1932), and W.R. Zappey.
Birds of the Isle of Pines 23.8 x 17.6 cm. Pp. 179-215; 19 ll. Original printed tan wrappers. Boston, Ginn & Company, the Atheneum Press, 1905. Reprinted from The American Naturalist, Vol. XXXIX, No. 460. Contains text figures 1-8 including a map and seven photographs.
This work describes 120 species, some from older observations fide Gundlach, but most from Zappey's collecting trips in 1902 and 1904. There is a discussion of topography and several subspecies are distinguished from their close relatives on nearby Cuba. According to a later and better known work on the subject by W. E. C. Todd (1916), the present article represents "the first authoritative and annotated list of the birds of the island…six were described as new and critical notes on others are added".
This is an author's offprint with its own wrapper although not separately paginated. It's not listed as a separate by Mengel, Trinity, Wood, Yale nor Zimmer, However, The American Naturalist ,in which it was published is present, in most major libraries.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1979), and W. Mary Bannerman (volumes II-IV).
Birds of the / Atlantic Islands Four volumes. 26.8 x 18.8 cm. Original publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Top edges dyed blue. Pictorial dust jackets. Edinburgh and London, Oliver & Boyd.
Volume One / A history of the birds of the Canary / Islands and the Salvages 1963 [a]8b8A-Y8Z4[$1 signed]; 196 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xxxi(1)1-358[359](1). i, series and volume half-title; ii, blank; iii, series and volume title page; iv, year of publication; copyright; printer designation: Oliver & Boyd, Ltd., Edinburgh; v, preface; vii, contents; ix, list of illustrations; xi, bibliography; xvi, blank; xvii, introduction; xxx, birds ringed on continent, recovered in Canaries; 1, Breeding birds: systematic accounts of 62 full species, many forms; 308, migratory birds: shorter accounts of 151 species; 344, list of 21 species requiring confirmation; 345, list of 52 doubtful species; 349, index to scientific and English names; 359, printer designation. Corrigenda slip inserted at pp. 2/3. Contains plates numbered 1-17, printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Of these, 13 are in color half-tone by Hislop and Day, Edinburgh, after D. M. (Reid-)Henry (11), G. E. Lodge (1), and H. Grönvold (one which had been previously published in Bannerman's The Canary Islands [1922]; four uncolored half-tone including two full-page photographs, and two of birds after Major Henry Jones. Also contains two full-page uncolored sketch maps that are part of text and included in pagination, and 65 unnumbered text line illustrations of which 23 by Henry, six by Roland Green, two by G. E. Lodge, one by H. Grönvold and 33 not initialed but mostly by Henry.
Volume Two / A history of the birds of Madeira / the Desertas, and the Porto Santo Islands 1965 [a]8b-c8A-N8; 128 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xlviii1-207(1). i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, year; copyright; printer designation; v, preface and acknowledgments; vii, contents; xi, list of illustrations; xii, blank; xiii, bibliography; xx, blank; xxi, historical introduction; xxxiv, blank; xxxv, natural features and climate of the Madeira archipelago by G. E. Maul; 1, breeding birds: systematic accounts of 41 species; 106, migratory birds: annotated list of about 182 species; 173, brief accounts of 13 species requiring confirmation; 179, brief accounts of 16 doubtful species; 189, origin of migrants; 190, addenda to volume I; 196, corrigenda to volume I; 197, index of scientific and English names; 206, index to Portuguese names. Contains folded unpaginated uncolored map bound at end of volume; colored plates 1-8 of birds after Henry; one uncolored plate with two photographic images, all printed on one side only and not included in pagination; and 38 text illustrations including 10 by Henry, five by Eric Gorton, two by Lodge, two by Green, and 19 unsigned.
Volume Three / A history of the birds of the Azores 1966 [A]8B-R8S6; 142 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xviii[xix](1)1-262[263](1). i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, year; copyright; printer designation; v, preface and acknowledgments; viii, blank; ix, contents; xiii, list of illustrations; xvi, blank; xvii, bibliography; 1, topography and natureal features by Col. José Agostinho; 11, the individual islands; 13, São Miguel by José Maria Cabral; 22, Santa Maria by Hugh Prince; 30, Terceira by Agostinho; 40, São Jorge by Agostinho; 44, Pico; 50, Faial; 54, Corvo; 61, Flores; 68, history of museum at Ponta Delgada; 73, notable Portuguese personalities in Azores ornithology; 80, origin of migratory birds and ringing records; 83, breeding birds: systematic accounts of 33 species; 175, migratory birds: systematic accounts of 157 species; 246, accounts of 10 species requiring confirmation; 251, accounts of three doubtful species; 253, index of scientific and English names; 261, index of Portuguese names; 263, printer designation. Contains plates numbered 1-29. Of these, eight are colored including two photographic on one page, the other six of birds after Henry (3) and Lodge (3). These are all printed on one side only. The 21 uncolored photographic plates are printed on both sides of six leaves and one side of one leaf. Eight of the pages have two images ("plates". ) All plates are excluded from pagination. There are also 54 text illustrations of which 31 are by C. F. Tunnicliffe (from antecedent publications), four by Henry, three by Green, two by Gorton, and 14 unattributed.
Volume Four / History of the birds of / the Cape Verde Islands 1968 [a]8b8A-2E82F6(-2F6); 245 ll. Pp. [1-iv]v-xxxi(1)1-458. i, volume and series half-title, the order reversed from previous volumes; ii, blank; iii, volume and series title, the order reversed from previous volumes; iv, year; copyright; printer designation; v, acknowledgments; ix, contents; xi, list of illustrations; xv, list of 44 resident and 61 migratory birds; xx-xxiii, maps; xxiv, blank; xxv, bibliography; 1, introductory note by the Governor of Cape Verde; 7, historical introduction; 49, zoological considerations; 59, vegetation by L. Grandvaux Barbosa; 62, butterflies by N. D. Riley; 66, authors' travel narrative; 118, notes from the diary of W. Mary Bannerman; 151, sysematic accounts, White-faced Petrel-House Sparrow; 451, addenda to volumes II and III; 453, index to scientific and English names; 457, index to Portuguese names. Unpaginated folding table of distribution of breeding species inserted at pp. 24/25. Contains plates numbered 1-51. Of these, 20 are colored and printed on one side only. They include two photographic (one as frontispiece), one of butterflies, and 17 of birds on 15 leaves (i. e. in two cases, two "plates" per page) after Henry (11) and P. A. Clancey (6). The 31 uncolored photographic plates are printed on both sides of 12 leaves and on one side of three others. None of these is included in the pagination. Also contains 15 text illustrations by Clancey and two by Tunnicliffe.
Insular ornithology was Bannerman's passion. He first examined the bird life of the Canaries in 1909, published articles about them in The Ibis (1912, 1919, 1920) and wrote a highly regarded book about their natural history (The Canary Islands…) in 1922 so this group must have held a special fascination for him. Two photographs in the first volume show him on Grand Canary Island in 1909 and again in 1959 and this exemplifies why his writing is so compelling. He mixes vast anecdotal personal lore with a profound knowledge of the literature in a completely authoritative, yet delightful way. In other words, he was both a museum and a field ornithologist with enormous experience. All of Bannerman's books have interesting historical overviews, bibliographies, pictures of events, people and scenery that he himself took, and extensive species accounts that include much first-hand information.
Illustrations are always a major asset of Bannerman's books because he had a keen eye for accurate, yet pleasing art. David M. (Reid-)Henry's colored plates have a crispness and clarity of image that to me makes his work resemble that of Thorburn. Bannerman also often resurrected artists who had been forgotten or overlooked, such as Major Henry Jones and George Lodge, and he was quick to recognize contemporary talent as shown in the present volumes by his utilization of Tunnicliffe's illustrations in the text for volume three, and Clancey's artwork for volume four. Moreover, he always had access to a large number of illustrations that he had used for his numerous antecedent works.
The present series was designed so that each volume, while a part of it, could be sold independently of the others. In the case of the fourth volume here, the publishers shifted the half-title and title in a way such that the book's participation in the series seems almost incidental.
The series is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1980), and W. Mary Bannerman.
Birds of Cyprus 26.9 x 19.1 cm. [a]8b-d8e4A-2A8[$1 signed]; 228 ll. Pp. [i-vii[viii-lxix[lxx-lxxii]1-384. Original publisher's green cloth, gilt lettered spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Top edge dyed green. Edinburgh and London, Oliver and Boyd, (1958). Original edition.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright and "first published" both dated 1958; printer designation: Oliver and Boyd, Ltd.; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, preface; xvii, contents and systematic list of families and species of Cyprus birds; xxvii, list of plates; xxix, history of Cyprus ornithology; xli, topography and vegetation by Donald F. Davidson; xlvii, temperature, humidity, rainfall; liii, list of recorders of Cyprus ornithology, 1336-1958; lix, prominent personalities in Cyprus ornithology; lxvii, birds ringed on the continent and recovered in Cyprus; lxx-lxxi, topography and underwing of a bird; 1, species accounts; 374, index. Contains folding color-printed map by Directorate of Colonial Surveys bound at rear, plates 1-31 not included in pagination of which 16 colored after D. M. Henry (14) and Roland Green (2), 15 half-tone after Major Henry Jones. The colored plates are all printed on one side only, as are seven of the uncolored plates, the other eight being printed on both sides of four leaves. Also contains 88 text figures, mostly after those of G. E. Lodge and H. Grönvold that had appeared previously in the third edition of Howard Saunders Manual of British Birds (1927) and Bannerman's previous books on West African birds.
Bannerman was the most prolific British ornithologist of the 20th century with, among others, an eight-volume work on the birds of West Africa and a 12 volume set on the birds of Great Britain to his credit. His wife was often an able co-author. He was a professional ornithologist with excellent field and museum credentials. Perhaps his major interest was island ornithology and this book was one of his most important on that subject. The combination of Bannerman as author, and Oliver and Boyd as publisher, guaranteed an ornithological book of high scholarship and quality of production in the middle of the 20th century, and this work was an archetypal one of that combination. In addition to the usual complete systematic list with long discussions of those species of special interest, there are numerous sections devoted to subjects not usually covered well in a treatise on local ornithology such as history, topography, weather etc.
Illustrations are always particularly good in books by Bannerman who had a discerning eye for artistic talent and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of text graphics either at his disposal or at that of Oliver and Boyd. The colored plates done by G. M. Henry specifically for this book are excellent in terms of artistry and printing technique. At this time, Bannerman was the only one to recognize and have reproduced, the treasure that Henry Jones had bequeathed to the British Museum when he willed them his paintings in the early part of the century. Jones later received considerable acclaim when his pictures were reproduced as collections in fine, limited edition books. Finally, the text figures are always a major feature in books by Bannerman, and here he has selected many by George Lodge that lead one to understand why Lodge was regarded as one of the most gifted artists of the early 20th century. Bannerman has also had reproduced here (p. 51) a picture by Keulemans of a Tawny Pipit that is not included in Feathers to Brush (1982), the comprehensive biobibliography of the artist by Coldewey and Tony Keulemans, the great-grandson of the artist.
There are always a few special touches in a book by Bannerman. Inclusion of Greek and Turkish names for all species, the former in Greek typography, is an example in this work.
This book is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage)(1886-1979), and Joseph A. Vella-Gaffiero.
Birds of the / Maltese archipelago 22.8 x 15/1 cm. Pp. [i-ii]iii-xix[xx-xxi](1)1-550. Original publisher's maroon cloth with gilt-lettered spine. Maroon endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Valletta, Museums Department, 1976.
i, Title; ii, copyright; printer designation: Interprint (Malta) Ltd.; iii, contents; iv, foreword by Dom Mintoff, Prime Minister; vi, editorial note by Francis S. Mallia; vii, introduction including geography, history; xvii, acknowledgements; xx-oxxi, topography of a bird, two full-page line designs; 1, systematic accounts, Gavia stellata-Bubo bubo, comprising about 350 species; 535, bibliography; 538, English index; 541, scientific index; 548, Italian index. Contains: folded uncolored sketch map by F. S. Mallia bound at rear; colored plates 1(frontispiece)-22 printed in half-tone with identifying legend on obverse and not included in pagination; three unnumbered uncolored half-tone text photographs; approximately 184 unnumbered uncolored text line or half-tone figures.
Bannerman was 90 when this work was published. He wrote the general accounts but specific field notes relative to Malta were the responsibility of Vella-Gaffiero. Each of approximately 350 species is described and its global distribution and local status summarized. The colored plates include the frontispiece of Malta's national bird, the blue rock thrush, by Donald Watson, and 21 by Chlöe Talbot Kelly, each depicting several species. The text illustrations include examples of the work of P. A. Clancey, R. Gillmor, R. Green, H. Grönvold, D. M. Henry, G. E. Lodge, Talbot Kelly and C. F. Tunnicliffe from antecedent works by Bannerman and from Meinertzhagen's Birds of Arabia (1954) and Cave and Macdonald's Birds of Sudan (1955). In addition, quite a few were done specifically for this work by by S. and C. Borg of Malta.
This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1979)
Report on the birds collected and observed / during the British Museum Expedition to / Tunisia in 1925 (from volume title page) The Ibis / a / Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. / Supplementary Number. / Twelfth Series. Volume III. (from series title page). 21.7 x 14.1 cm. [a]2b-o8p4(-p4)[$1, 2 signed]; 109 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-213(1). Binding slightly stilted, 23.5 x 15.2 cm. Original publisher's red cloth with blind panel and gilt ibis on upper cover. Spine divided into six compartments by double blind rules, gilt lettering in second and fourth. Original brown printed wrappers retained. London, British Ornithologists' Union, 1927.
a1r, Series (journal) title page with ibis vignette; a1v, printer's engraved imprint: Taylor and Francis; a2r, volume title page; a3v, list of plates; 1, introduction; 7, geographical features; 19, narrative; 43, systematic text, Corvus corax-Alectoris barbara; 207, index; 213, printer designation. Contains uncolored half-tone photographic plates I-VII (five double-paged), each with 2-4 images of habitat, printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Plates VII, VIII reversed in sequence. Also contains plate IX, a folded colored sketch map by Vitty & Seaborne Ltd., London, that may be lithographed and appears partially color-printed and partially colored by stencil (silk screen)
This expedition was carried out by Bannerman and Willoughby Lowe during February and March 1925 with the objective of obtaining a large series of skins for the British Museum. 740 such skins were collected. The ornithology of Tunisia had already been relatively well documented by Koenig, Erlanger and Whitaker, so Bannerman concentrated on accumulating numerous examples of certain species which provided interesting taxonomic questions. Thus, although the text touches upon more than 150 forms that were apparently seen, and mentions many more, most of it is devoted to a relatively small number of species. For example, 44 pages are devoted to larks of which a many specimens were obtained. Bannerman displays considerable interest and dogmatism in taxonomic matters.
Supplementary numbers of The Ibis were intended for highly focused and intensive studies of very specific subject matter. These numbers were often bound by the publishers and sold separately as here. The cost of this volume as listed on the upper wrapper was 12/6 but I am not certain whether that includes the fine "Ibis" binding.
Most major ornithological libraries contain substantial runs of The Ibis.
Bannerman, David A. (1886-1979)
The Canary Islands. Their History, Natural History, and Scenery. An Account of an Ornithologist’s Camping Trip in the Archipelago 22.4 x 15.0 cm. π8 [A]8 B-Y8Z8 (-Z8)[$1 signed]; 191 leaves. Pp. [i-vi]vii-ix[x]xi-xv[xvi][1-3]4-365(1). Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt. TEG. London, Gurney and Jackson, 1922.
i, Half-title; iii, title; v, dedication; vii, foreward; xi, contents; xiii, list of illustrations; 1, discovery, conquest, early history; 155, travels and ornithological expeditions in the western Canary Islands; 253, travels and ornithological expeditions in the eastern Canary Islands; 321, appendices A, note on a fall of dust; B, 328, list of the birds of the Canary Islands; 351, index. Contains colored frontispiece by Roland Green, two colored plates of birds by H. Gronvold and 43 plates of photographs (six double-paged) containing a total of 81 uncolored photographs. All leaves of illustrations are unpaginated.
This was the first in a series of excellent books by this long-lived and articulate ornithologist. It was based on an ornithological trip for the British Museum, his employer at the time. The ornithological details concerning the 217 species and subspecies listed in Appendix B had been published previously in The Ibis , however, the book provided the initial examples of Bannerman’s special interest in island birdlife and of his broad and entertainingly discursive approach to ornithology. This scholarly approach almost always encompassed the history and geology of the areas whose birds he described.
Copies in blue cloth are the original printing.
Trinity, p. 26; Wood, p. 220; Yale, p. 20; Zimmer, p. 39 (“...very thorough account, entertainingly written...”).
Bannerman, David Armitage (1886-1979)
The birds of / west and equatorial Africa Two volumes. 22.6 x 15.0 cm. Original publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Top edge dyed red, others uncut. Pictorial dust jackets. Edinburgh and London, Oliver and Boyd, 1953.
Volume one / Struthionidae to Picidae A-D38(sic)E36[$1, 3 signed]; 406 ll. Pp. (2, blank)[i-iv]v-xiii(1)[1-2]3-795(1). i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, "first published 1953"; printer designation: The Kynoch Press, Birmingham; v, foreword by Alan Burns; vi, blank; vii, preface; xi, list of illustrations; 1, illustrated key; 125, systematic text; 777, index of English and scientific names. Errata slip for plate 8 inserted between that plate and page 317. Contains plates 1-37 (13 colored), so numbered only in list of plates, all printed on one side only in half-tone and not included in pagination. The extraordinary key contains 61 fully illustrated pages, each containing numerous figures of anatomical parts by H. Grönvold. In addition, there are about 233 unnumbered, uncolored text illustrations printed in line or half-tone.
Volume two / Eurylaemidae to Ploceidae A10B-2Z8; 370 ll. Pp. (2, blank)[i-iv]v-viii797-1526. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, "first published 1953"; printer designation; v, illustrations; 797, systematic text; 1509, index. Contains colored plates 38-54, some with designated printer G. & G. Ponton Ltd., Glasgow, approximately 183 text figures.
This work is a masterly condensation of the author's eight-volume chef d'oeuvre, The birds of tropical west Africa…(1930-1951). It has been almost entirely rewritten with the idea of describing 1536 species and subspecies in two volumes. There were 83 colored plates in the original and 37 of them have been reproduced here together with four that were taken (with permission) from Frederick Jackson's Birds of Kenya Colony…(1938). Some of the plates in this work contain two images (plates) from the previous one. The color printing of these plates is far inferior to that in the prewar work even though Ponton printed some of the early ones as well as these. The plates are mainly by Lodge, Henry Jones, Grönvold and Roland Green. About half of the text figures from the antecedent work have been used here, many reduced in size. They are mainly the work of Grönvold Green, and F. W. Frohawk.
The reduction in size of this work has been achieved mainly by omitting synonymy and the technical aspects of the descriptions. Each species still receives ample treatment that includes a description, a summary of status and distribution, a discussion of habits and life history, and mention of various races.
The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bannerman, David Armitage (1886-1979)
The / Birds of Tropical West Africa / With Special Reference to those of The Gambia, / Sierra Leone, / the Gold Coast and Nigeria Volumes I-VIII (complete). 26 x 18 cm. Original blue buckram. TEG, others uncut. London, The Crown Agents for the Colonies, 1930-1951. Printed by Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh & London.
I. 1930. Covers Struthiorniformes-Galliformes. π6 b-e8 B-2A8 2B6 [$1 signed]; 228 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-lxxv[lxxvi]1-376(4, advertisement leaf for The Canary Islands by Bannerman, and blank leaf). Contains colored plates 1-10, not included in pagination, that include two maps, one of which is double-paged. Contains text figures 1-119. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, preface; vii, acknowledgments; ix, lists of plates and text figures; xiii, systematic index; xvii, introduction; xxix, vegetation belts; xlvii, ornithological history; lvi, terminology of plumage; lix, glossary; lxii, method of measurement; lxiii, illustrated key to orders I-VIII; 1, text (descriptive accounts); 359, bibliography; 365, index.
II. 1931. Covers Ralliformes-Psittaciformes. [a]8b8 B-2E8 2F4 [$1, 3 signed the latter as 2]; 472 ll. Pp. (2, blank)[i-iv]v-xxix[xxx]1-60(2)61-138(2)139-288(2)289-294(2)295-296(2)297-428(2, blank). E7, K7, U3 (signed U2), U7 and X1 are unpaginated, full-page text figures printed on recto only. Contains plates 1-15 (14 colored, #2 uncolored). Contains text figures 1-114. Contains colored folding map of Gold Coast between F3 and F4. a1, Blank; i, half-title; iii, title; v, preface; vii, list of plates and map; viii, list of text figures; xi, systematic index; xv, illustrated key to orders IX-XIII; 1, text; 415, index; 2F4, blank.
III. 1933. Covers Strigiformes-Piciformes. π10 b8 B-2H8 2I4 [$1, 3 signed the latter as 2]; 262 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xxxv[xxxvi]1-487[488]. Contains colored plates 1-12. Contains text figures 1-144. Contains colored map of Sierra Leone bound after 2I4. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, preface; vii, list of plates; viii, list of text figures; xi, systematic index; xv, illustrated key to orders XIV-XXVIII; 1, text; 467, index.
IV. 1936. Covers Eurylaemi-Turdidae. a-b8 (+1between b1 and b2)c4 B-2G8 [$1, 3 signed, the latter as 2]; 253 ll. Pp. (2, blank)[i-iv]v-xl[1]2-459[460](4, advertisements for bird books published by Gurney & Jackson). Contains colored plates 1-14, text figures 1-117, colored folding map of The Gambia between 2G6 and 2G7, and a folding classification table inserted between b1 and b2 that is included in the pagination. a1, Blank; i, half-title; iii, title; v, preface; ix, list of plates and map; x, list of text figures; xii, systematic index; xvii, classification table of passeriformes; xix, illustrated key to the families treated in this volume; xxxix, addenda to volumes I-III; 1, text; 439, index.
V. 1939. Covers Sylviidae-Oriolidae. a-b8 c6 A-2G8 2H4 [$1, 3 signed, the latter as 2]; 266 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xliii[xliv]1-485[486](2, advertisements for ornithological books published by Gurney & Jackson). Contains plates 1-10 including nine colored plates and an orographical, double-page map. Contains text figures 1-99. Contains colored folding map of Nigeria inserted between 2H3 and 2H4. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, preface; ix, list of plates and maps; x, list of text figures; xiii, systematic index; xvii, illustrated key to families; 1, text; 466, index.
VI. 1948. Covers Paridae-Fringillidae. a-b8c4 A-Y8Z6 [$1, 3 signed, the latter as 2]; 202 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxxix[xl]1-364. Contains plates 1-14 of which 12 colored. Contains text figures 1-62. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, preface; xi, foreword; xiii, list of plates; xiv, list of text figures; xvii, systematic index; xix, illustrated key to families; 1, text; 353, index.
VII. 1949. Covers Bubalornithidae-Ploecidae. π10b8 B-2D8 [1, 3 signed as 2]; 226 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xxxv[xxxvi]1-413[414](2, blank). Contains colored plates 1-14, text figures 1-40. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, preface; ix, list of plates; xi, list of text figures; xiii, systematic index; xv, illustrated key to families; xxxiii, general guide; , text; 403, index.
VIII. 1951. A supplement to volumes I-VII. a8 b4 A-2L8 2M4 [$1, 3 signed, the latter as 2]; 288 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xxiv1-552. Contains text figures 1-15. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, preface; vii, guide to contents of volume VIII; xi, list of text figures; xiii, general guide; xvii, list of species new to West African list; xviii, list of sub-species new to West African list; xxi, supplementary list; 1, text (update of all species accounts); 487, index to volume VIII; 511, general index to volumes I-VIII, scientific names; 536, general index to common names.
This great work, Bannerman’s magnum opus, deals with an area that had received almost no attention in the century that had passed since William Swainson’s two Birds of West Africa volumes in William Jardine’s Naturalist’s Library. Almost 1,100 species are covered and, given for each, are names in various languages, synonymy, description, range and local distribution, field identification and habits, including life history. The vast amount of information is superbly presented in every respect.
As usual, Bannerman was as careful in selecting illustrators and printers as he was in his writing. There are 83 colored plates, including one after Frederick Frowhawk, seven after Roland Green, 10 after Henrik Gronvold, 25 after Henry Jones, 37 after George Lodge, two after Philip Rickman and one after William Woodhouse. Gronvold was responsible for the three uncolored plates. Almost all the prewar plates and some in volume VI were printed in fine multicolor half-tone on mat paper by John Bale, Sons & Danielsson save for two by Gronvold printed by the Sun Engraving Co. that Bannerman had taken (with permission) from Hachisuka’s Birds of Egypt (1926). Most of the color printing in volume VII was done by Harrison & Sons. The 710 text figures were mostly by Gronvold with some by Frohawk, Green and W. P. Tenison. The excellent illustrations for the keys, which were not included as “text figures” were done by Gronvold.
As usual as well, the work is cartographically rich with three maps, including two double-paged, within the body of the text and four fine colored fold-out maps.
The prewar volumes each cost 22s 6d whereas volume VI cost 35s as indicated on the respective half-titles. No figure is given for the last two volumes.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Bannerman, David A(rmitage) (1886-1979), and W. Mary Bannerman, (illustrated by Watson, Donald)
The birds of the / Balearics 24.5 x 19.0 cm. [i-iv]v-xi[xii-xiiii](1)][1]2-230. Original publisher's blue cloth with gilt black labeling area on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine. Blue endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Original prospectus laid in loosely. London, Croom Helm (1983). First and only edition.
i, half-title; ii, blank; iii, title with uncolored goldfinch illustration; iv, copright 1983; ISBN 0-7099-0679-X; "Published in association with Cameron & Tayleur (Books) Ltd.; v, contents; vi, publisher's note; vii, list of illustrations; viii, map of Balearic islands; ix, bird topography, two diagrams; x, classification; xi, acknowledgements; xii, blank; xiii, dedication;1, introduction; 3, history of Balearic ornithology; 8, recent publications; 9, systematic accounts, Gavia stellata-Milaria calandra, comprising approximately 280 species; species extinct or requiring confirmation; 223 bibliography; 225, index of scientific names; 228, index of common names. Contains an unpaginated section with title leaf "plates", three leaves of plate outlines with identifying letter press, and plates 1-12, printed in color half-tone on both sides of six leaves. Also contains uncolored map and 47 unnumbered, uncolored text line or half-tone illustrations of birds by Watson.
This work, covering Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and some smaller islands, was published after the death of the venerable and distinguished author and the publisher was required to complete the accounts of some species and to assemble a small bibliography. The accounts of species provide a description as well as distribution, status and some historical, or rarely, personal lore. The colored plates by Donald Watson are particularly good, not only for the accuracy with which they depict the birds, but also for ambiance of the island countryside which they so vividly project. The prospectus calls for a much more extended text than was eventually published. I've read in a dealer's catalog that the print run was 2000 copies.
This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
The birds of Cuba 27.6 x 22.0 cm. No signatures. Pp..[1-3]4-141(1). Binder's green buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Uncut, partly unopened. Memoires of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, No. VI. Cambridge, The Club, June 1923. Inscribed, presumably by author, on front free end paper.
1, Title; 2, blank; 3, introduction; 6, historical; 8, ornithological collections in Cuba; 9, geography and geology; 19, climate; 23, annotated systematic list of 273 species, Colymbis dominicus-Hedymetes ludoviciana,; 131, explanation of plates; 123, index of English and Latin names. Contains photographic habitat plates I-IV, two with two images, printed in sepia photogravure (collotype?) on one side only by A. W. Elson & Co., Belmont. Plate leaves not included in pagination.
The history of Cuban ornithology is a long one beginning with Oviedo (1526). Ramon de la Sagra, who commissioned the multi-volume French work that covered all aspects of the island, served as Director of the Botanical Gardens in Havana in the mid 19th century. He recruited Alcide d'Orbigny to write the ornithological section which was beautifully illustrated by Edouard Traviès. In the second half of the 18th century, Johannes Gundlach conducted an exhaustive investigation of Cuban birds that appeared in the Journal für Ornithologie and several Spanish publications. At the end of the 19th century, Charles Cory and Frank Chapman also visited the island. So this was not exactly terra incognita.
Barbour, Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (1927-1946) and perhaps better known as a herpetologist than as an ornithologist, here provides the first comprehensive 20th century treatment of Cuba's birds, listing 273 species. He gives the local name and describes the status of each, and often presents an essay based on personal experience. His affection for the island is manifest, however, he evinces pessimism concerning the outlook for its bird life.
Zimmer, p. 39. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Barboza du Bocage, J(osé) V(incente) 1823-1908
Ornithologie / D'Angola / Ouvrage publié sous les Auspices du / Ministère de la Marine et des Colonies 28.0 x 18.1 cm. π[A-B]81-358[C]8X[$1 signed]; 306 ll. Pp. (2)[I-V]VI-XXXII[1]2-576[577-578]. Original gray upper wrapper printed in brown and blue with elaborate panel designs printed in brown and blue and with central royal coronal design finely printed in brown. Lower wrapper replaced to style. Lisbon, Imprimerie Nationale, 1877-1881. Maintained in a blue cloth folding case within blue cloth slipcase containing gilt black morocco lettering piece on spine.
πr, Title page dated 1881; πv, blank; I, title page dated 1877; II, blank; III, avertissement; V, introduction; XIII, species distribution table for regions of Angola and neighboring countries; 1, systematic text covering species 1-507; 531, appendix adding species 508-673 found by recent explorations; 561, errata et addenda; 563, alphabetical index of Latin names; 577, list of colored plates. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-X by Mintern Bros. after Keulemans and colored by William Hart.
There is an interesting article about this work by Luis Pisani Burnay "Some bibliographical notes on Barboza du Bocage's Ornithologie D'Angola" in the Archives of Natural History (1992) 19(2): 181-184. He establishes that 503 copies were printed and that William Hart was the colorist. He also gives a very detailed description and apparently found the alphabetical signatures A, B, and C in the copy he examined. I could not find these signatures in my copy and could have designated all the relevant pages as π and chi. Unfortunately, Burnay has nothing to say about the technique by which the upper wrapper was so finely printed in color.
The work was published in two parts, in 1877 and 1881, hence the two title pages in this copy. Burnay and Zimmer give an identical description of the contents of the two parts and the pagination they advance is not consistent with that in their copies or in this one. Barboza du Bocage was "unquestionably the most prominent figure in Portuguese zoology during the second half of the nineteenth century" (Burnay). He was fortunate in having material from M. J. d'Anchieta, an outstanding Portuguese collector who had been carrying out a zoological exploration in Angola since 1866. Barboza du Bocage, himself, was not involved in any of the field work the results of which make up the contents of this book which is a landmark in West African Ornithology.
The main section of the book deals with 507 species for each of which the author provides synonymy, reference to a published colored plate, a description with measurements and local distribution. Another 166 species that had been recorded only recently are treated more briefly.
The first of two parts of a fine revised centenary edition of this book by A. A. Da Rosa Pinto was published in 1983 but as of 2008, the second part had not appeared.
Wood, p. 220; Zimmer, p. 39. The book is also present at AMNH, Harvard, Yale and Trinity but not at Cornell.
Interestingly, Cornell lists the centenary edition which is apparently absent from the other four institutions.
Barnes, H.(enry) Edwin (1848-1896)
Handbook / to the / birds / of the / Bomabay presidency 24.0 x 15.4 cm. [a}4b-c4[d]2(-d2)[1]42-284[29]2(-292)X6 ($1 signed); 244 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xxiv[xxv-xxvi][1]2-449(1)[i]ii-xi(1). Pages interleaved with thin laid paper sheets. Errata slip inserted before vii. Later brown buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Calcutta, Central Press Co., LD., 1885.
i, Title; ii, printer designation: A. Acton at the Calcutta Central Press Co.; iii, dedication to Charles Swinhoe (1838-1923); iv, blank; v, preface; vii, contents; xxv, index to the abbreviations of the names of authorities cited.; xxvi, list of references (8); 1, systematic text; 442, appendix, list of birds collected or observed in Khandesh by J. Davidson. This interesting Raj book has, bound into it opposite the title page, a manuscript “Presented to J. A. Murray Esq in gratitude for assistance rendered personally and by his writings and in the hope that some of the M. S. added may prove useful ? ? By C. S. ? 8/9/86”. C. S. is certainly Charles Swinhoe (1838-1923) an English lepidopterist and ornithologist, who spent much of his life with the army in India and collaborated with Barnes in studies of the birds of central India for a work published in the Ibis in 1885. He was the brother of Robert Swinhoe, the pioneer on the ornithology of China. James A. Murray, the recipient of the book, was another prominent Raj ornithologist who wrote The avifauna of British India and its dependencies… (1888-1890). Henry Barnes was the author of Nesting in Western India, a series of nine or 10 articles published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, (1888-1891)
The work follows Jerdon’s enumeration and includes most of that work’s 1008 species. There are a number manuscript notes, almost certainly by Swinhoe. For each species, the Jerdon reference number is given and there are often other citations pertaining to Indian ornithology. There are careful descriptions, often with measurements and the status of the bird in India. Occasionally, there are notes on the nest and eggs.
OCLC locates 27 copies
Barnes, H.(enry) E.(Edwin)(1848-1896)
Nesting in Western India 23.7 x 16.7 cm. First article: 1-2432 ;Pp. [1]-2-20; second article: [1-2]4324-54; Pp. [21]22-56; third article: 6-7482; Pp. [67]68-86; fourth article: 9-104112; Pp. [87]88-105(1); Fifth article: 12-134142; Pp. [107]108-126; sixth article: 15-174; Pp. [127]128-149(1); seventh article: 1-3442[-42]; Pp. [1]2-25(1); eighth article; [6]474X5; Pp. [181]182-205(1); ninth article: no signatures; Pp. [207]208-239(1). 113 ll (226 pp. ) Contemporary half-brown calf and green pebbled cloth (probably done in India). Four gilt raised bands on spine with gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments. Black endpapers. Red speckled edges. (Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, Vols. III-VI, 1888-1891)
Contains 10 unnumbered chromolithographed plates drawn by Barnes and printed by Mintern Bros of London.
This book is a collection of offprints whose articles for the most part contain different pagination than appeared in the journal itself and whose last page, if an obverse is often blank. I have identified the articles by the blank upper half of their initial page. In at least one instance, the eighth article, offset into this space is the heading for the “Journal / of the / Bombay / Natural History Society / Bombay, 1891. Vol. VI.” Preceding each article is a chromolithograph and there is an additional one between pages 40 and 41 in the second article.
A laudatory review of the work in “The Ibis” of 1892, p. 166, lists nine parts with eight plates. An entry for Wikipedia lists 11 parts that contain approximately the same number of leaves as the present book. The last 10 pages in this book contain a “List giving references to Hume’s ‘Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds’, 2nd edition edited by Mr. E. W. Oates, and correct scientific names”. The enumeration is given for each species in the text and indicate that the latter is complete. The edition by Oates was published simultaneously with the present work. Whereas each species in this text contains the number given by Oates, I suspect that a different number (from Hume’s “Stray Feathers”) may have appeared in the early original journal publications as opposed the these collected offprints.
The work deals with more than 300 species. For each, it gives a brief distribution and status statement and a very detailed description of the nests and eggs. Barnes published extensively in this journal and in “Stray Feathers” and was highly regarded.
This collected work is very rare. OCLC locates only one copy.
The American oologists’ / exchange price list / of / North American birds’ eggs / 1922 / compiled by / a committee of twenty-five / prominent American oologists (from upper cover) 23.4 x 15.6 cm. Pp. [1-3]4-39[40] printed on both sides of glossy paper; 41-86 printed and paginated on recto only on ordinary paper; 87-97(1). Original publisher’s tan cloth with black printing and egg on upper cover. R. Magoon Barnes, Lacon, Ill., (1922). Stamp of B. S. Bowdish on upper endpaper, pages 1 and 3. Loosely laid in are various ephemera including envelope addressed to Beecher S. Bowdish (author of Guide to the birds of New Jersey, 1911) containing individual egg descriptions from collections of Bowdish and others.
1-2, Blank; 3, advertisement for “The Oologist” published by Barnes; 4-5, uncolored half-tone photographs; 6, introduction; 8, the prices in the catalogue and cash values; 9, collecting birds’ eggs; 13, report of the committee by B. R. Bales, chairman; 15, acknowledgments by R. M. Barnes, editor of The Oologist; 17-39, uncolored half-tone photographs and diagrams, unnumbered; 41, exchange price list; 88, classified advertisements; 89-97, advertisements including one by Bowdish offering to buy or exchage eggs or bird books.
This is a fine period piece and one of the last publications with price lists for eggs. Egg collecting was a major preoccupation of those interested in ornithology in the late 19th and early 20th century and this book, associated with the journal, The Oologist, was one of its manifestations.
Not listed by Wood, Zimmer. Listed by Harvard, Yale, but not by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity.
Les / oiseaux de volières / et / de parcs / avec planches coloriées / d’après nature There is a “I” between the author’s name and the publisher’s imprint as though this were the first of a multivolume work. 26.0 x 20.6 cm. π2[1]42-154[$1 signed]; 62 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-117[118-120]. Later yellow half-morocco and yellow patterned boards. Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in second from top compartment. Velveteen-coated pastedowns and endpapers. Original printed chromolithographed upper card cover bound in. Bordeaux, Imprimerie Nouvelle Typo-Lithographique A. Bellier et Cie, 1886.
First preliminary leaf, recto, half-title; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf, recto, title; verso, blank; 1, preface; 2, apercu historique; 5, introduction including general ornithological considerations; 17, Passereaux / premier groupe / Granivores; Fringilla spinus-Loxia ortulana; 119, table alphabétique des matières; 120, printer’s designation: Bordeaux, Imprimerie Nouvelle A. Bellier et Cie. Contains framed chromolithographic plates I-L depicting about 84 species. The plates outside the frames are designated as follows: top left, “Ier volume; top center, “planche” with Roman numeral; top right, “les oiseaux de volières et de parcs; bottom left, “A. Bellier et Cie, Imprimeurs-Éditeurs”; bottom right, “Bordeaux”. The species name is at the lower center within the frame and at the lower left within the frame is the designation “chromo lith”.
This treatise was apparently intended to be the first of a multivolume work as indicated by the “I” on the title page; the “Ier volume” at the upper left of each plate; and the designation “fin du premier volume” at the base of the last (117) page of text. I have found no evidence that additional volumes were ever published.
The book is concerned with the maintenance of various cage birds, mostly seed-eating passerines although two parrots are included. The information is primarily useful for those interested in aviculture. The chromolithography is not well done, however the pictorial card upper cover is quite striking. Ronsil, in his L'Art Francais...remarks (p. 85) that the work "n'a d'autre intérét que sa rareté, car ses 50 planches faites d'apres nature (!)(sic) par l'auteur sont mauvaises a tout point de vue".
Although the Bradley Martin collection contained two copies (lot 1359 of Sotheby’s catalog), the work seems to be very uncommon and OCLC locates only a single example.
(Barruel (1901-1982), Paul, Dorst, Jean (1924-), Etchécopar, R. D. [edited by J. Berlioz])
Icononographie des oiseaux de France Text, 23.7 x 18.5 cm. Plates 21.5 x 17.5 cm. Pp. Unpaginated. Contains 24 (of 25) folded oblong sheets (21.5 x 37.0 cm) comprising 48 (of 52) leaves (96 of 102 pages). Lacks pages corresponding to page numbers 17-20 and 41-44 associated with plates 5-6 and 11-12. Preserved in blue cloth folding case within blue cloth slip case with gilt black morocco lettering piece on spine. (Paris, Société ornithologique de France, 1953-1955. Contains 48 (of 52, 44 colored) plates (1-4. 7-10, 13, 52) numbered in Arabic on plates, with Roman numerals in text, printed in half-tone on one side only. Plates 21-21 and associated leaves of text are present in duplicate.
The complete work, copyright 1954-1956, formed No. 5 of the Mémoires de la société ornithologique de France et de l'union française and appeared initially as a supplement to: Oiseaux et la revue française d' ornithologie, v. 23 (4. trimestre 1953), v. 24(4. trimestre 1954) and v. 25 (4. trimestre 1955). A fourth part containing an additional 12 plates was announced but never published.
Each of the plates is associated with two leaves of explanatory text. The text is brief but includes the status in France, aspects of life history and a description of the nests and eggs of breeding species. The four uncolored plates depict raptors in flight. Approximately 200 species are described and illustrated. The colored plates are very well done.
This is an uncommon publication that was available only to members of the Société and subscribers to its journal.
The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
(Oiseaux du monde dans leur milieu) 15.0 x 10.3 cm. Collection of 15 color half-tone post cards. Paris, Boubée, (1953).
These 15 colored post cards come from a suite of 24 that is described by Le Grand on page 178 of his biography of Barruel. Boubée published several books illustrated by Barruel, including those written by his good friend Robert Etchécopar.
Barske, Charlotte (illustrated by Brasher, Rex [1859-1940])
Birds 33.0 x 24.0 cm. Six unpaginated leaves. Original pictorial wrappers. Poughkeepsie, Artists and Writers Guild, 1940. Contains eight single and one double-page colored plates with text at bottom, each depicting one or two species. Also contains a leaf with designs of bird houses and feeders on recto and diagrams of bills and feet on verso. Upper and lower covers are colored plates not included within. Wrappers and internal leaves are printed on the same unusual, thick, linen-like paper.
This little-known work was intended for children. It is of special interest to me because it contains colored illustrations by Brasher. Brasher, whose privately produced magnum opus, Birds and Trees of North America, is arguably the most monumental ornithological work ever produced in the United States, had great difficulty getting commissions to support himself. His pictures for T. Gilbert Pearson, his only supporter, were commissioned originally for Pearson's Birds of North Carolina (1919) and also appeared in his Birds of America (1917) and were, for the most part, uncolored text illustrations. He also published some uncolored pictures in his own Secrets of the Friendly Woods (1926)
This book, and particularly its pictures, are typical of the depression era and are remarkably similar to much commoner publications issued by M. A. Donohue of Chicago including R. Boulton's Traveling with the Birds (1933) illustrated by Walter Weber and M. Henry's Birds at Home (1942) illustrated by Jacob Abbott. Very colorful, happy birds are shown in simple, serene and peaceful settings. The cards done by Alan Brooks for the Audubon Society during this period projected the same ambiance.
The present work is listed in the online catalog of Trinity College but not those Yale, Harvard, the University of Kansas, Cornell, Harvard, nor the American Museum of Natural History.
Bartlett, Harley H., and Hide Shohara.
Japanese Botany / During the Period / of Wood-block Printing 23.3 x 15.5 cm. Pp. Blank[i-ii]iii-vi1-271[272]. Original green cloth. Los Angeles, Dawson’s Book Shop, 1961.
i, Title; iii, contents; 1, part I, an essay on the development of natural history, particularly botany, and of wood-block illustration in Japan; 101, part II, description of an exhibition of books and manuscripts, mostly botanical, containing wood-block prints; 259, literature cited; 269, indices. Contains half-tone Figures 1-103 depicting relevant illustrations from these books and manuscripts.
This book is an offprint with separate pagination and preliminaries, of an article that appeared in the Asa Gray Bulletin N. S. 3: 289-561. Spring, 1961.
The work covers natural history books, particularly those dealing with botany, from about 1650 to 1920. Two eras are involved: the Edo period which ended in 1868 and the Meiji, or restoration of the monarchy. The coverage is neither inclusive nor bibliographically detailed. The rather meager descriptions are limited to those works which were exhibited at the University of Michigan in 1961 to commemorate the 100th anniversary (1954) of the first treaty between the U. S. and Japan. These works came from Bartlett’s personal collection.
The book is useful, however, in that it is the best source of information about the kachõ genre i. e. books that simultaneously depict birds and flowers by wood-cut illustrations. There is a reasonably illuminating discussion with illustrated examples of works by Kõno Bairei, Watanabe Shõtei (Seitei), Imao Keinen and Numata Kashu, all late 19th and early 20th century practitioners of the genre. The illustrations allow one to identify the works that are represented even when they are written entirely in Japanese. For example, some years ago, I bought a beautiful flower book with colored wood-block prints at the Westchester Book Fair and the present work allowed me to identify it as one of the two volumes of Barei’s Sõka Hyakashu (A Hundred Kinds of Flowers), Kyõto, Unsõdõ.
A / monograph / of the / weaver-birds, / Ploecidae, / and / arboreal and terrestrial / finches, / Fringillidae 25.5 x 19.8 cm. Irregular signatures and pagination, often separate for different genera or species. Title leaf and 101 leaves of text. Contemporary green cloth with upper and lower horizontal rules, gilt lettering to spine. Lemon endpapers. TEG. Maidstone: published by the author, 1888(1889, parts III-V). Bookplate of Thomas Parkin (ornithological author and book collector [1845-]).
Title page with lettering enclosed in double frame. Remaining leaves all text. Contains 31 (12 hand-colored) lithographs by and after F. W. Frohawk, printed by Hanhart imp, most with Roman numerals referenced to genus. Also contains tipped in manuscript and other material as described below.
This work was originally envisioned to contain 90-95 parts of which only five were completed. Its coverage includes only 39 species, almost all of which were illustrated by Frohawk for his first major ornithological commission. The text is extraordinarily exhaustive with synonymy alone sometimes extending to several pages. Reference is also made to antecedent figures and there are very elaborate descriptions, careful measurements of all the numerous specimens which the author examined, and unusually comprehensive notes on behavior and life history which incorporate everythihng that had been previously written about the species in question. This is the most encyclopedic monograph I've encountered and it is small wonder that Bartlett did not come close to completing it. The work was written at Maidstone where Bartlett was Curator of the local museum before he assumed a museum post in Borneo.
Only 200 copies of the book were printed. A few have all the plates colored but most have 12 or fewer. According to Quaritch Catalogue No. 868, 1966, lot 58 "The work was left unfinished and, as no title-page was issued….". The title page in the present copy is thus very rare.
This is a rather special copy. It belonged to Thomas Parkin and bears his bookplate on the upper pastedown and his signature on the verso of the front endpaper. Parkin (Mullins & Swann, p. 457) was an ornithologist and oologist with a noted library and a special interest in the Great Auk about which he wrote an interesting paper (1911). Tipped in is a note by Parkin explaining the history of the book. In addition, there are two letters to Parkin from J. H. Allchin who followed Bartlett as Curator of the Maidstone Museum. These concern material that Parkin gave him for the museum, probably relating to Bartlett. There are also two obituaries of Bartlett, one written by Allchin. Finally, there is a circular advertising for sale by Bartlett in 1873, a collection of eggs of various species that had been gathered at the Zoological Garden, Regents Park and a letter from Bartlett to Parkin which probably concerns this circular or a closely related document. Bartlett's father had been Superintendent of the Regents Park Zoological Garden and had apparently been an egg collector from whom Parkin had made some purchases.
Mengel, 178; Trinity, p. 28; Wood, p. 224; Yale, p. 22; Zimmer, p. 41.
A field guide to the / guide / Identifying the many varieties of / Roger Tory Peterson’s / premier book / A field guide to the birds 28.0 x 21.5 cm. Pp. [1]2-78. Spiral binding of printed cardboard covers with lettering in three panels formatted to resemble the cover of the first edition. The inside of the upper cover contains a warm signed inscription from the author to Richard Soffer.
1, Title; 2, copyright 2016. Printed in Somerset PA by Atlans Printing Co.; 3, contents; 4, blank; 5, introduction; 7, first edition; 13, second edition; 19, third edition; 29, fourth edition; 39, fifth edition; 45, sixth edition; 49, Easton edition; 53, commemorative editions; 57, other editions; 61, dust jackets and signatures; 65, miscellany; 69, book grades & book flaws; 73, price guide; 75, where to find books; 76, significant questions; 78, acknowledgments & notes. Contains many unnumbered colored illustrations.
This work describes meticulously the various editions, issues and printings of this extraordinarily influential book.
Baumgartner, Frederick, M(ilton) (1910-), Baumgartner, A. Marguerite (1909)(illustrated by Wallace Hughes, photographs compiled by Herbert Chezam).
Oklahoma / bird life 30.5 x 23.0 cm. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxxv(1)[1-2]3-443(1). Publisher’s blue cloth with black lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Norman and London, University of Oklahoma Press (1992).
i, Half-title; iii, title; iv, cataloging-in-publication data; ISBN 0-8061-1792-3; copyright 1992; first edition; manufactured in U. S. A.; v, dedication; vi, poems; vii, contents; ix, illustrations; xiii, tables; xv, preface; xvii, acknowledgments; xix, sources of information; xxi, about the book; xxiii, definitions of abundance; xxv, abbreviations; xxviii, topography of a bird; xxix, check-list of Oklahoma birds; 1, part one, study of Oklahoma birds; 49, part two, Oklahoma bird life, families, genera and species; 409, appendix A, stragglers; 416, appendix B, species no longer found; 417, appendix C, key to birds’ nests; 420, appendix D, foreign recoveries of banded birds; 423, appendix E, agencies; 427, literature (about 300 citations); 434, index of English, generic and specific names. Contains 51 color half-tone plates printed on 26 leaves not included in pagination. Also contains text Figures 1-159, mostly uncolored half-tone photographs. Finally, there are 58 attractive, unnumbered pen-and-ink vignettes by Hughes introductions to various families.
This work covers, in great detail, the status of 355 species of regular occurrence in Oklahoma, and summarizes as well, the records of another 86 “stragglers”. Some of the art is quite attractive, particularly the line-drawings.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by Harvard.
Bayne, Charles S. (illustrated by C.[harles]F.[rederick] Tunnicliffe[1901-1979])
The / call of the birds 18.4 x 12.9 cm.[A]8B-Z8[$1 signed]; 184 ll. Pp. [1-4]5-368. Original publisher's green cloth with turquoise labeling area containing green lettering on spine. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of 6s printed on upper flap. London and Glasgow, Collins, 1945(1929).
1, Half-title; 2"Uniform with this book: Exploring England"; 3, title; 4, "First published , 1929 / Revised, 1945"; dedication; printed in Great Britain by Wm. Collins Sons & Co., London and Glasgow; 5, contents; 6, blank; 7, list of illustrations; 8, blank; 9, text; 363, index with English bird names. Contains; uncolored half-tone photographic frontispiece not included in pagination; ten unnumbered uncolored scratch board (scraperboard) plates with running text on obverse and included in pagination; 18 scratchboard chapter head and eight tailpieces.
This is a popular work on the natural history of birds, the 18 chapters of which deal with various aspects including song, migration, nests, protection etc. This revised edition differs from the original in the very significant addition of Tunnicliffe's marvelous pictures. This was the second book exclusively devoted to birds that Tunnicliffe illustrated for another author. The first was Mary Priestley's A book of birds (1937) which is one of the few bird books to which the artist contributed wood engravings as opposed to the less demanding scratch boards.
Listed by Trinity. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale.
(Bartram, William [1729-1823])Ewan, Joseph (1909-)
William / Bartram / Botanical and Zoological / Drawings, 1756-1788 / Reproduced from the Fothergill Album in / The British Museum (Natural History) 39.6 x 28.5 cm. Pp. Initial unpaginated blank leaf [i-vi]vii-x[xi-xii][1-2]3-180; 91 ll. Original publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Pictorial jacket. Tan end papers. Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, 1968. Printed at the Stinehour Press, Lunenburg, Vermont. Reproductions printed by The Meriden Gravure Company, Meriden, Connecticut.
i, Half-title with dated ink inscription from Gould biographer Gordon Sauer to his wife Marion; ii, "Memoirs of the / American Philosophical Society /// volume 74"; iii, text for frontispiece; iv, colored frontispiece; v, title; vi, copyright, production data; vii, foreward; ix, preface; xi, contents; 1, introduction; 3, William Bartram, naturalist and artist; 11, plant discovery and descriptions; 15, horticulture; novelties for European gardens; 19, American birds; 22, reptiles, fish and mammals; 27, insects and shells; 29, the American Indians; 31, the fate of Bartram's drawings; 34, chronology; 45, the Fothergill album; 87, plates; 151, appendix A, drawings for Mr. Barclay; 154, appendix B, descriptions of specimens; 168, bibliography; 173, index. Contains colored frontispiece, plates 1-59, 19 colored, remainder (45 including some with two pictures per "plate") uncolored. All printed in half-tone on both sides of leaf and included in pagination.
William Bartram, the son of John and the author (1791) of "Travels…", is said to be the first native-born American artist-naturalist. His name is mentioned frequently by George Edwards as a source of specimens and information. He also collected plants and seeds and did drawings for a number of horticulturalists and hobbyists including Fothergill. Fothergill's album passed in 1780 to Sir Joseph Banks and then in 1827 to the British Museum. Bartram was an excellent draughtsman of plants, apparently much influenced by the work of Ehret. Although he noticed birds and listed more than 200 of them in his "Travels…", he was less successful in drawing them and the identifications advanced in the present book for those he depicted are often problematic at best. The book provides much scholarly information about Bartram and his pictures and American natural history in the colonial era.
The book is present in the libraries of AMNH, Cornell, Trinity and Yale.
Bateman, A. J. (Proprietor, “The Naturalist’s Library”)
A / catalogue / of / rare & valuable books / (mostly antiquarian) / pamphlets, excerpts, periodicals and plates / on all branches of / natural history / with a large proportion on works on / ornithology / including many recent purchases, and the / best portions from the famous libraries of / Alex. A. Berens, J. H. Gurney, Mansel-Pleydell / and other eminent naturalists 25.1 x 15.7 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-23[24] (upper and lower covers included in pagination). One unpaginated advertising leaf from the same seller on different paper laid in loosely. Original tan wrappers printed in red and black (upper cover) or in black (other three pages from wrappers). Eastbourne, privately published, No. 1. New Series, 1927.
This catalogue, the first issued and the first I have seen from this firm, lists 850 items, many ornithological, and some quite rare. Of most interest to me: #551, four parts of Müller’s Description de noveaux oiseaux d’Afrique… which the cataloger describes as “very rare” without mentioning that there was a fifth part as well; and #779, the replacement plate by Thorburn for that of the Marsh Warbler by Keulemans in Lilford’s Coloured figures…. of which the cataloger says that only eight were printed by Greve and that all were at one time in his possession.
The compleat falconer 27.9 x 21.7 cm. Pp. [1-4]5-334(2, advertisements for other titles published by Hancock House). Publisher’s white buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Hancock House, Surrey, B. C., Blaine, Washington, (1992).
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright, 1992; ISBN0-88839-253-2; printed in Hong Kong; 5, contents; 7, dedication; 8, acknowledgments; 9, forward by David Hancock dated October 11, 1991; 13, introduction; 17, part one, historical falconry; 47, part two, the birds of falconry; 165, part three, the art of falconry; 271, part four, my falconry; 314, glossary; 318, annotated suggested readings (about 42 references); 324, suppliers’ listings; 327, index. Contains color half-tone plates 1-32 after the author, printed on recto, most with titular letter-press printed on apposing verso of previous plate. These leaves are all included in pagination. Also contains a large number of text line drawings, some full-page, most by the author but some reproduced from antecedent works.
Beebe was a Canadian falconer with considerable artistic ability and his artwork is an appealing feature of this work although his emphasis is on the kill and each colored plate depicts a raptor attacking, taking, or holding its bird prey. Falconers view birds-of-prey quite differently than do ornithologists or birders and have some remarkably distinctive opinions. For example, Beebe classifies the Ferruginous Hawk as an eagle and Hancock attributes the decline of the (eastern) Peregrine to the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon.
OCLC locates 47 copies.
Beebe, (Charles) William (1877-1962)
Pheasants / their lives and homes Two volumes. 25.8 x 19.4 cm. Publisher's green cloth with. gilt medallion on upper cover, gilt lettering to upper cover and spine. TEG, others uncut. Bookplate of Leandro S. Galban. Published under the auspices of the New York Zoological Society. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1926.
Volume I Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxviii(2)1-257(1). i, Half-title; ii, books by William Beebe; iii, title, partly printed in red; iv, copyright 1926; printed at the Country Life Press, Garden City, New York; first edition after the printing of 201 de luxe copies; v, dedication; vii, preface by Henry Fairfield Osoborn; xi, contents of volume I; xiii, list of illustrations in volume I; xxv-xxvi, introduction; unpaginated leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; 1, pheasants, a brief general account; 11, daily round of life; 32, relation to man; 36, systematic accounts, Ithagenes cruentes-Gallus varius, comprising 32 species. Contains plates I-XXXIV including 26 bird paintings (15 colored) by G. E. Lodge (17), A. Thorburn (4), H. Grönvold (3), C. R. Knight (2) and eight photographs of habitats all printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination. Also contains one full-page uncolored line map printed on one side only and not included in pagination.
Volume II Pp. [i-iv]v-xv(1)(2)1-309(1). I, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright etc.; v, contents; vii-xv(1), list of illustrations; unpaginated leaf: recto, half title; verso, blank; 1, systematic accounts, Pucrasia macrolopha-Pavo Muticus, comprising 32 species; 264, care of pheasants in captivity; 287, section title leaf: appendices; 289, characters and distribution of the twenty-three form of Phasianus colchicus; 298, important additions to…knowledge since 1922; 303, section title leaf: index; 305, general index including Latin and English names of birds. Contains plates XXXV-LXIV including 22 bird paintings (17 colored) by Lodge (6), L. A. Fuertes (5), Knight (5), H. Jones (3), Thorburn (2), Grönvold (1) and eight photographs of habitats and birds.
These volumes are a condensed, inexpensive version of Beebe's great four-volume, large format work, A monograph of the pheasants (1918-1922). The text from that work has been copied with selective omissions but leaving intact the general account sections for each species. New material has been added in the appendices. About one-third of the plates have been retained but are here reproduced by ordinary half-tone instead of the fine printing methods employed in the original work.
Beebe was an excellent raconteur and a prolific writer about zoological subjects and his adventures in search of them. For each pheasant species, he provides here a brief description, an elaboration of range, and a general account section in which he usually relates his experiences in finding the bird.
This first trade edition listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH.
Beebe, William (1877-1962) N. B. actually Charles William Beebe
A Monograph of the Pheasants Four volumes. 40 x 30 cm. Fine full contemporary red morocco by Groschupf of Philadelphia with gilt rule design on covers, gilt spine with raised ridges and six compartments including one with gilt tragopan design, wide gilt turn-ins and marbled endpapers. The bottom turn-in of the upper cover stamped in gilt with the name “J. L. Kuser, Jr.” This individual was likely related to Col. & Mrs. Anthony R. Kuser, the dedicatees of the work. AEG. London, Witherby & Co. (Volume I), H. F. & G. Witherby (Volumes II-IV).
Copy #144 of 600.
Volume I, 1918. [a]4 (-a1)b-f4g2 B-BB4 CC4 (-CC4)[$1 signed]; 124 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-ix[x]xi-xlix[l][1-2]3-44[45-46]47-108[109-110]111-158[159-160]161-198. [i], half-title; [iii], title; [v], dedication; vii, preface; ix, contents; xi, list of illustrations and maps; [xix], introduction; [1], Ithagenes Blood Partridges; [45, Tragopans Horned Tragopans; [109], Lophophorus Impeyan Pheasants; [159] Crossoptilon Eared Pheasants. Contains coloured plates I-XIV, XVI-XX, photogravures 1-15 and 1a (i. e. a total of 16) and maps I-V. None of these are included in the pagination, nor are the tissues containing identifying letter-press that accompany the coloured plates and photogravures.
Volume II, 1921. [a]4b4 B-LL4 MM4 (-MM4); [$1 signed]; 143 ll. Pp.[i-iv]v[vi]vii-xv[xvi][1-2]3-97[98-100]101-112[113-114]115-142[143-144]145-165[166-168]169-269(+1). [i], half-title; [iii], title; v, contents; vii, list of illustrations and maps; [1], Gennaereus Kaleege Pheasants; [99], Acomus Crestless Fireback Pheasants; [113], Lophura Crested Fireback Pheasants; [143], Lobiophasis White-tailed Wattled Pheasant; [167], Gallus Junglefowl. Contains coloured plates XXI-XLIV, photogravures 16-39 and maps VI-X.
Volume III, 1922. [a]4b4 B-CC4 DD2 [$1 signed]; 110 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xvi[1-2]3-45[46-47]48-66[67-68]69-140[141-142]143-204. [i], half-title; [iii], title; v, contents; vii, list of maps and illustrations; [1], Pucrasia Koklass Pheasants; [47], Catreus Cheer Pheasants; [67], Phasianus True Pheasants; [141], Syrimaticus Long-tailed Pheasants. Contains coloured plates XLV-LXVIII, photogravures 40-60 and maps XI-XIV.
Volume IV, 1922. [a]4b4 B-HH4 II2(-II2)[$1 signed]; 129 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xv[xvi][1-2]3-34[36-40]41-52[53-54]55-96[97-98]99-110[111-112]113-157[158-160]161-200[201-202]203-218[219-220]221-242. [i], half-title; [iii], title; v, contents; vii, list of illustrations and maps; [1], Chrysolophus Golden Pheasant; [39], Chaleurus Bronze-tailed Peacock Pheasants; [53], Polyplectron Peacock Pheasants; [97], Rheinardius Ocellated Pheasants; [111], Argusianus Argus Pheasants; [159], Pavo Peafowl; [201], Care of Pheasants; 217, Note; [219], Index. Contains coloured plates LXIX-XC, XV, photogravures 61-87 and maps XVI-XX.
Beebe was an able and highly regarded ornithologist and researcher of the tropics who was associated in various capacities with the New York Zoological Society. He was granted a leave of seventeen months to do field research for the present work and much of this time was spent in isolated Asian environments examining the habitats and behavior of these rarely seen species. The result is a monograph that combines scholarship, lyrical prose and first-hand knowledge gleaned from extensive field experience. Robert Mengel remarks of this work that it is “Perhaps the greatest ornithological monograph of the present century..” and he might have added “of any century”.
In addition to its superb text, this work contains 90 colored plates, 88 full-page photogravures and 20 partly colored range maps. These were all produced to the highest possible standards. The colored plates included 42 by Lodge, 15 by Grönvold, 11 by Major Henry Jones, eight by Charles Knight, eight by Thorburn including one after Lodge, five by Fuertes and one by E. Megargee. They were reproduced variously by collotype, fine chromolithography and fine photo-offset lithography. The colored collotypes by Albert Frisch of Berlin are particularly noteworthy and those after Thorburn depicting Tragopans in the Himalayas are amongst the most beautiful of all ornithological illustrations.
The magnificent photogravures were taken during the expedition and provide a real sense of adventure and immediacy to the work. This type of illustration is extremely unusual for an ornithological treatise.
Mengel, #203; Trinity, p. 30; Wood, p. 228; Yale, p. 24; Zimmer, p. 49.
Beehler, B. M., Pratt, T. K., Zimmerman, D. A. (with text contributions by H. L. Bell, B. W. Finch and J. M. Diamond)
Birds of New Guinea 23.5 x 16 cm. Pp. [i-vii]viii-ix[x-xi]xii-xiii[xiv-xvi][1-4]5-293[294-295](1). 156 ll. Original gray cloth, end-paper maps, pictorial dust jacket. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1986 Printed by Princeton University Press. Fourth printing. Handbook No. 9 of the Wau Ecology Institute.
Half-title, i; title, iii; dedication, v; contents, vii; acknowledgments, xi; plate credits, xiv; abbreviations, xv; introduction, 3; Papuan natural history, 12; in the field, 37; species accounts, 43; gazetteer, 235. bibliography, 245; index, 251; Wau Ecology Institute, 294; publication data, 295. Contains plates 1-55 (unpaginated, 47 colored) of which 44 were done by Zimmerman and 11 by James Coe. Also contains 21 text figures including 17 sketches by Zimmerman and four (three full-page) maps.
This work covers about 725 species, the complete total known or suspected to occur in the Papuasian area. Almost all of these are illustrated, many, I suspect, for the first time. Although a bit too large for the pocket, the book is clearly intended as a field guide, the first for this ornithologically spectacular region. A brief description and discussion of similar species, voice, habits and distribution is given for each species. The illustrations are adequate to make this a very useful contribution. I bought it in preparation for a trip to Sulawesi and Halmahera in 1997. While the book does not specifically cover these islands, many of the species of Wallacea are of Papuasian origin.
I have some interesting connections with this book. Dale Zimmerman and I were together on a trip to Peru led by Ted Parker in 1977 and Dale and I found a Harpy Eagle while the rest of the group was elsewhere (actually, I found it and showed it to Dale.) When I went to New Guinea in 1980 on a trip led by David Bishop, I met Dale, his wife Marian, and his son Alan, unexpectedly at the Bayer River Sanctuary. He had just conceived the notion of this book at that time. During that same trip, our group spent one day with Bruce Beehler, who was completing his field work at the Wau Institute of Ecology for a doctorate from Princeton. I also happen to have met James Coe, from whom I purchased a water color. He is the son-in-law of Matthew Scharff, a colleague of mine when I was at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Beehler, Bruce McP(herson) (illustrated by William J. Adams)
Upland birds of / northeastern New Guinea / a guide to the hill and mountain birds / of Morobe Province 21.6 x 13.8 cm. Pp. i-ix(1)1-118(2,glossy blank leaf)119-156. Original pictorial printed card wrappers. Wau Ecology Institute Handbook No. 4. Wau (New Guinea), Wau Ecology Institute, 1978.
i, Title; ii, personnel of Wau Ecology Institute; printer designation: Wing Tai Cheung Printing Co., Hong Kong; iii, foreword by Jared Diamond; iv, dedication; acknowledgements; v, contents; vii, list of plates; ix, list of figures; 1, introduction; 4, habits, life zones, and identification; 40, species accounts, Casuarius bennetii-Lonchura castaneothorax, comprising about 300 species; 146, references (four entries); 147, index of English and Latin names. Contains: plates 1-10(five colored) printed in half-tone on five unpaginated leaves; line text figures 1-16 including sketch map; 55 unnumbered outline silhouettes of family representatives.
When I went to New Guinea in 1980, this was the only available field guide. I spent some time at the Wau Ecology Institute where Bruce Beehler was studying birds of paradise and bower birds. It was from this base that our group camped out on nearby Mount Missim where I watched a male Amblyornis macgregoriae working on his bower from a hide just a few feet away. The Institute was a remarkable place which, by this time, had published several guides and handbooks that are listed on the recto of the lower wrapper.
Beehler was later a co-author of the first major field guide to New Guinea's birds (1986) and of a monograph on the birds of paradise (1998).
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Belcher, Charles F(rederick) (1876-1970)
The / birds of the district / of Geelong, Australia / with fifty photographs by Hugh Riordan and others 21.8 x 14.1 cm. [a]8b81-248[$1 signed]; 208 ll. Pp. (2, blank)[i-vi]vii-xxix[xxx][1]2-384. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt frame and printing on upper cover and gilt lettering to spine. TEG. Geelong (Australia), W. J. Griffiths, (1914, from preface). Contains signed inscription by Norman Belcher, Geelong, Vic. 3.2: 31 on front flyleaf.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printed by Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ltd., London and Aylesbury; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, preface dated Gray's Inn, London. March 14th, 1914; xii, blank; xiii, classified list of the Geelong district; xxvii, list of illustrations; 1-375(1), species accounts, Eudyptes pachyrhynchus-Corcorax melanorhamphus, species 1-244 (from classified list); 377, index of English and generic names; 384, printer designation. Contains 50 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone photographic plates printed on one side only and not included in pagination.
The city of Geelong is approximately 50 miles southwest of Melbourne and the area described in this book, within a radius of 35 miles from it, includes Werribee where, with Chris Doughty, I saw orange-bellied parrots in 1980.
Sir Charles Belcher , although born and raised in Geelong and a foundation member of the Royal Australian Ornithologists' Union, was a London-trained barrister and spent most of his life as a colonial administrator in the British civil service system. In this book, which he wrote while in London, he describes the 244 species recorded for Geelong, mostly by him. He writes an essay on each which describes its local distribution, status and life history, and which is usually embellished with his own personal experiences. The work is rather uncommon. He was later (1930) to write The birds of Nyasaland.
Listed by Harvard and Trinity. Not listed by Mengel, Wood, Zimmer, AMNH, Cornell, Yale.
L’Histoire / de la Nature des / Oyseaux, avec leurs / Descriptions, & naïfs Portraicts / Retirez du Naturel: / escrite en sept livres / par Pierre Belon du Mans 31.0 x 20.1 cm. 2o (laid paper). πa6e4i4 a-f6g4 h-m6n4 o-o-t6v4 x-z6A6 (-A6, [blank])B-E6F4G-I6K-L4 (K misprinted [?] as lz)[$1-4 signed]; 206 ll. π, v4v, F4v and L4 blank. Pp.
(30)1-80[81]82-227[228-229]230-274[275-276]279-331[332-333]334-381[382](2). 149 misnumbered as 151; 174 as 176; 181 as 161; 213 as 113; 230 as 236; 334 as 336. Printer’s error omitting 277 and 278 (no leaf is actually absent). 18th Century polished calf with gilt spine and red edges. Rebacked with original backstrip preserved. Marbled endpapers. Paris, printed by Benoist Preuost for Guillaume Cavellat (woodcut device on general title page) and Gilles Corrozet (woodcut devices on sectional title pages), 1555.
â1r , title; â1v , portrait of Belon and sonnet “au roy”; â2, Belon’s preface to King Henri II; â3r -â4r, Belon’s note to the reader; â4v -â6v , contents by chapter; ê1r -î3r , alphabetical index; î3v -î4r , privilege; î4, laudatory poems about Belon; 1-381, text. Contains woodcut portrait of Belon (â1v), woodcut text figures depicting skeletons of a human and a bird and 158 text figures of birds after Pierre Goudet (Goudelle) and others. The Haskell F. Norman copy.
This great work shares, with that published the same year by Gessner, the distinction of being the first illustrated book dealing exclusively with birds. Turner and Longolius were the authors of unillustrated ornithological books issued in 1544. The volume on birds by Aldrovandus at the end of the 16th century is the other illustrated work generally considered amongst the important ornithological books of the renaissance.
Belon’s comparison of human and avian skeletons is often regarded as the beginning of comparative anatomy. He was also the first to associate the names of birds used by Aristotle and Plinius with those by which they were known in France. In addition to his ornithological contribution, Belon wrote the first major printed treatise on fish and is considered the “father of icthyology”.
The present work is divided into seven “books” whose contents I translate roughly as follows: book 1, general overview of ornithology; book 2, birds of prey; book 3, waterbirds with webbed feet; book 4, waterbirds without webbed feet (e. g. herons); book 5, landbirds that nest on the ground (e. g. larks); book 6, landbirds of varied habitat and diet (e. g. corvids); book 7, birds of hedgerows, bushes and pines (e. g. nightingale, redstart, finches).
The illustrations, although often ascribed to Pierre Gourdelle (or Goudet), may have been done by as many as three artists (or engravers) as they exist in four categories: designated with an arrow, usually near the leg of the bird; designated cryptically anywhere within the picture with a diamond enclosing a cross; designated wit a double cross; and undesignated. These designations are often difficult to find but they are indicated at the upper outer corner of the page by annotations in the same hand described below. The writer has provided identification of some of the wood engravers in his description of the life of Belon written on the initial and final blanks.
This copy, on its initial and final blanks, contains extensive annotations in an old hand dealing with the life of Belon. Since these blank leaves (π and L4, 2o on laid paper) are absent from most copies, it is possible that they were added, and the notes made, near the time of binding, probably in the 18th century.
Mengel, 221; Wood, p. 230; Yale, p.26; Zimmer, p. 52. Absent from Trinity list.
Benito-Espinal, Edouard (1945-)
Oiseaux / des Petites Antilles / Birds of / the West Indies 20.9 x 11.1 cm. Pp. [1-4]5-128. Original publisher’s color pictorial boards. Saint-Barthelemy, Les Editions du Latanier, (1990).
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3title; 4, acknowledgements; English text by Sandy Schopbach; copyright 1990; ISBN 2-9502284-5-3; printed in France SPPI (91420 Morangis); 5, sommaire (contents); 8, avant-propos (foreword) dated July 1, 1989; 10, preface by Fortuné Chalumeau; 12, introduction; 16, map of Lesser Antilles; 17, Guadalupe; 20, Martinique; 22, qu’est-ce un oiseau including topography; 26, species accounts, Podilymbus podiceps-Icterus bonana (84 species); 111, check-list of birds spotted by the author in the Guadeloupe Archipelago and Martinique;117, index of scientific names; 121, index of French names; 125, index of common names; 117, bibliography (about 35 entries). Contains at least one half-tone color illustration (mostly photographs) of each species and a distribution map within the Lesser Antilles for each.
This book is a guide to the birds of Guadeloupe and Martinique and also shows the distribution of those birds within the other islands of the Lesser Antilles. It is not a guide to the birds of the Lesser Antilles nor even less-so a guide to the birds of the West Indies. For each species, it provides a length measurement, a brief description and a summary of its status in Guadeloupe and Martinique together with a map showing its distribution in the other islands of the Lesser Antilles and a table showing the habitats it occupies in those islands. There is a good colored picture of each species.
OCLC locates 12 copies including those at Cornell and Trinity.
(Bennett, Edward, T. [1797-1836])
The / Gardens and Menagerie / of the / Zoological Society / Delineated / Published with the Sanction of the Council, / under the superintendence of the / Secretary and Vice-secretary of the Society / Birds 21.5 x 13.5 cm [A]4 B-X8Y4 [$1, 2 signed]; 168 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi[vii]viii[1]2-324[325]326-328. Old marbled boards rebacked with antique style calf. London, John Sharpe, 1831.
i, Half-title; iii, title; v, preface; vii, contents; 1, text; 325, systematic index. Contains 71 text wood engravings of birds and 51 tail-pieces engraved by Branston and Wright mostly after original drawings by William Harvey.
This is a description of 71 species of exotic birds that were in the Gardens of the Zoological Society. According to Zimmer, one, Crax Yarrelli, was here first so named. There is an extensive description of the appearance of each species followed by a discussion of its habits and distribution. The author is not identified by name in this volume but may have been in the first and sister volume on Quadrupeds that appeared in 1830. Bennett was the Secretary of the Zoological Society designated on the title leaf and the work is always catalogued under his name. He was the author, in 1833, of the first article to appear in the Transactions of the Zoological Society.
The drawings are very attractive. According to the half-title, most were done by William Harvey, a highly regarded disciple of Bewick’s. One wonders why he didn’t engrave them himself since he was known as an extremely able engraver. Mrs. Jackson, in Bird Illustrators (1975), tells us (p. 33) that the drawing of the blue and yellow macaw was Edward Lear’s first published illustration and that it bears his monogram. She probably got this information from Brian Reade’s Edward Lear’s Parrots (1949) where we learn (p. 10) that the monogram can be seen “at the base of a twig”. I found this monogram (E. L. in script) centrally located at the bottom of the vignette using a magnifying glass and some imagination. Certainly, however, the design of the bird, and of several others, is consistent with Lear’s style.
The copy of this work described by Mengel was published by Charles Tilt rather than John Sharpe.
Mengel, 225; Wood, p. 231; Zimmer, p. 53. Lacking from Trinity and Yale lists.
Gatherings of a Naturalist / in / Australasia: / Being / Observations Principally on the / Animal and Vegetable Productions / of / New South Wales, New Zealand, / and some of the / Austral Islands 21.8 x 14.0 cm. π4b2 B-2F8 [$1, 2 signed]; 234 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[vii]viii-xii[1]2-456. Late 19th or early 20th century brown half-morocco and pebbled cloth. Gilt spine with five raised ridges, marbled endpapers. TEG. London, John Van Voorst, 1860.
i, Title; iii, preface; vii, contents; xi, list of illustrations; 1, text. Contains lithographic plates I-VIII, seven hand-colored, one tinted, printed by Hullmandel & Walton. Three by and after W. Fitch; two by and after Joseph Wolf; one by Fitch after T. Baines; one by Wolf after G. F. Angas; one by W. Bagg after Angas. Also contains text woodcuts 1-27.
Bennett, a friend of Richard Owen, was an English physician who eventually settled in Australia which he first visited in 1829. He published the first important article in English on the Duck-billed Platypus, (“Water-Mole”) in the initial volume of the Transactions of the Zoological Society (pp. 229-258, [1834]). Blumenbach had originally named (Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus), described, and illustrated this interesting animal in his Abbildungen Naturhistorischen Gegenstände (1796-1810). The Platypus remained a primary interest of Bennett and he devoted 50 pages to it in the present work. However, there is also a great deal, perhaps about half the total content, on ornithology. Bennett writes elegantly and entertainingly about the life histories of interesting Australian birds including Lyre-birds, Emus, and Bower Birds to name a few. An entire chapter is devoted to the Cassowary. According to Whittell, Bennett served as an agent for Gould in Sydney and was also the first Curator of the Australian Museum.
This book was produced to high standards with fine illustrations of flowers by Walter Fitch and of the Platypus and Cassowary by Joseph Wolf who also lithographed the frontispiece of a Jabiru (Black-necked Stork) drawn by G. F. Angas. The latter was one of the most admired of early artists who depicted Australia for publication in fine books.
Mengel comments about this book: “This attractive work is said to be rather rare”.
Bradley Martin, 1380; Mengel, 228; Whittell, p. 49; Wood, p. 231; Yale, p. 26. Absent from Trinity and Ayer collections.
On the Chinchillidae, a family of herbivorous Rodentia, and a new genus/ referrible to it 28.6 x 22.0 cm. F4(-F1)G-I4[$1, 2 signed]; 15 ll. Pp. 35-64. Contains plate (4), a hand-colored engraving designated "E. Lear, del. Zeitter, sc.". Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1: 35-64 (1835). Communicated May 14, 1833.
This article is from a bound collection of early extracts from the Transactions. It has a fine colored engraving after Edward Lear. This extract is included in a volume entitled "Natural History Miscellany" bound in late 20th century half brown calf over marbled boards.
On the M'horr antelope 28.6 x 22.0 cm. B4[$1, 2 signed]; four leaves. Pp. [1]2-8. Contains hand-colored engraved plate 1. Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1: 1-8 (1835). Communicated January 8, 1833.
This is the first article of this venerable publication. This extract is included in a volume entitled "Natural History Miscellany" bound in late 20th century half brown calf over marbled boards.
Notes on the natural history of the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, Blum. 28.6 x 22.0 cm. 2H4(-2H1)2I-2L4[$1, 2 signed]; 15 ll. Pp. 229-258. Contains uncolored lithographic plate 34 designated "G. Scharf lithog. G. Bennett del Printed by C. Hullmandell", text wood-engraving designated "A. Tufsell. Del. Sommer Sc." Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1: 229-258 (1835). Communicated May 27, 1834. This extract is included in a volume entitled "Natural History Miscellany" bound in late 20th century half brown calf over marbled boards.
Although the duck-billed platypus was first described around 1800 by Blumenbach in his Abbildungen, the present article is the first by an actual disciplined observer to describe its natural history and represented an exceedingly important contribution. It deservedly created considerable excitement in the scientific community of its day.
Benson, C(onstantine) W(alter), Brooke, R. K., Dowsett, R. J., Irwin, Michael P. Stuart
The birds of Zambia 19.0 x 12.7 cm. [A]8B-2C8[$1 signed]; 208 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-414(2, blank). Publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Endpaper maps. Pictorial dust jacket. London, Collins, 1973.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, first published 1971; second edition 1973; copyright 1971; printed by William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd., Glasgow; ISBN 0 00 211097 0; 5, foreword by Lt. Col. R. A. Critchley, President, Wild Life Conservation Society of Zambia; 7, contents; 8, blank; 9, list of colour plates; 10, blank; 11, list of photographic plates; 12, blank; 13, introduction; 21, habitats; 33, systematic list, Struthio camelus-Serinus mennelli, species 1-699; 363, bibliography (references numbered 1-500a with some omissions); 371, gazetteer; 385, recoveries of ringed birds; 391, uncolored distribution maps 1-20 comprising about 63 species; 395, index of family, generic and specific names; 407, index of English names. Contains: colored plates I-XII by A. M. Hughes, so enumerated on facing paginated letter-press, displaying 124 species and printed in half-tone on both sides of six leaves that are not included in pagination; eight uncolored, half-tone photographic plates of habitats displaying 14 images on both sides of four unpaginated leaves; one line text map of rainfall distribution.
This work is an extension of previous check-lists beginning with that of C. R. S. Pittman in 1932 through that by Benson and C. M. N White in 1957. For each species the authors provide the following: reference numbers of the species in the 1957 check-list, in Roberts, and in Praed and Grant; a careful description of habitat and local distribution; specific breeding and approximate migration dates; subspecies; references (as enumerated in bibliography). The work makes no pretense of being either a field guide or a handbook.
The artist, A. M. Hughes, had previously illustrated the birds of Burma, Borneo and Hong Kong in various publications.
The text of the 1973 edition is the same as that of the original.
Original edition listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Cornell, Harvard also list this one.
The Observer's Book / of / British Birds 14.0 x 9.0 cm. [A]8B-O8; 112 ll. Pp. [1-4]5-223(1). Original publisher's orange cloth with black block lettering on upper cover and spine. London and New York, Frederick Warne & Co., 1937. Printed by William Clowes and Sons Ltd (noted on p. 223).
1, Half-title including notation "The Observer's / Pocket Series" with no other listed titles; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright; 5, preface; 15, foreword by Frances Warwick; 17, topography of a bird; 18, systematic text; 219, index. Contains 100 colored and 100 uncolored unnumbered text figures after Keulemans and Thorburn taken from Lilford's Coloured Figures… Also contains three unnumbered figures in the preface.
This was an exceedingly popular little book that went through many printings and editions. It covers 226 species, illustrating 200 of them with beautiful pictures from Lilford's great work. A page is devoted to each of these 200 species including length, description, haunt, nest, eggs, food and notes. The additional species are mentioned with their appropriate relatives.
This first 1937 issue is rare. Since the example bears only the copyright date on the verso of the title page but no date on the title page itself, I'm not certain that it is the first printing although I think there was only one with this date. The work was the initial volume of the "Observer's Series" which eventually covered a wide variety of natural history and has become a desideratum of English collectors. The "Wayside and Woodland" series, another Warne publication, was advertised on the back of the dust jacket (not present here and a great desideratum) of the original, but not later issues.
Later issues present at AMNH, Harvard, Yale. Absent from Cornell and Trinity.
Bent, A(rthur)C(leveland)(1866-1954)
Notes On Birds Observed During A Brief / Visit to the Aleutian Islands, and / Bering Sea in 1911 24.3 x 15.9 cm. Pp. (2, title, printer designation: Lord Baltimore Press, Baltimore)1-29(1); 16 ll. Original printed gray wrappers. Washington, Smithsonian Institution, February 12, 1912. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 56, Number 32.
1, Introduction; 3, birds noted in Aleutian Islands; 23, birds noted in Bering Sea.
This work describes the results an expedition undertaken by Bent, Rollo Beck, Alexander Wetmore, and Fred B. Mckechnie in the summer of 1911 with the support of Leonard Sanford. The collectors found 63 species on the Aleutian Islands including Rustic Bunting and Siberian Rubythroat, each, I believe, constituting the first record for continental North America. The Bering Sea yielded 22 species, some not overlapping. There is no historical survey of previous data from the areas covered and no bibliography so it is not possible to know whether these were the first serious ornithological explorations of these important areas.
The work is listed by Harvard and Trinity but not by the AMNH nor Yale.
Berg, Bengt (Magnus Kristoffer) (1885-1967)
Birds / of the north 37.6 x 30.0 Pp. Five preliminary unpaginated leaves and leaves numbered 1-60; total, 65 ll. Original publisher's brown cloth-backed brown and green textured boards, oval gilt design of Eagle Owl on upper cover. Spine divided by five double gilt rules. Gilt green labeling piece in second compartment, gilt design in others. Publisher's color advertisement in Swedish for set of uniformly bound bird books by author inserted at rear. Stockholm, P. A. Nortstadt & Söner, 1925 (the date from copyright page where it is listed as copyright date and independently).
First preliminary leaf: recto, pictorial undated title page printed in brown on special paper with framed oval photogravure of Eagle Owl; verso, blank.
Second preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; signed presentation inscription by author; verso, printer designation: Ijustrycksanstalt
Third preliminary leaf: recto, standard, but undated title page; verso, copyright dated 1925; date and publisher here designated Stockholm 1925 / Kungl. Boktryckeriet. P. A. Norstadt & Söner
Fourth preliminary leaf: recto-verso, preface.
Fifth preliminary leaf: recto-verso, catalogue of plates.
Leaves numbered 1-60: printed recto only containing uncolored photogravure, 24.7 x 18.7 cm, of a bird with English name printed underneath. The 60 gravures depict 34 species.
Berg was a popular Swedish naturalist whose books, first published in Swedish, were often translated into German and/or English. This is an attractive work with fine pictures that are well reproduced. It seems to be very uncommon, at least in North America, although Berg is well represented in most libraries. I have seen another copy of this English translation (translator undesignated) which, like this one, contained an inscription. It may be that only a few copies were printed in English, perhaps with the idea that most would be for presentation. I haven't seen the Swedish edition but the initial leaf in this one looks special and may have been bound only with certain copies.
Listed by BM(NH), Trinity. Unlisted by AMNH, Ucal, Cornell, Harvard, LOC, NYPL, Smithsonian, Wood, Yale.
Hawaiian birdlife 28.1 x 21.9 cm. Pp. [i-viii]ix-xv(1)(2)1-260. Publisher's brick red cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Second edition. Honolulu, The University Press of Hawaii, 1981.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copright; ISBN 0-8248-0742-1; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, preface; x, blank; xi, preface to the first edition of 1972; unpaginated leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; 1, the Hawaiian Islands: a bird's-eye view; 24, indigenous birds (oceanic[22], migratory[122] and black-crowned night heron, accounts only of the oceanic species and night heron in this section; 69, endemic birds comprising 11 families, 22 genera, 44 species, 32 subspecies; 171, introduced established birds exclusive of game birds (about 44); 227, migratory species and stragglers (122); 239, introduced established game birds (22); 241, literature cited (about 370 entries); 253, index including Latin and English names. Contains plates 1-67 printed in color half-tone on both sides of 16 leaves not included in pagination. Of the plates, 34 are photographs, 19 are after Susan G. Monder, seven have been reproduced from Rothschild's Avifauna of Laysan, five are after B. Downs and two particularly good ones are after Douglas Pratt and L. M. Schultz. Also contains text figures 1-137, almost all uncolored half-tone photographs, save for two maps and two anatomical line drawings. Most of the photographs were taken by the author.
Berger makes the interesting distinction between indigenous and endemic, the former native but not restricted, the latter native and restricted. Of the 44 full endemic species, 28 belong to one family, the Drepanidae, comprising 16 genera and 28 species. This book provides superb and copious accounts of all the endemic species including their status from the time of discovery to the present, their life histories, the possible reasons for their decline or extinction, and the chances for their survival. The work also gives an overview of the ecology of the islands and how it has been altered by man. There are numerous quotations from Wilson, Palmer, Perkins and Henshaw at the end of the 19th century that are examined from the perspective of the late 20th century. The status and fate of introduced birds is also considered.
The discovery in 1973 of the Poouli, a new species and genus, was the major ornithological event since publication of the first (1972) edition. A beautiful painting of it by Douglas Pratt is reproduced in this book. Sadly, the known Poouli population disappeared by the beginning of the 21st century and the bird may be already extinct
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Harvard list only the first (1972) edition.
Berlepsch, Hans (Hermann, Carl Ludwig) Freiherr von (1850-1915)
Der / gesamte Vogelschutz / seine Begründung und Ausführung 20.9 x 14.3 cm. π31-5866[$1 signed]; 49 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-89(3, including leaf of publisher's advertisements). Original publisher's olive cloth with gilt block printing on upper cover, faded gilt printing on spine. Tan endpapers with foliage motif. Edges dyed red. Gera Untermhaus, Eugen Köhler, 1899. Original printing. Bookplate on upper free end paper of C. J. Coldewey, collector of Keulemans and co-author of his biography, Feathers to Brush (1982).
π1r, Title; π1v, rights statement; π2r-π2v, foreword; π3r, contents; π3v, blank; 1, introduction; 6, various measures to protect birds; 85, conclusion. Contains chromolithographic plates 1-8 printed by Köhler after de Maes (1), Keulemans (2) and Pforr (5) and 17 uncolored text illustrations, most half-tone photographs of nesting devices, some with designated lettering.
This little work has been described by Casey Woods (p. 234) as "…"classic popular treatise on bird protection". It describes measures ranging from legal restrictions on hunting to facilitation of nesting and nullification of predators. According to the title page, it appeared simultaneously in English, French, Italian and Swedish. I haven't heard of or seen any of the translated copies but I do know that the German version went through many printings of which this is the first. The Köhler firm did the chromolithographs for the Naumann centenary edition and the picture by de Maes here is a reduced version from that source. The foreword cites that work as the origin for most of the pictures yet there is an exceedingly interesting entry by Christine Jackson on Pforr which would seem to indicate his plates appeared only here (A dictionary of bird artists, 1999, p. 393). The two pictures after Keulemans are said by Coldewey and Keulemans in Feathers to Brush (p. 68) to derive from those in Naumann.
Berlepsch, an ornithologist of international stature, wrote extensively on South American birds.
Although I don't doubt that this original printing is rare, I cannot understand why so few collections and libraries fail to list any edition of this book. Subsequent editions and printings comprised thousands of copies. I have noticed the same phenomenon with other small German books of the turn-of-the century that contained chromolithographs. They are now quite rare even though they were apparently issued in multiple printings over a number of years
Wood, p. 234( later editions); AMNH lists a 12th edition of 1929 by a different publisher. Not listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale, Zimmer.
Bern, Naturhistorisches Museum
Der Vogel in Buch und Bild Führer durch eine Ausstellung schöner und seltener ornithologischer Bücher und Bilderwerke aus der Alten und Neuen Welt von Gesner über Naumann bis zur Gegenwart 23 x 16 cm. Pp. (1-2)3-68. Original printed wrappers. Bern, Naturhistorisches Museum, 1954. Bradley Martin copy.
1, title; 2, contents; 3-66, text; 67, list of plates. Contains 28 uncolored plates not included in pagination.
This is the guide to an exhibition of ornithological books and works of art from a private collection that was held in the Bern Museum of Natural History from 1 June through 31 July, 1954. There was some very rare material including prints by George Shield, a wood block book of Japanese birds and flowers by Tanaka with prints after Keinen, and various editions of Naumann. The work is a useful bibliographical reference.
Yale, p. 334. Not listed in Trinity catalogue.
Birds / of Jamaica 29.2 x 23.0 cm. Pp. [i-iv]v-xvi1-112; 64 ll. Original publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Red endpapers. Kingston, Heinemann Publishers (Caribbean) Ltd., 1989.
i, Decorated half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright and publication data; v, contents; vii, author's foreword; x, introduction; xvi, local names; 1, text; 110, index; 112, about the author; Contains 48 fine unnumbered colored plates depicting 47 (24 endemic) species with descriptive letter-press on facing page, all included in pagination.
This beautiful work must have been published in a small print run as it slipped out of print without receiving notice from booksellers and collectors. I first learned about it when I saw it offered in a catalog for an auction by the Baltimore Book Company auction held earlier this year. The author is a Jamaican civil servant who taught himself photography, art and ornithology and, in the process, acquired the most important ornithological library in Jamaica. In the introduction to this book, he provides a concise and accurate textbook of ornithology covering subjects as diverse as evolution, migration and taxonomy. In the text, he provides a detailed discussion of the characteristics of the families of each of the species he depicts and then describes the species as part of the letter-press to the illustrations. In the foreword, he tells the reader how he goes about painting the various birds. The process involves keeping live birds in simulated habitats until he has obtained a collection of photographs that he feels will enable him to paint the species adequately. Since all the paintings derive from live birds, the colors of the soft parts are accurately depicted.
These paintings are absolutely marvelous, certainly the best ever done of Caribbean birds. The form, posture and texture are just perfect. The birds are depicted in life-like, dynamic pose within appropriate settings. Although the book was published in Jamaica, it was produced in England and the color printing by Butler & Tanner Limited, Frome, Somerset, is very good.
This work is apparently rather uncommon. It is listed in the on-line catalog of Cornell University but is absent from those of the AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bernard, P(ierre) (1810-1877), Couailhac, (J. J.)L., Gervais, (François Louis Paul)(1816-1879), Lemaout, (Jean)Emm(anuel Marie)(1810-1877).
Le Jardin des Plantes / Description Complète, Historique et Pittoresque / du / Muséum D'Histoire Naturelle. Two volumes or "Parties" with different titles and authors, and suite of plates for first part, each in original separate gray printed wrappers. Entirely uncut. 27.2 x 18.7 cm. Housed in three blue cloth folding cases contained in two blue cloth slipcases with gilt black morocco lettering pieces on spine. Paris, Curmer, 1842, 1843. Bradley Martin copy with his bookplate, probably affixed by Sotheby's during the auction of his library, on the verso of each upper wrapper.
(Première Partie) 1842. Authors as above. De la Menagerie, / des Serres, des Galeries de Mineralogie et d' Anatomie, / et de la Vallée Suisse. / ( Moeurs et Instincts des Animaux, Botanique, Anatomie Comparée. / Mineralogie, Géologie, Zoologie. π4a-c41-524[$1 signed]; 224 ll. Pp. (8)[i]ii-xxiv[1]2-416. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation: Paris, Lacrampe et Ce and Schneider et Ce; π2r, title; π2v, blank; π3r, dedication by L. Curmer, the publisher; π3v, blank; π4r-π4v, unnumbered list of 133 separate plates; i, Historical introduction; 1, general aspects; 72, Vallée Suisse, menagerie; 159, botany; 287, comparative anatomy; 337, mineralogy and geology; 360, zoology; 395, conclusion; 397, general pictorial classification of the "Trois Regnès de la Nature"; 415, contents. Contains approximately 350 unnumbered, uncolored text wood engravings.
Illustrations / du / Jardin Des Plantes 1842. Artists include: Harvey Gavarni, Th. Descourtilz, Jaque / Daubigny, Marvy, Leullier, Ad. Féart, R. Pelez, H. émy, / Belaife, Bebeuf / et l'élite des Graveurs Français et Anglais(all information from wrappers). Contains 133 plates without any text or preliminaries. These plates are intended to accompany the above volume where they have been listed by title. Most of these plates (106) are uncolored wood engravings. The remaining 27 are steel engravings. Of these, 12 are colored including nine of birds after Descourtilz.
Deuxième Partie. 1843. Author Emm. Lemaout. Oiseaux, Reptiles, Poissons, Insectes / et Crustacés π21-834; 334 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-664. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; Schneider et Langrand; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, birds (seventh chapter, consecutive to the six in first volume); 190, reptiles (and amphibians); 251, fish; 290, embranchement des animaux articulés; 657, alphabetical index for second volume; 663, contents of second volume. Contains 49 plates incuding 21 colored (nine of birds). Two of the uncolored plates are double-paged. Three plates have tissue letter-press. Also contains approximately 261 text wood-engravings of which 72 are concerned with bird.
Although the Jardin des Plantes was doubtless much more elegant in 1842, than in 2000, the present work is a great deal more than a description of that Paris institution. It is an overview of contemporary knowledge concerning the "Trois Regnès de la nature". And it is a very richly illustrated work that was available to the person of average means, as opposed, for example, to the Disciples edition of Cuvier's Regne Animalè which was published at about the same time.
According to Ronsil, in his L'Art Français… (p. 74), Curmer, the publisher of this work, specialized in producing books illustrated with wood engravings and employed the best artists and engravers. A substantial number of the illustrations, both text engravings and plates have been copied from antecedent sources which are unidentified or misidentified. The colored bird plates are copied from Descortilz's Oiseaux Brillans du Brésil (17) and from Audubon (the Mockingbirds with the snake at the nest), and Curmer could scarcely have selected two better artists. The plates by Descourtilz are undesignated, that by Audubon is designated "Freeman, del". Amongst the uncolored plates, I noticed a number designated H. Delacroix and one, a fine depiction of Aigle Royal, E. Delacroix. One of the most interesting of the plates is double-page and is entitled "Flore des deux Labyrinthes." Laid into it is a sheet of tissue containing letter-press that enumerates more than 180 types of trees and shrubs whose position in that section of the park can be identified by reference to the corresponding number on the plate. Anker's assertion (#39), that the colored plates in the first volume were executed by lithography is incorrect, although, of course, the plates from which they were copied are hand-colored lithographs. One wonders where Curmer found the plates by Descourtilz from which to copy. The original volume has always been extremely rare.
This is an unusual copy in a completely naïve state even including the plates to the first volume in their own separate printed wrapper and the very fragile loose tissue leaf of letter-press for the folding plate of the labyrinth.
The two volumes are occasionally considered as separate works although they clearly were not so intended. An entirely different work, also entitled "Le Jardin des Plantes", by Pierre Boitard was published in 1842 as well.
Wood, p. 235. Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by Cornell.
Bertuch, Friedrich Justin (1747-1822)
Tafeln / der allgemeinen / Naturgeschichte / nach ihren drey Reichen / nebst / vollständiger synoptischer Enumeration aller bis jetzt bekannten Naturkörper und / ihrer Kennzeichen. / Thier-reich. / Zweite Classe. / Vögel (volume title) 26.5 x 22.0 cm. Laid paper. 4o. π2A-D2X[$1 signed]; 11 leaves. Pp. (6)1-14(2). Later half red buckram and marbled boards. Original printed gray wrappers included, the upper with series title and two blue lettering pieces adding volume half-title; lower, blank. Weimar im Verlage des Landes-Industrie-Comptoir, Neue ganz umgearbeitete Ausgabe, 1806.
π1r, Series title; π1v, blank; π2r, volume title; π2v, blank; π3r, volume half-title; π3v, synoptic table; 1-12 systematic lists of of parrots (1-148) and of toucans (1-10); Xr, "Tafeln der Vögel"; Xv, blank. Contains hand-colored engraved plates I-IV, each depicting six species of parrots copied from those of Barraband in Levaillant's Perroquets (1801-1806) without attribution.
Bertuch was a remarkable entrepreneur and cultural figure in Weimar who was simultaneously a poet, playwright, translator, naturalist, especially botanist, and publisher. He is best known for his 12-volume Bilderbuch für Kinder and for publishing the first German fashion periodical, Journal des Luxus und der Moden as well as for his translation of Don Quixote.
The present Heft is the (? only) ornithological one of a large work on the three natural kingdoms. According to Engelmann (p. 76) there were four Hefte devoted to the mineral kingdom, three to the vegetable kingdom and nine to the animal kingdom and there was a first edition of at least some of these Hefte published1801-1802. It is almost impossible that such a first edition could have contained these parrot plates which were initially published by Levaillant in1801-1806.
This work deals only with parrots (148 species) and toucans (10). For each it provides classification; name in German, Latin, French and English; reference to a published figure (including the 24 in this work); and locality.
The synoptic table contains two Abteilungen composed of seven Ordnungen. The Abteilungen are land and waterbirds. The text is devoted to only two Gattungen (parrots and toucans) of the first Ordnung (Klettervögel=Scansores).
This ornithological Heft is extremely rare. It is listed by Wood, p. 236. Not listed by AMNH, BMNH,
Cornell, Harvard, LOC, Melvyl, Oxford, Smithsonian, Trinity, Yale. OCLC locates just two copies.
Bewick, Thomas (1753-1828)
A History of British Birds 21 x 13 cm. Two volumes. Contemporary full mottled polished green calf by Root and Sons. Spine very darkened with five raised bands and a gilt black morocco lettering piece in one compartment. Hinges repaired and endpapers renewed. Yellow edges. Newcastle, printed by Edw. Walker for T. Bewick, 1826. Respectively the eighth (despite being called by Bewick the sixth in his preface to this volume) and sixth editions for volumes one and two. Each volume contains many wood-engraved portraits of birds and tail pieces.
Volume I. Containing the History and Description of Land Birds. πa2b-e4f4(-f4)A-3A43B23C2(-3C2)[$1,2 signed; ; 2I2 mislabeled 2H2; ; 2Q mislabeled 2]. 213 ll; pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[vii]vii-x[xi]xii-xxxiii[xxxiv]xxxv-xxxix[xl-xli]xlii-xliv[1]2-382. i, Title; iii, preface to sixth edition; vii, original preface; xi, introduction; xxxiv, technical terms; xli, contents; 1-382, British birds.
Volume II. Containing the History and Description of Water Birds. πA-B4C2 2A-2C4D-3H4[$1,2 signed]. 227 ll; pp. [i-iv]v-vi[vii]viii-xviii[xix]xx-xxii[1]2-432. i, Title; iii, preface; vi, introduction; xix, contents; 1-421, British birds; 422-432, foreign birds.
These 1826 editions, the eighth and sixth for the land and water bird volumes, were the last to be produced during Bewick’s lifetime. Bewick and his bibliographer, Roscoe, differ over the precise number of editions with Roscoe recognizing two editions of the Land Birds that Bewick did not consider as such. The original editions were published in 1797 and 1804 and the first volume was mostly written by Beilby, the man to whom Bewick was originally apprenticed. Over the years, Bewick edited this volume sufficiently so it became generally credited to him but the text of this work has never been regarded as its strong point and is said to be mostly derived from antecedent naturalists. It is, of course, the wood engravings for which the work is so justly celebrated. Wheldon & Wesley catalogue No. 201, item 717, informs us that this sixth edition of the Water Birds is noteworthy not only for being the last done during Bewick’s lifetime, but also for the addition of 11 pages containing 14 engravings of foreign birds, as well as for the appearance of a sanitized version of the “indelicate woodcut” on page 160 instead of in the first volume where it had previously been located.
Mengel, #s 263-271; Trinity, p. 35; Wood, p. 236; Yale, p. 21; Zimmer, p. 57. All these references are to other editions.
Beyer, Geo(rge) E(ugene)(1861-)
The / avifauna of Louisiana / with / an annotated list of the birds of / the state (from upper wrapper). 23.4 x 15.1 cm. Pp. [1]2-45(1). Binder’s beige buckram with manuscript call number on upper cover, printed lable on spine. Embossed stamp of National Audubon Society on first page and indelible stamp “From Library of William Dutcher received November 29, 1922” on front paste-down. Original gray printed wrappers bound in with ink manuscript “compliments of the author” on upper cover.”(Reprinted from The Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists-1897-1899, pp. 75-120)” on upper cover. New Orleans, privately printed offprint (?), 1900.
1, Introductory discussion including history and topography; 11, list of species 1-123, Colymbus auritus-Sialis sialis; 45, hypothetical species 1-22.
This seems to be a separately paginated and perhaps privately published offprint with its own cover dated 1900. It is the first work devoted exclusively to the birds of Louisiana, one of the more interesting ornithological states. The author comments, usually very briefly, on the status of each species.
This copy belonged to William Dutcher, an important early contributor to the ornithology of Long Island. The publication is uncommon.
Listed by AMNH, Harvard, Melvyl. Not listed by Cornell, Trinity, Wood, Yale, Zimmer. OCLC locates 12 copies.
Bianchi, V.(alentin)L.(‘vovich)(1857-1920)
Faune de la Russie / et des pays limitrophes / fondée principalement sur les collections / du Musée Zoologique de l’Academie Impériale des Sciences / de St.-Pétersbourg // Oiseaux / (Aves). / Volume I // Colymbiformes et Procellariiformes Two parts bound in one volume. 23.4 x 15.3 cm. Binder’s blue buckram with lacquered spine, gilt printing to spine. Ex library with markings on spine and library card in holder on rear paste-down. Book plate of Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery with designation of Henry Janssen as donor. St.-Pétersbourg, 1913. Except for extra French title pages, the entire work is printed in Cyrillic.
Demi-volume premier / St.-Pétersbourg, 1911. π 21-248χ[$1, 2 signed]; 195 ll. Pp. (4)1-384(2, legends for plates). π1r, blank; π1v, French demi-volume title page; π2r, Cyrillic demi-volume title page; π2v, copyright (?); printer designation; 1-384, systematic text for Colymbiformes. Contains plates I-VII printed in uncolored collotype after the legends for plates and not included in pagination.
Demi-volume deuxième / St.-Pétersbourg, 1913. π4I-II8III4(-III4)25-618622χ2; 323 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-4[I-II)III-XXXVIII385-979(1)(4). π1r, blank; π1v, French demi-volume title page; π2r, Cyrillic demi-volume title page; π2v, copyright (?); printer designation; 1-4, index for entire volume; I, introduction by Bianchi dated 1912; II-XXXVIII, very comprehensive anatomic overview including indexes of anatomic structures in both Cyrillic and Latin and detailed sketch of topography of a bird; 385-942, systematic text for Procellariiformes; 943-947, additions and corrections; 947-953, index for entire volume in Cyrillic; 954-957, index in German and Finnish (?); 958-977, generic and specific index in Latin; 978-979, legends for figures; χ21r, blank; χ21v, French title page for entire volume; χ2r, Cyrillic title page for entire volume; χ2v, copyright (?); printer designation. Contains unpaginated double-page plates VIII-X inserted after legends for figures and printed in uncolored collotype on one side only.
These comprehensive monographs are uncommon. OCLC locates less than 20 copies. Listed by Harvard, Trinity. Unlisted by Wood, Zimmer, AMNH, Cornell, Yale.
Bien, Julius (1826-1909)
Chromolithograph entitled BIRDS on accompanying sheet of letter-press. 28.0 x 20.5 cm. Contains figures 1-12. Designated "COPYRIGHT 1896 BY F. E. WRIGHT" on lower left and "JULIUS BIEN & CO., N. Y." on lower right. Accompanied by a separate sheet of identifying letter-press.
Julius Bien and Louis Prang were the two best known lithographers of natural history subjects in the United States during the second half of the 19th century. Bien was an immigrant from Germany and is best known for the incomplete 1860 folio of Audubon's birds, commissioned by Audubon's son John and known as the "Bien edition", in which some of the images from the elephant folio were reproduced in chromolithography.
The present plate probably comes from a late 19th century dictionary and shows 12 species of birds that are exceedingly artfully arranged. Included are Scarlet Macaw, Greater Bird-of-Paradise, Paradise Flycatcher, Quetzal, Golden Pheasant and Bald Eagle amongst others. These figures are copied from images that were published originally in antecedent works including Brehm's Thierleben and a government publication illustrated by Robert Ridgway. It is interesting to compare this plate with a contemporary example by Prang that I have which shows 22 figures that were copied from those by Edouard Traviès in Oribigny's F"Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire Naturelle".
Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde. Uitgegeven door het Koninklijk Zoologisch Genootschap Natura Artis Magistra Pp. 3 pll (title for volume one which includes only aflev. 1-6 through 1854, contents and editor’s statement), 52, 80, 30 (1l), 18, 12. Large 4to (35 x 25.5 cm). Late 20th centruy quarter-blue calf and marbled boards by Starr Bookworks. Aflev. 1-8, Amsterdam, M. Westerman & Zoon, 1848-1859 (the title page notwithstanding).
Contains 51 lithographed plates of which 24, including one that is double-page, are hand-colored. Of the 27 uncolored plates, one is folding and two are double-page. These figures include 14 colored plates of birds and three uncolored plates of birds of which two are double-page.
This journal, the name of which translates as “Contributions to Zoology”, was begun in 1848 as the organ of the Royal Zoological Society and the present run represents its first eleven years. The Zoological Society, according to Streseman (p. 221), was founded in 1836 by G. F. Westerman with two colleagues and perhaps the original publisher was his relative. In any event, the journal was still being published in 1975 since a run between 1959 and that year was offered as item 448 in the Wheldon & Wesley Catalogue No. 144 of 1978. It was described as royal octavo and was apparently unillustrated. Anker (#41) comments “...in the first eight installments several ornithological papers were published accompanied by a number of coloured plates.......written by such well-known ornithologists as H. Schlegel and C. J. Temminck.” Those articles and plates are all contained in the present run and I suspect that the format of the journal may have changed after these initial eight afleveringen (installments).
In the catalogue of the BM(NH) library, Bijdragen is listed under “Amsterdam” but the various individual articles are listed separately under their authors and are identified with respect to aflevering and year of publication. This has enabled me to date the material in the present volume according to my collation above as follows: pp. 1-52, 1-80 are in aflev. 1-6, 1848-1854 and comprise volume 1. Pp. 1-30 is in aflev. 7, 1858. Pp. 1-18 and 1-12 are in aflev. 8, 1859. These are in addition to volume 1. According to a note in a Dutch bookseller's catalog (Dieter Schierenberg, Catalogue 76 [2001]), lot 1255, "we have a rare complete set vols 1-54(1848-1914)…4to with all the 51 fine lithographs (24 hand-coloured) for the first 8 volumes…" so the present set is complete at least with respect to the illustrations.
Among the articles in this run, nine are devoted to ornithology including five by Westerman, three by Schlegel and one by Temminck. They are all of historical significance and include the first descriptions and pictures of some exciting species such as the Bat Hawk, Lidth’s Jay and Great (Ivory-breasted) Pitta. The illustrations are excellent and I am certain that they were done by Schlegel, although the artist is not identified. In general the lithographer is also not indicated save for a few instances where v. Meyer or P. W. M. Trap is specified.
This publication was the Dutch equivalent of the Transactions of the Zoological Society and at least through aflev. 8 was every bit as well done and was even larger in format. The present example is a bit trimmed. My library contains a duplicate extract of the article by Westerman on Pittas that measures 38 x 28 cm which I think is the uncut size.
A rare, important and beautiful suite.
Anker, # 41; BM (NH), p. 41; Wood, p. 239l. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard and Yale. Not listed by Trinity, Zimmer.
Binford, Laurence C. (1935-)(paintings by Kenneth L. Carlson[1937-])
Birds / of / Western North America / nonpasserines 31.0 x 23.3 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-223(1). Publisher's red buckram-backed green cloth with incised albatross design on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $25.00 printed on upper flap. New York, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., London, Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1974.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title in triple black-ruled frame; 4, copyright 1974; ISBN 0-02-510900-6; first printing 1974; printed in United States of America; 5, contents; 7, preface; 8, blank; 9, introduction "…to inspire the uninitiated to embrace birding as a hobby.."; 17, half-title; 19, plates and their text; 219, index including Latin and English names of birds, plants and insects. Contains 50 plates printed on one side only in color half-tone, each preceded and enumerated on a leaf with applicable text on recto and identifying letter-press on verso facing plate. All leaves included in pagination.
The showy birds selected here are ideal for displaying Carlson's artistic talent and the pictures are splendid and reasonably well printed. Unfortunately, this is the only ornithological work containing paintings by Carlson, who is a well regarded wildlife artist rather than an illustrator. The text provides a concise life history essay for each species.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity. Not listed by Harvard, Yale.
Bird paintings / of the / Ch’ien Lung period / 1736-1796 / with an Introduction and Notes by J. Longridge 33.8 x 42.0 cm (oblong). Pp. 10 unpaginated leaves printed on ochre laid paper with a watermark consisting of a crown above the apparent scripted letters “GlaHomburg”. Publisher’s off-white buckram with gilt “Chinese Bird Paintings” and color-printed Green Magpie on upper cover. Ochre endpapers on laid paper. London, the Holland Press, (1967).
Leaf 1: recto, , title page; verso, copyright, the Holland Press, 1967; “to be sold at 3 gns”; printed and bound in Great Britain by W. & J. Mackay & Co.; leaf 2: recto, introduction; verso, blank; leaves 3-10: rectos, plate numbers 1-8; versos, identification and explanatory letter-press for the facing color plate. Contains plates 1-8 printed on rectos in color half-tone on white wove paper with blank versos. The depicted species are: Green Magpie; Eclectus Parrot (female); Lesser Lemon-Crested Cockatoo; Golden Pheasant; Blue-Crowned Hanging Parrot; Red-billed Blue Magpie; White-Eye; and Yellow Wagtail.
This is an extremely attractive book with paintings of Chinese and Australasian birds by one or more Chinese artists. The paintings come from an album originally belonging to a member of the Imperial household and are superior to the commercial Cantonese paintings commissioned by westerners in the same era
Listed by Cornell but not by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. OCLC locates 33 copies.
BirdLife International (Stattersfield, Alison, J., Capper, David R., Project Managers and Senior Editors)
Threatened Birds / Of The World / the official source for birds on the IUCN Red List 30.5 x 21.6 cm. Pp. [i-iv]v-xii[1]2-852; 432 ll. Publisher's pictorial boards. Printed notices on upper and lower pastedowns. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge (England), 2000.
i, Title; ii, publication information; iii, dedication to the Olewine family; iv, blank; v, contents; vi, forewords; vii, list of contributors; xi, donor ackowledgements (sic!); 1, the extinction risk and opportunities for action; 15, documenting extinction risk; 19, assessing extinction risk; 25, how to use this book; 31, globally threatened species; 629, lower risk species; 693, other categories including extinct; 709, species listed by territory; 779, references; 827, illustration reference list by artist; 831, index to species; 850, corporate and institutional sponsors. Contains about 1200 colored text figures by 87 contemporary artists 11 of which are full-page and about 1200 distribution maps.
This monumental work presents an extraordinarily comprehensive analysis of those species of birds that are in jeopardy at the advent of the 21st century. The story of the book began in the early 1960s when Peter Scott conceived the notion of international "Red Data Books" documenting the status of endangered wildlife. Such Red Data Books were issued in loose leaf form by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) beginning in 1964 and in 1980 the first bird Red Data Book was published by the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP), the precursor of the publisher of this volume, BirdLife International. BirdLife International has prepared and used a World Bird Database (WBDB) that covers both bird species and specific areas. The present work has been prepared using the WBDB. The production of this work involved more than 1000 individuals including eight editors in addition to the two senior editors cited above, and 87 contemporary artists. Some of the art work was commissioned specifically for this book but most of it was taken from antecedent publications mostly from the Handbook of the Birds of the World currently being issued in serial for by the same publishers.
The core of this book is the analysis of 1186 species which are considered "threatened". Each species is classified by status ("critical", "endangered", "vulnerable"). Information is then given concerning its identification including size, its range, its population with actual numerical estimate, its habitats and their altitude, specific threats it faces, and specific conservation measures that have been, or should be taken. A small colored figure, a distribution map and references are also presented.
In addition to the very detailed analysis for threatened species, slightly less comprehensive coverage lacking specific pictures and maps is presented for about 800 additional species that are considered "lower risk".
Approximately 3,000 current references are provided.
Bird-Lore (edited by Frank M(ichler Chapman [1864-1945])
Bird-Lore 23.8 x 16.4 cm. Pp. (4, advertisements)[77]78-154(2, advertisements). Original printed wrappers with title printed in red on upper cover, price of 20c printed on upper cover. Uncolored half-tone photograph of passenger pigeon on upper cover. Vol. XV No. 2 March-April 1913. Harrisburg and New York, published for the Audubon Societies by D Appleton & Company, 1913.
77, A vanished race by Moritz Fisher; 85 the passenger pigeon: early historical records, 1534-1860 by Albert Hazen Wright; 93, recollections of the passenger pigeon in captivity by Wallace Craig; 99, the last passenger pigeon by E. H. Forbush; 104, migration of North American sparrows by W. W. Cooke; plumage of North American sparrows by Frank M. Chapman; 110, advisory council; 112, notes from field and study; 115, book news and reviews; 119, Audubon Societies school department by Alice Hall Walter; 129, the emperor goose, educational leaflet no. 64; 133, the crested auklet, educational leaflet no. 65; 137, the Audubon Societies, executive department, edited by T. Gilbert Pearson. Contains three unnumbered colored plates (one by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, two by Allan Brooks), 20 unnumbered, uncolored photographs of which 10(three full-page) are of passenger pigeons.
This issue of Bird-Lore is historically important because it contains four articles on the passenger pigeon, the last of which was to die in the Cincinnati Zoo later in the year. There are 10 previously unpublished photographs taken by J. G. Hubbard of a captive flock in the aviary of Dr. C. O. Whitman at Woods Hole in 1898. The articles and pictures here provide an awesome, contemporary illustrated document on the extinction of this formerly abundant species.
Bird-Lore was the "Official Organ of the Audubon Societies" founded by Chapman in 1898 and continued from 1941 as Audubon Magazine.
Birds illustrated by color photography (Marble, C. C and Marble, Elanora Kinsley)
Birds / illustrated by color photography / a monthly serial / designed to promote / knowledge of bird-life First three volumes. 23.6 x 18.3 cm. Publisher's red cloth with decorative framed silver floral and bird design on upper cover with gilt and silver lettering. Spine with gilt lettering. Endpapers with blue and brown reticular pattern. TEG. No signatures. Chicago, Nature Publishing Company.
(Volume I) 1896 (title page) January to June, 1897. Printed in blue. Pp. Two preliminary leaves[1-2]3-222[223-226]. First preliminary leaf: recto, blank; verso, copyright 1897; second preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, preface "copyrighted 1896"; 1-224, text and plates; 225, alphabetical index of English names. Contains 60 unnumbered photographic plates printed in color half-tone on one side only with both sides of leaves included in pagination.
Volume II. July to December, 1897. Printed in blue. Pp. Two preliminary leaves[1]2-240[241-242]. First preliminary leaf: recto, title including "Volume II" and changed to Birds / a monthly serial / illustrated by color photography / designed to promote / knowledge of bird-life; verso, copyright 1897. Second preliminary leaf: recto, introduction; verso, blank; 1-240, text and plates; 241, index. Contains 60 colored plates.
Volume III. January to June, 1898. Printed in black. Pp. [1-3]4-238[239-240]. 1, title, identical to volume II; 2, copyright 1897; 3, introduction; 4-238, text; 239, index. Contains 48 colored plates.
This journal is important because it contained early printed colored photographs of birds. The photographs were of mounted specimens, mostly from the collections of The Chicago Academy of Science and of F. M. Woodruff. They were printed in color half-tone by the Chicago Color Type Co., and copyrighted by the Nature Publishing Company. The printing of color here is remarkably good although the pictures look very unnatural because of the use of often grotesquely shaped mounted birds.
The serial publication was originally intended for the education of children and there is an odd mixture of informative essays and children's stories accompanying the pictures of brightly colored birds. Starting with the second volume, the publishers include a "summary" section providing certain minimal facts (Latin name, range, nest and eggs). The second volume concentrates almost entirely on North American birds in contrast to the first which pictures spectacular birds from all over the world. The tales for children are often initialed or signed by Elanora Kinsley Marble and some of the informative essays are signed C. C. Marble. I believe I have seen the work cataloged under the name Marble. However, there are many poems attributed to other authors.
This work can be found as individual issues or in several different publisher's bindings. The publishers probably added the preliminary leaves and the index at the time of binding. According to Frank L. Burns in A bibliography of scarce or out of print North American amateur and trade periodicals devoted more or less to ornithology (1915), this journal was subsequently continued as Birds and all nature, then as Birds and nature, this published by A. W. Mumford of Chicago until publication stopped after June, 1906, or according to some of the entries below, June 1907. It must have begun again, since Cornell lists it for the years 1914-1919. Burns also writes, (p. 5) that "The publishers announced that they had reprinted 10 editions of 5000 each of some of the numbers." Although the original journal may have gone out of business, the pictures from it were used in many publications during the first 20 years of the 20th century.
Wood, p. 241. Also listed under this title by Trinity and under Birds and nature by AMNH and Yale. Cornell lists Birds and nature, but for the years 1914-1919 although still published by Mumford.
Birds International (edited by Joseph M.[ichael] Forshaw)
Birds / international / a quarterly journal devoted to / the birds of the world Volume1, Number 1, January / March-Volume 3, Number 1 (undated, [January/ March 1991]) Nine issues, all published. 27.7 x 20.9 cm. Pp. 9 x 96 (96 per issue, 384 per volume, 864 total). Printed pictorial card wrappers. Chatswood, New South Wales, Birds International Pty Ltd., January 1989-Jan1991.
January-March, 1989, Volume 1, Number 1 [1-5]6-94[95-96]. 1-3, advertisements; 4-5, contents; 6-7, list of staff, announcement from editor; 8, first among parrots, hyacinth macaws in the wild by Robert S. Ridgley; 18, life atop the lily pads (jacanas) by William R. Phillips; 25, news from ICBP (International Council for Bird Protection, sponsor of the journal); 29, a construction worker in the rain forest (golden bowerbird) by Clifford and Dawn Frith; cartoon character exposed (roadrunner) by Robert D. Ohmart and Megan Mosby; 49, an Irish dilemma, the "bog-goose under threat (white-fronted goose) by John Wilson; 57, focus on Antarctica by Jonathan Chester; 60; but it doesn't look like a parrot (kekapo) by Don Merton and Raewyn Empson; 73, saved! But where to now? (mauritius pink pigeon) by Don Bruning; 79, bee-eaters by Hilary Fry; 89, stray feathers (sundry short subjects); 92, introducing the authors; 95-96, advertisements. Contains about 103 unnumberd colored photographs (six nearly full-page) well printed in half-tone and three colored maps.
This short-lived journal, of which I've described the first of only nine issues, was very well produced and edited. The fine colored photographs were printed on paper of high quality and the copiously illustrated articles were written by recognized authorities. These articles dealt with particularly interesting species or areas and were directed at a popular audience. The journal failed to attract sufficient subscribers to support its high quality. The cost was U. S. $7.00 per issue.
Entire run listed by AMNH, Cornell. Yale lists volume 1. Not listed by Harvard, Trinity.
A Monograph of the Cranes 47.5 x 37.5 cm. π4[1 ]22-162X2; 38 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii
viii[1]2-7[8-11]12-14[15]16[17]18-20[21]22-24[25]26-28[29]30-31[32-33]34[35]36-40[41]42-42[44-45]46-47
[48-49]50-51[52-53]54-56[57]58-59[60-61]62-64[65-67(+1). Original paneled pictorial green cloth with gilt title on upper cover and spine. Patterned endpapers, green edges. E. J. Brill, R. H. Porter, Leyden and London, 1897.
[i], half-title; [iii], title; [v], preface; [vi], introduction; [1], species accounts; [65], index; [67], list of plates. Contains 22 chromolithographic plates (I-VII, VIIa, VIII-X, Xa, XI, XIa, XII-XV, XVa, XVI-XVIII) and 13 text illustrations including 12 line-cuts of sterna and trachea and one decorative half-tone. The chromolithographs are mounted on thick stock and the leaves of stock are themselves mounted on guards.
This is the classic monograph of the family with extensive synonymy, descriptions and general text. The genesis of the work, as outlined in the preface, is interesting. Apparently, G. F. Westerman, the founder and first director of the Amsterdam Zoological Society, suggested to the artist, Heinrich Leutemann, in the early 1870s that Leutemann paint the cranes in the Society’s Gardens. Leutemann painted the 15 available species. In the 1890s, long after Westerman’s death and shortly before his own, Leutemann mentioned to Blaauw that he had always hoped his paintings would be used to illustrate a monograph. Blaauw wrote the monograph and commissioned Keulemans to paint the Black-necked Crane, four species of downy young and two egg plates, as well as to lithograph all 22 plates. Five of these plates are signed by Keulemans and attributed to him by his biographers, Coldewey and Anthony Keulemans, however, the egg plates are neither signed by him, nor attributed to him by the biographers who also seem unaware that he lithographed all 22 plates. These plates are all finely done and very attractive.
With the exception of Mengel, the bibliographers listed below all mention a limitation of 170 for this work so apparently some copies carry a limitation statement.
Mengel, #287 “A handsome and useful basic work..” Trinity, p.37; Wood, p. 242; Yale, p. 31; Zimmer, p. 59.
Blackburn, Mrs. Hugh (Jane, Jemima) (1823-1909)
Birds / Drawn from Nature 37.3 x 27,3 cm. No signatures. Pp. [1-5]6; 3 ll. Original gray boards, the upper entirely lithographed and identical, save uncolored, to the title page with image of young herons in the nest. Later buckram backing. Edinburgh, Edmonston & Douglas, 1862. Bradley Martin copy (#1398 at sale of his library) with his (i, e., Sotheby's) bookplate on upper paste-down.
1, Preface; 2, blank; 3, list of plates numbered I-XXIII; 4, blank; 5, birds drawn from nature; explanation and text for plates. Contains 23 unnumbered (save in list) hand-colored lithographic plates initialed JB (Jane Blackburn) one of which, plate XXIII according to list, serves as title page and design for upper cover. The lettering on this plate is lithographed. The plates were printed by Maclure & Macdonald lith.
Mrs. Blackburn was a well known artist specializing in nature subjects with a keen eye for birds and a strong interest in them. She illustrated Adam White's The Instructive Picture Book (1857) and her own Birds from Moidart and elsewhere (1895) which contains reduced versions (uncolored) of some of these plates as well as others.
The present beautiful suite of pictures is usually found uncolored. Sotheby's London auctioned another copy of this work as lot 2 on 6/22/95 and the following is part of the text from that catalog: "This is the first of two parts; according to Freeman the second part was published by MacLehose (of Glascow) in 1862 and a second edition of the two parts together was published at Glascow in 1868. The 'Advertisement' to this second edition states: 'Part I, as originally published, may still be had, price 10s. 6d. Half a dozen copies of this volume have been carefully coloured under Mrs. Blackburn's personal superintendence…..Four Guineas each copy" It is difficult to know for certain whether or not this example is one of those copies although its provenance suggests that it might be.
Wood, p. 242; Zimmer, p. 59. This edition also listed by AMNH, Yale. Harvard and Trinity list only the 1868 edition and Cornell lists neither. All listings are for uncolored copies.
Blackburn, Mrs. Hugh (Jane, Jemima)(1823-1907)
Birds from Moidart / and elsewhere / drawn / from nature / by JB 22.3 x 16.0 cm. π4A-M8[$1 signed]; 100 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-viii1-191(1). Publisher's red cloth with gilt ornithological design on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Oil green endpapers. Edinburgh, David Douglas, 1895.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, contents; 1, text and pictures. Contains: uncolored lithographed pictorial title leaf not included in pagination; frontispiece and uncolored plates I-LXXVII, so numbered only in contents and text , printed in collotype, each with preceding leaf or leaves of text.
This is an attractive volume that reproduces, in reduced format, most or all (45) of the lithographs published by Mrs. Blackburn in her earlier Birds drawn from nature (1862, 1868) as well as a series of drawings that had not been previously published. Although the pictures are all presented on a plain frame background, it is easy to distinguish those reproduced from the antecedent work because the figures look as though they were lithographed. I believe that the title page is a bona fide lithograph but it is difficult to be certain.
Mrs. Blackburn's pictures are exceptional for the "lifeliness" of her birds. By this neologism, I mean that her birds look more alive than those of almost any other ornithological artist. Many of her pictures are unappreciated masterpieces. The accompanying text is entirely anecdotal, not intended to be didactic, always extremely well written, and often very entertaining. She had a sharp eye for birds, a great pencil, and a great pen as well.
Although AMNH and Cornell do not list this book they do list Blackburn's birds Jemima Blackburn edited by Rob Fairley and published in 1993 by the Canongate Press, Edinburgh. So perhaps she is better appreciated than I thought.
Wood, p. 242; Zimmer, p. 60. Also listed by Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell.
Blackburn, Jemima (1823-1909) (Edited by Rob Fairley).
Blackburn’s birds 27.9 x 23.9 cm. Pp. [1-5]6-112. Original publisher’s blue buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Color pictorial dust jacket. Edinburgh, Canongate Press, (1993).
1, Half-title; 2, color frontispiece; 3, title (in brick red); 4, “first published 1993”; ISBN 0 86241 436 9; designed and typeset in Adobe Caslon by Dalyrimple; printed by Ebenezer Baylis & Son, Worcester; 5, contents; 9, introduction by Fairley; 17, preface by Blackburn to Birds from Moidart (1895); 19, illustrations and text; 112, index of birds. Contains 101 colored and two (including portrait of Blackburn) uncolored pictures, all unnumbered, a few full-page.
This interesting book was assembled by a neighbor of Blackburn’s descendents, an artist himself, who evidently had access to her entire collection of original paintings of birds, many reproduced here, some for the first time. Mrs Blackburn was a highly regarded and talented artist who was very well connected in intellectual and artistic circles. She was involved in the production of many books including some that she illustrated with early photographs. Her major pictorial ornithological contributions were Birds from nature (1862, 1868), Birds from Moidart (1895) and many of the illustrations for Adam White’s Instructive picture book (1860s). Most of her published illustrations were, by her own choice, uncolored, although the original paintings and sketches from which they were reproduced, were colored. It is these colored originals, mostly from Birds from Moidart, together with its text that are here reproduce.
Present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity. Not listed by Yale.
Research in China / expedition of 1903-04, under the direction of Bailey Willis / report on zoology 29.0 x 23.1 cm. Pp. (2)481-507(1)(2, blank). "Old Stratford" watermark. Original printed gray wrappers with seal of Carnegie Institution on upper cover. (Extracted from Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 54, Research in China, Volume I, Part II, pages 481-508). Washington, Carnegie Institution, June 1907.
Preliminary leaf: recto, title with Carnegie seal; verso, blank; 481, introduction; class Amphibia; 483, class Aves, Colymbus ruficollis-Emberiza passerina, comprising 130 species; 506, class Mammalia. Contains plates LVIII-LXIII of birds by JLR (John L. Ridgway), printed on one side only in color gravure by A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore and not included in pagination.
This is an offprint with publisher's wrappers and title page but without separate pagination. It is the zoological section of the report of an expedition into northern China sponsored by the Carnegie Institution in 1903-1904. It is almost entirely concerned with birds of which 64 specimens were obtained comprising 49 species and another 81 species were observed. The status of each of the 130 species is briefly described. Of special interest: "the red-faced ibis is one of the commonest birds of the Weï-ho valley , in Shen-si" (p.485). (Great) "Bustards are still very common…"(p. 486).
Not listed by Mengel, Wood, Zimmer. Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Blakston, W.(illiam) A., Swaysland, W.(alter) and Wiener, August F.
The / illustrated book of / canaries and cage-birds, / British and foreign 27.5 x 21.3 cm. π41-564[$1 signed]; 228 ll. Pp. [i-v[vi-viii[1]2-448. Contemporary full red calf with covers framed by double-gilt, blind rules. Spine with five gilt-ruled and decorated raised bands, black morocco lettering piece in second compartment, elaborate gilt floral motif in others. Marbled endpapers. Marbled edges. London, Paris, New York, Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. (1877-1880, fide catalogue BM[NH], p. 171). Original printing. Bradley Martin copy with his bookplate (probably affixed by Sotheby's) on upper paste-down.
i, Title; ii, blank; iii, preface; iv, blank; v, contents; vii, list of illustrations; 1, canaries by Blakston; 298, British birds by Swaysland; 345, foreign birds by Wiener; 445, index; 448, printer designation: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. Contains 56 unnumbered chromolithographic plates 40 after W(illiam) Rutledge, 16 after (Joseph Williamson) Ludlow, printed by Vincent Day Brooks & Son, Lith; text figures 1-84 (woodcuts), and 35 unnumbered wood engravings including one initial letter, one head-piece and 33 tail-pieces.
This is a very detailed book about breeding and maintaining caged birds. However, it touches upon and illustrates many birds that are more often considered in their natural wild existence. For example, 11 colored plates depict 27 species of parrots. It was interesting to me to read the section by Wiener on the "Beautiful (Paradise) Parrakeet", p. 438. "There cannot be two opinions that the Paradise Parrakeet is the most beautiful of all the Parrakeets and it would be difficult to describe in words the splendour and variety of colours displayed in his plumage" Wiener had no difficulty obtaining these birds for his aviary although he, like everyone else, was unable to induce breeding in captivity. Apparently, he had no notion of the precarious status of this species in the wild. Male, female and juvenile male examples are illustrated.
The illustrations are interesting, although in my view, not particularly attractive. Every chromolithograpic firm produced its own kind of image and they were as different as drawings by different artists. The firm of Vincent Brooks, Day and Son and the artist J. W. Ludlow specialized in producing pictures of domesticated birds and collaborated on Lewis Wright's Illustrated Book of Poultry (1873) and Fulton's (edited by Wright) Illustrated Book of Pigeons (1876), also published by Cassell, as well as this one. When one examines plates from these works, it is no more difficult to identify their origin than to identify the birds. Like it or not, they have a special Gestalt.
The first printing of this book is distinguished by the imprint Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. Later printings had only the Cassell imprint.
Wood,, p. 242. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity. Harvard and Yale have the original printing.
Blanford, W.(illiam)T.(homas)(1832-1905)
Observations / on the / Geology and Zoology / of / Abyssinia, / made during the progress of the British / expedition to that country in 1867-68 21.0 x 14.2 cm. [a]4b2B-HH8II4[$1, 2 signed]; 250 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xii[1-3]4-487[488]. Later green half morocco and marbled boards. Spine with five gilt-ruled raised ridges, gilt red morocco lettering pieces in second and fourth compartments. London, Macmillan and Co., 1870.
i, Half-title with stamp of Zool. Soc. Lond. And note in pencil "from the author"; Macmillan logo; iii, title; iv, printer designation: London, R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor; v, preface; ix, contents; xi, list of illustrations; 1, personal narrative; 143, geology; 207, zoology, introduction; 222, mammalia; 285, aves; 444, reptilia; 460, pisces; 462, mollusca; 479, index; 480, printer designation as on iv. Contains unattributed folding hand-colored lithographic scenic tableau as frontispiece, hand-colored lithographic map by Sanford & Co., lithographic plates I-VIII by P. W. M. Trap after Keulemans, I depicting gazelle heads (uncolored), II-VII of birds (colored) and VIII of shells (uncolored). Also contains uncolored, full-page wood-engraved plates I-IV after photographs by Dr. Cook. These are bona fide plates printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Finally, there are nine unnumbered text wood engravings.
The author spent eight months in the area, most of it with the British army. Apparently, he was "deputed" by "the Indian Government" to make his geological and zoological observations. In the ornithological section, he describes 292 species, providing antecedent references, a statement of status as indicated by his experience, and a variable amount of information, sometimes including meticulous descriptions and measurements with particular emphasis on the appearance of fleshy parts in a fresh state. There are frequent learned discussions.
The plates are amongst the earliest by Keulemans.
Wood, p. 243; Zimmer, p. 60. Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Blanford, W(illiam) T(homas) (1832-1905) (Goldsmid, Sir Frederic John [1818-1908].
Eastern Persia / An Account of the / Journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission / 1870-71-72 Vol. II The / Zoology and Geology 22.0 x 15.3 cm. [A]4B-Kk8Ll2[$1, 2 signed]; 262 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii[1]2-516. Original publisher's green pebbled cloth with block black paneling on covers and spine, gilt lettering on spine. AEG. "Published by Authority of the Government of India", London, Macmillan and Co., 1876.
i, Half-title; ii, Macmillan logo; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Oxford:E. Pickard Hall and J. H. Stacy, printers to the university; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, list of plates; 1, zoology, introduction; 18, mammalia; 98, aves; 305, reptilia; 432, amphibia; 439, geology, general; 471, description of rocks; 507, list of halting places and distances; 509, index. Contains hand-colored lithographed folding map by Sanford's Geographical Estab.t. and lithographed plates I-XXVIII by Mintern Bros after Keulemans (I-VIII, mammals, IX-XVIII, birds, all colored) and G. H. Ford (XIX-XXVIII, reptiles and amphibians, uncolored). Also contains 10 unnumbered, unattributed text wood engravings
This work is concerned with an area that was largely unknown at the time of publication. The first volume was concerned with "The Geography.." and was edited by Sir Frederic John Goldsmid under whose name the two volume set is usually cataloged. The systematic list of 384 species of birds in the present volume is the first for the region. The collection of specimens was mostly the work of a Major St. John who carried out two expeditions, on one of which he was accompanied by Blandford. Blandford was also the author of Observations on the Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia (1870) and, with Oates, of the four-volume ornithological section (1889-1898) of The Fauna of British India. G. H. Ford was once described by Richard Bowdler Sharpe as "by far the best draughtsman of reptiles and fishes that science has ever known…". This was a back-handed compliment because Sharpe also noted that Ford's pictures of birds for Andrew Smith's Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa were less than adequate. In the present work, all of the pictures drawn by Keulemans and by Ford are excellent.
For each species of bird, Blanford provides antecedent references, the sex, location and date that each specimen was obtained, descriptions of the color of fleshy parts in freshly killed specimens, various measurements, status in the area, and a variable discussion which is often quite learned.
Wood, p. 243. Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale. Unlisted by Trinity, Zimmer.
Blumenbach, Joh.(ann) Fried.(rich)(1752-1840)
Abbildungen / naturhistorischer Gegenstände /// Nro 1-100 19.6 x 11.9 cm. Laid paper. 8o. Catchwords. Entirely unpaginated and without signatures. Contains 107 preliminary and text leaves. Twentieth century purble half calf with marbled boards. Gilt-paneled spine with five raised ridges, gilt red morocco labeling piece in second compartment. Göttingen, Heinrich Dieterich, 1810.
First leaf, title on recto, verso blank; second through fourth leaves, systematically classified list of contents; fifth leaf, preface; sixth through seventh leaf, comments on heads characteristic of the five principal races of man, subjects 1-5; next 100 leaves, explanatory text leaf following associated plate. Contains etched (some mezzotint) plates 1, 3-100 (ten colored, lacking plate 2, "Tayadaneega" a Mohawk Indian). Nineteen of the plates depict birds and nine of these are colored. Inconspicuous small blind stamp "BSNH" (Boston Society of Natural History) on the plates.
Blumenbach is regarded as the founder of modern scientific, physical anthropology and also as an early exponent of comparative anatomy. He was a physician and a keen student of natural history. In this rather uncommon work, he describes, by word and picture, 100 subjects of natural history, most little known. Amongst the good colored illustrations of birds, are those showing a New Zealand Bellbird (copied from an original painting by Georg Forster that was the first depiction of this species; the Yellow-breasted Bunting(the first published colored illustration), the Iiwi, Dodo, Lammergeyer, Wallcreeper, Siberian Rubythroat, Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise and "Bucco Atroflavus", an African barbet of some sort. There is also a particularly fine uncolored plate of the Macaroni Penguin.
Mengel discusses this work at some length and this copy corresponds to his #297 but lacks a half title and a leaf describing the 10 "Hefte" in which the work was originally issued from 1797-1810. I believe that Mengel errs in his appraisal "a bibiliographically interesting little work, evidently once popular but of no great zoological importance." Blumenbach was intentionally dealing with little-known species that had been rarely, if ever, been previously illustrated. He, himself, contributed significantly to knowledge concerning them in several instances. For example, he advanced the Latin name Orthorhynchus paradoxus for the Duck-billed Platypus and contributed early important information about the Iiwi.
Anker, #46; Mengel, #297; Wood, p. 245; Zimmer, p. 62. Also present in libraries of AMNH, Cornell, Harvard but absent from Trinity and Yale.
Blunt, Wilfrid (1901), Raphael, Sandra
The illustrated herbal 30.5 x 22.6. Pp. l[1-5]6-191(1). Publisher's olive-gray cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Olive-green endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. New York, Thames and Hudson, Inc. in association with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979.
1, Half-title; 2, uncolored frontispiece; 3,title; 4, copyright 1979; first published in the US 1979..; published in Britain in 1979 by Francis Lincoln Publishers Ltd; printed and bound in Italy by L. E. G. O.; ISBN 0-500-01226-01; 5, contents; 6, list of plates; 8, dedication; 9, foreword; 10, introduction; 12, manuscript herbals; 112, woodcut herbals; 172, metal-engraved herbals; 186, bibliography (47 entries); 188, index (people, plants[English names], titles. Contains about 65 unnumbered colored plates (one double-page) and approximately 86 uncolored illustrations of which about 18 full-page. All the plates and some of the text illustrations printed in half-tone, some text illustrations in line. All included in pagination.
This is a rare example of a book in my collection that is unrelated to birds. I did have occasion to buy some "woodcut herbals" and found myself quite excited by them. This book is replete with interesting pictures. Blunt was the author of The art of botanical illustration (first published1950) a biography of Linnaeus and several other works. Raphael was a former librarian and archivist at the Linnean Society of London.
A revised edition of this work was published in 1994.
Listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH.
Blyth, Edward (1810-1873) (enlarged and reprinted by Tegetmeier, W.(illiam) B.(ernhard)[1816-1912]).
The / natural history / of the / cranes / a monograph by / the late Edward Blyth, C.M.Z. S. / greatly enlarged, and reprinted with numerous illustrations, / by / W. B. Tegetmeier, F. Z. S., 25.0 x 16.0 cm. [A]4B-M4N2[$1,(2) signed]; 50ll. Pp. (8)[1]2-91[92]. Contemporary half brown morocco with blue cloth sides. Spine with five raised ridges and title lettered in gilt in second compartment. London, for the Author by Horace Cox and R. H. Porter, 1881.
First preliminary leaf: recto and verso, blank; second, recto, title; verso, London, printed by Horace Cox; third, recto and verso, preface by N. Finchley; fourth, recto, contents; verso, list of illustrations; 1, introduction; 14, Balearica, two species; 19, Grus, 16 species, two doubtful; 81, appendix, convolutions in the trachea; 89, index; 92, postscript. Contains two unnumbered chromolithographs by West, Newman & Co. after Professor Flower and “A. S.” from Prjevalsky’s book; two uncolored lithographic plates after T. W. Wood; two “photo-litho plates by C. F. Kell after Japanese artists, a double-paged wood-cut plate after T. W. Wood, a title page vignette and 16 unnumbered text wood-cuts and wood engravings after various artists. The plate leaves are not included in pagination.
This work started out as an article by Blyth in The Field magazine for 1873. That article contained only a single illustration (by T. W. Wood) and quickly became outdated. Tegetmeier was responsible for most of this very enlarged edition and his contributions are indicated by brackets. This work was the standard reference on cranes until the appearance of Blaauw’s beautiful monograph in 1897.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bogel, Cynthea J. (introduction); Goldman, Israel (commentary on plates); Marks, Alfred H. (translation of poetry)
Hiroshige / Birds and Flowers 36.2 x 24.8 cm. Pp. [1-5]6-29[30-191]192; 96 ll. Original tan cloth with white lettering on upper cover, black lettering on spine. Pictorial dust jacket. 1988, New York, George Braziller, Inc. in association with the Rhode Island School of Design. Printed and bound by Dai Nippon Printing Company, Tokyo.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, publication, production data; 5, contents; 6, foreword; 7, acknowledgments; 8, unnumbered, uncolored print reproduction; 9, introduction; 31, plates and commentaries; 192, bibliography. Contains uncolored text pictures 1-11, colored plates 1-91 on 80 leaves.
Hiroshige (1797-1858) painted during the Edo period (1603-1868) as did Utamaro and Hokusai, two other well known artists who contributed occasionally to the kacho genre. Wood-block prints of the Edo period are referred to as ukiyo-e and usually depicted courtesans, actors or landscape themes. Unlike later kacho works of the Meiji period, they often included a poem on the print as is the case for those reproduced in this work. As compared with works of the Meiji period, they were also generally more stylized and symbolic and tended to depict a more restricted number of species such Mandarin Duck, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Japanese Crane and Barn Swallow. I have the impression from the paintings reproduced in this work, that Hiroshige was not as keen an observer of birds in the wild as was Kono Bairei. However, perhaps this is not a distinction between the two eras since the paintings I have seen by Utamaro are quite comparable to those of Bairei in conveying a feel for the wild bird.
This is a serious art book written by faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design and based on prints bequeathed to them by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. It is a handsome book, well printed and bound by Dai Nippon of Tokyo.
Bohlen, H. David (paintings by William Zimmerman)
The birds of Illinois 29.8 x 22.9 cm. Pp. [I-IX]X-XVI[XVII](1)[1-2]3-221[222]. Original publisher’s brown buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Color pictorial dust jacket. Green endpapers. Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, (1989).
I, Half-title; II, blank; III, title; IV, copyright 1989, Indiana University Press; manufactured in Japan; ISBN 0-253-31560-3; first printing; V, dedication; VI, blank; VII, contents; VIII, list of illustrations; IX, acknowledgments; XI, introduction; XVII, abbreviations; 1, species accounts, Red-throated Loon-Eurasian Tree Sparrow comprising 439 species; 209, literature cited (about 500 references); 218, initials and corresponding names of observers; 220, index of English names; 222, colophon; editor, Kenneth Goodall; designer, Matt Williamson; compositor, Impressions Inc.; printer & binder, Toppan. Contains 49 (two double-page, 47 full single-page) plates in color half-tone after William Zimmerman. Neither these, nor their letter-press, usually printed on the facing page which is the obverse of the preceding plate, are included in the pagination.
This is a sister volume to Peterjohn’s "Birds of Ohio" which was published by the same press in the same year. Like that work, this one is an extremely comprehensive summary of the status and distribution of the birds of the state, in this case Illinois. The very good colored plates by Zimmerman are the same in the two works although each claims that they were produced specifically for that volume.
Listed by AMNH, Trinity, Yale but not by Cornell, Harvard.
Bohn, Henry G.(eorge)(1796-1884)
A / catalogue / of / books 21.3 x 13.8 cm. π2A2B-E4E*2F-11O411P2[$1 signed]A2-H28[$1, 2 signed]; 1044 ll. Pp. (4)[i]ii-iv[1]2-32, 33*-36*, 33-1948[12-32]42-1282. Later binder’s brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Marbled edges. Perforated book stamp of John Crerar Library on title page. London, (G. Norman, Printer)), Henry J. Bohn, 1841.
π1r, blank; π1v, engraved frontispiece; π2r, title with engraved design; π2v, blank; i, address; iii, contents; 1, books of prints; 189, architecture; 218, numismata; 231, heraldry; 247, natural history; 337, medicine; 345, physics; 366, metaphysics; 382 law; 391, language; 461, bibliography; 529, English, Irish and Scottish history; 545, early voyages; 559, northern literature; 567, Oriental and Hebrew literature; 575, games and sports; 587, modern Latin poetry; 609, Greek and Latin classics; 781, bibles; 796, Greek and Latin miscellanies; 915, French books; 1002, Italian books; 1053, Spanish and Portuguese books; 1111, German books; 1131, manuscripts; 1155, English books; 1937, index to works on English topography; 1948, printer designation: G. Norman, Printer (London); 11, new valuable and important books at very reduced prices.
Henry Bohn, the son of the publisher John Bohn, formed his own company in the late 1830s. The present catalogue is known as the “Guinea Catalogue and is regarded as one of the great bookseller catalogues of all time. It is said to list 23,208 items for sale, a figure apparently unsurpassed in the annals of bookselling. The information on each item includes at least a size designation, the number of colored or uncolored plates, a description of the binding, and the price.
The ornithological section occupies pp. 250-260. Bohn not infrequently reissued books with plates newly colored, sometimes to a higher standard than the original. One example is Latham’s "A general history of birds" (1821-1828), the original edition of which is very indifferently colored. The Bohn edition was issued for twice the price of the original in a very small print run (perhaps only 25 copies) with magnificent coloring highlighted by gold. Other Bohn reissues that are well known include Selby’s "Illustrations of British ornithology" for which the Bohn edition can be distinguished by a blue wash background, and Swainson’s "Birds of Brazil and Mexico" for which Bohn added the final part 6 (plates 63-78) on Mexican birds and used metallic highlighting for many of the original as well as the new plates.
Boitard, M.(onsieur) (Pierre). (1789-1859)
Le / Jardin des Plantes / Description et Moeurs / des Mammifères / de la Ménagerie et du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle 26.0 x 17.2 cm. π4a-h4i21-594c2[$1 signed]; 276 ll. Pp. (8)[I]II-LXVI(2)-472(4). Contemporary full blue calf with gilt-decorated spine and gilt-paneled and decorated covers. AEG. Paris, J.-J. Dubrochet et Ce, 1842.
π1-2, Blanks; π3r, half-title; π3v, attributions of illustrations etc.; π4r, title; π4v, blank; I-LII, historical, physical and pictorial description of the Jardin des Plantes, the text by M. J. Janin; LXIII, introduction to the natural history of mammals; 1-467, text; 468-472, alphabetical index; c1-2, blanks. Contains 220 text woodcuts of mammals and vignettes after Werner, Susemihl and Guémied all finely colored by hand, four hand-colored, steel-engraved plates by Fournier and Annedouche after Traviès, 51 full-page, uncolored wood-engraved plates of views in the zoological park after J. David, K. Girardet and others, two wood-engraved, tinted plates depicting respectively Buffon and Cuvier and an aquatint map of the zoological gardens drawn and engraved by Paul Legrand
This work is basically a natural history of mammals which are divided by the author into 11 orders and then described species by species in considerable detail. There are approximately 110 beautifully drawn and colored head pieces depicting mammals and an equal number of colored tail piece vignettes. The work is included in some ornithological collections because of four fine colored plates after Traviès that depict representative birds from various parts of the world. These plates are intended to complement the brief comments on birds given in the historical introduction to the Jardin des Plantes. There is no relationship between this work and another attractive one of the same initial title “Le Jardin des Plantes” usually catalogued under Bernard, sometimes under Le Maout, that was published in Paris by Curmer, also in 1842.
According to Engelmann (p.9), this work was issued in 50 parts.
This particular copy is special, being one of very few that the publisher issued with a decorative binding and with the text illustrations colored.
Wood, p. 246; Yale, p. 34. Absent from Ayer and Trinity collections.
Harmonia Ruralis or, an Essay Towards a Natural History of British Song Birds Two volumes in one, the first printed on laid, the second on wove paper. At least three different watermarks. Large Quarto (see note below re chain lines) and probably a Large Paper copy, 33 x 23 cm. No signatures. Full, fine contemporary red straight-grained morocco with gilt rolls and panels on covers probably by Steggetmeier. Spine with double raised bands delineating six compartments, one with green morocco lettering piece, the others with gilt tool decorations. Gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers. AEG. Privately published for the author, Stannary near Halifax, 1794-1796
Vol. 1. Blank, pp. (i-v)vi-viii, ll.1-40; i, title; iii, dedication; v-viii, preface; ll 1-40, text.
Vol. 2. Ff (3)41-80, pp.81-82; Ll (1), title, (2), dedication; (3), note; 41-80, text; pp. 81, index; 82, index and errata for volumes one and two, the latter mounted. The entire work contains frontispiece and 80 plates drawn, engraved and colored by the author of which 79 are original and the other two are copied from A. and J. Latham respectively.
This is the uncommon first edition the coloring of which is notoriously variable amongst different copies. The present MAGNIFICENT COPY belonged to the 14th Lord Gray and was acquired by Fattorini for his collection. There is a note in old ink on its front blank that it was purchased in 1797 for 9/19/6. The work was highly acclaimed by Coues (IV, 369) for its meticulous scholarship and fine art work. It describes, in considerable detail, the appearance of each species as well as its nest and eggs and also gives a life history. There is a colored plate devoted to each species as well as an additional one to its nest and eggs. The plates in this copy, particularly in the first volume, are engraved and colored with extraordinary beauty. Color printing, particularly with brown, appears to have been used in the production of some of the plates including those depicting the Reed and Corn Buntings and the Canarybird. Whereas the plates for the second volume contain considerable information engraved upon them in manuscript, those in the first are unmarked ("before the letters") save for enumeration in contemporary ink. A dealer’s note on the flyleaf suggests that this is a large paper copy bound by Steggetmeier. The same note alludes to the rarity of the errata slip for the second volume.
This work is frequently characterized as small folio. Volume one in this copy is printed on laid paper and the chain lines are horizontal suggesting that it is quarto. However, I must admit to confusion that watermarks are located at the foredges instead of adjacent to the gutter.
Ellis, #308; Wood, p. 247; Yale, p. 34. Trinity and Ayer catalogues list only later editons.
Bombay Natural History Society
Common Indian Birds 23.2 x 30.8 cm (oblong) Unpaginated. Contains 53 ll of gray paper. The first has the title (no other information) pasted on the recto and verso is blank. The second has, on the recto, a foreword with "Bombay Natural History Society / 6, Apollo Street, Bombay" at the lower right. The verso is blank. The remaining 51 ll (102 pages) contain colored plates 1-196 pasted on both sides of the leaf and usually two plates, ca. 16.5 x 10.8 cm, per page. A few of the plates are considerably larger, i. e. 16.5 x 19.5, whereas some others are differently configured (13-14 x 12-12.5). The plates are signed H. N. Wandrekar or K. B. Sawedekar. Contemporary red cloth. (Bombay, ca. Late 1920s)
The foreword explains that these illustrations were originally published by the Bombay Natural History Society in the form of charts for use in schools but they are bound here in book form for the convenience of members of the Society "who it is hoped will find this book a handy volume of reference".
It was found to be sufficiently "handy" to induce the Society to invite Salim Ali to write an accompanying text. The result was the original 1941 edition of his Book of Indian Birds , certainly amongst the most influential books on Indian ornithology and, in its popular impact, quite comparable to the works of Roger Tory Peterson, Austin Roberts, and Neville Cayley on the birds of their countries.
Some of the plates from this work were reproduced with permission of the Society in Birds of Southern India by Baker and Inglis, Madras, 1930, so they were probably first issued in the late 1920s.
Unlisted in the usual bibliographies and catalogs and probably quite uncommon.
Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857)
American / Ornithology; / or, / The natural History / of / Birds Inhabiting the United States, / Not Given by Wilson Four volumes. 38.0 x 29.5 cm. Contemporary red half-morocco and marbled boards with gilt roll decorations at margins of leather and boards and gilt lettering and decorations on flat spine. Volumes III and IV with green speckled edges. Philadelphia, William Brown, Printer.
Vol. I. Samuel Augustus Mitchell, 1825. [A*]2B*2A-2B22C2(+1)[$1 signed]; 57 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[vii-viii][1]2-105(1). i, Title; ii, deposition statement; iii, preface; vii, index; 1, species accounts. Covers 22 species. Contains colored plates 1-9, engraved by Alexander Lawson after drawings by Titian R. Peale save plate 4 by John J. Audubon and A. Rider. Colored by A. Rider.
Vol. II. Carey, Lea & Carey, 1828. πB*-C*2A-2A2; 53 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vii[viii-x][1]2-95(1). i, Title; ii, deposition; iii, preface to second and third volumes; ix, index; 1, species accounts. Covers 14 species. Contains colored plates 10-15 after Rider.
Vol. III. Carey, Lea & Carey, 1828. π2A-P2; 32 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-60. π1r, Title; π1v, deposition; π2r, index; π2v, blank; 1, species accounts. Covers 9 species. Colored plates 16-21 after Rider.
Vol. IV. Carey & Lea, 1833. π2A-2M22N2(-2N2); 73 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-142. π1r, Title; π1v, deposition; π2r, index;π2v, blank; 1, species accounts. Covers 15 species. Colored plates 21-27, three after Peale and three after Rider.
This work was meant as a continuation of that by Wilson which it resembles in format. Although it covers species that were not described in Wilson’s work, many of them were not discovered as new species after that work but were rather found in North America for the first time. The Mitchell imprint of the volume I represents the rare first issue, the later issue, also dated 1825, was published by Carey, Lea & Carey.
Bonaparte was a great stickler and nit picker about taxonomy and tends to lecture the audience in his text. It is easy to understand why he was so badly regarded by Coues. This work contains some very fine illustrations, particularly the magnificent Wild Turkey by Titian Peale and, most significantly, the female “Crow Blackbird” (Boat-tailed Grackle) by Audubon, his first published picture.
There is no general index to this work although there is an index to species by their English and Latin names as a preliminary in each volume.
Trinity, p. 39; Wood, p. 247; Yale, p. 34; Zimmer, pp. 64-65.
Bonaparte, Charles L.(ucien)(1803-1857)
The genera of North American birds, and a synopsis / of the species found within the territory of the United / States; systematically arranged in orders and families 21.4 x 13.9 cm. (1)4(-11)2-154162;37-564[$1 signed]. Pp. [7]8-128, [293]294-451(1). Contemporary brown half-sheep and marbled boards with blindstamp of Franklin Institute on leather of upper cover, inkstamp of Institute on each edge. Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in top three and bottom compartments. Ex Franklin Institute library with regulations on upper pastedown, envelope with card on lower pastedown. Extracted from Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, Volume II, 1828. Read January 24, 1826.
7, Introduction and list of references; 11, view of the system of classification (five orders, 37 families); 15, analytical table of (80) genera; 21, synopsis of (381) species; 433, appendix of various notes; 446, “improved edition” of analytical table with 90 genera.
This work is an important early classification and list of North American birds. Coues (first instalment, p. 612), not at all an admirer of Bonaparte, refers to it as “a notable volume” even though it contains no new names. It appeared originally in journal form and was reprinted as a single volume in 1828 by J. Seymour in New York. The present copy has been extracted from the journal. It does not include a "Supplement" in the journal (pp. 475-480) that is present in the Seymour publication. The present work, together with his "Observations on the nomenclature of Wilson’s ornithology" (1826) and "American ornithology or the natural history of birds inhabiting the United States not given by Wilson" (1825-1833) represent Bonaparte’s not insubstantial contribution to American ornithology.
The Franklin Library was founded at about the same time as this work was published and the leather binding with its blindstamp suggests that this volume may have been amongst its early acquisitions.
Mengel, #314; Wood, p. 247. Listed by Cornell, Harvard. Not listed by AMNH, Trinity, Yale, Zimmer
Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (sic)( Lucien Jules Laurent)(1803-1857)
Observations / on the / nomenclature / of / Wilson's ornithology 23. 5 x 14.7 cm. π1-3444(-44)5-17418219-244252(-252)26-294292430-314322[$1 signed]; 125 ll( not including two initial blanks). Unpaginated. Original tan boards with later cloth backing. Uncut. Philadelphia, Anthony Finley, 1826. Bookplate of William Brewster on upper paste-down as well as label indicating that the volume was received by the Boston Society of Natural History on 28 June, 1920, as part of his bequest. Brewster was the founder of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, precursor of the American Ornithologists' Union, and a major figure in late 19th century American ornithology. Blind stamp of Boston Society of Natural History on title page.
π1r title; π1v, blank; 11r, introduction and date (March 9, 1824) of reading; 11v-171v, discussion of land bird species 1-184, Cathartes aura-Perdrix virginianus in systematic order; 171v-181r, corrections to section on land birds; 181v, blank; 191r-311r, discussion of water bird species 185-278, Platalea ajaja-Plotus melanogaster; 311v, additions and corrections.
This work discusses and revises some of the nomenclature used by Wilson in the first edition of American Ornithology. Whereas Wilson's work did not originally describe the birds in systematic order, they are so presented here and are also enumerated 1-278. The first 227 species had already been covered by Bonaparte in antecedent articles that appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia during 1824 and 1825 and are here reprinted. The new material here is that concerned with the additional species as well as the additions and corrections. A number of new names apparently derive from this work which Coues (Ornithological Bibliography, I, 608) considered " …one of the most notable and in some respects the most important of early American papers." Coues was not an admirer of Bonaparte so such an accolade must be seriously taken.
Books published on American ornithology before 1830 are uncommon, particularly with an American imprint.
Mengel, #313; Wood, p. 247; Zimmer, p. 65. Also listed by Cornell, Harvard. Not listed by AMNH, Trinity, Yale.
Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857)
A / geographical and comparative / list of the / birds / of / Europe and North America 22.0 x 13.7 cm. [A]4B-K4[$1 signed]; 40 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii][1]2-67[68](4, publisher’s advertisements). Publisher’s (?) contemporary brown cloth with decorative blind frame within which “Bonaparte’s / birds / of / Europe & North America” printed in gilt. Unopened. Yellow endpapers. London, John Van Voorst, 1838.
A1r, Half-title; A1v, blank; A2r, title; A2v, printer designation: printed by Manning and Smithson; A3v-A4r, preface; A4v, blank; 1, text; 67, summary and errata; 68, printer designation; Manning and Smithson.
This work identifies 36 European and 34 North American bird families, of which 32 are shared; 246 European and 218 North American genera, of which 137 are shared; and 503 European and 471 North American species, of which 100 are shared. Plate numbers from Gould’s “Birds of Europe” or Audubon’s “Birds of America” are provided for almost every species.
This was not Bonaparte’s first such exercise. In 1827, he published the “Comparative list of the birds of Rome and Philadelphia”.
The present work is not uncommon. OCLC locates more than 60 copies.
Bonaparte, Ch[arles] L[ucien](1803-1857), Schlegel, H[ermann](1804-1884)
Monographie / des / Loxiens 29.5 x 22.0 cm. [*]42*-3*41-74[$1 signed]; 40 ll. Pp. (6)[I]II-XVII(1, blank)[1]2-55(1, blank). Publisher's original cloth with gilt lettering, paneling and designs on upper cover and spine. Leiden & Düsseldorf, Arnz & Comp., 1850.
*1r, title;*1v, blank; *2r, dedication to the queen of Holland; *2v, blank; *3r, elaborated dedication; *3v, blank; I, introduction; 1, systematic text; 52, list and explanation of plates. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates 1-54. Numbers 3, 25, 29, 32, 34, 35 are relabeled to agree with the text using slips pasted over the original divergent lettering. Inscribed to Madame Jean Reynaud and signed by Bonaparte on title page.
This work covers 41 species of finches, a part of the family Fringillidae as taxonomically elaborated by Bonaparte in the introduction which is caustically criticized by Coues who informs us that the text is the work of the "more trustworthy" author, Schlegel. According to Zimmer, some of the species are described for the first time. The plates are hand-colored lithographs by Arnz and Company of Düsseldorf. The title page identifies the artist as "M. Bädeker et autres naturalistes" but Anker comments that "..Schlegel's plates…are beautiful" and Nissen cites both Bädeker and Schlegel as artists. In my view, the plates resemble in style and execution those by Schlegel that I have seen in other works. His name rarely seems to have appeared on plates that he designed.
The text for the various species is relatively brief consisting of some synonymy, a very short description in Latin, a more elaborate description in French, and a few comments about the distribution and habits.
Anker, #49; Coues, III, p. 630; Nissen, #119; Trinity, p. 40; Yale, p. 34; Zimmer, p. 67. Not listed by Wood.
Birds / of the West Indies //// an account with full descriptions of / all the birds known to occur or / to have occurred on the / West Indian Islands 18.7 x 12.7 cm. Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii]ix-xxiv[xxv-xxvi]1-456. 242 leaves. Original gray cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, January, 1936 (composed and printed by Waverly Press, Baltimore).
i, Title; ii, publication data; iii, dedication; v, contents; ix, illustrations; xiii, introduction; xxiii, acknowledgments including references; xxxv, diagram of a bird; 1, species accounts; 410, systematic list; 435, index of common names; 442, local names. Contains front end paper map, colored frontispiece and line cut text figures 1-152 numbered in "illustrations" only, by Earl L. Poole.
James Bond is best known as the inspiration for Ian Fleming's enormously popular flamboyant counter intelligence agent. However, the real individual was an exceedingly serious professional ornithologist who worked for the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. He spent ten years surveying the avifauna of 50 West Indian islands in order to write this handbook which was by far the most comprehensive work on this area at the time of its publication. Measurements, physical descriptions of all stages, and distribution data are provided for almost 500 species. Some aspects of life history are covered at the generic level. There are many very good line drawings by Earl L. Poole. This book was the worthy successor to Charles Cory's work of 1889.
This work was a museum publication and its print run was small. Bond revised it and adopted a more popular style for his field guide which appeared in 1947. That field guide was largely responsible for making the West Indies the much visited bird watching area that they have become.
Mengel, 324; Yale, p. 35. Unlisted in Trinity catalog.
Bond, James (1900-1989), de Schauensee, Rodolphe Meyer (1901-1984)
The birds of Bolivia 27.2 x 18.2 cm. Part I. Pp. 307-391(1). Original printed tan wrappers. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia XCIV, 1942. Published December 23, 1942. Part II. Pp. 167-221(1). Original printed ochre wrappers. Uncut. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia XCV, 1943. Published December 17, 1943.
307, introduction; 308, geography; 309, collecting stations; 319-391, annotated list of Passerine species, Pteroptochridae-Fringillidae.
167, introduction; 168-221, annotated list of non-Passerine species, Tinamidae-Picidae.
A total of 1153 species and subspecies are given in this, the first systematic national list for Bolivia. Most of these, including 45 new to science, were described from specimens collected by Melbourne Carriker between 1934 and 1938. The original citation as well as the number, sex and locations where collected are supplied for all species and subspecies. There are also occasional more extensive annotations.
Listed by AMNH, Harvard, Yale. Not listed by Cornell, Trinity.
Field Guide to Birds / of the West Indies / a guide to all the species of birds known from the / Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles and Bahama Islands 18.7 x 12.7 cm. Pp. [i-vii]viii-ix[x-xii]1-257[258]; 135 ll. Original tan cloth with black lettering on upper cover and spine. Pictorial dust jacket with slightly different title ("Field Guide of Birds…). Macmillan, New York, 1947.
i, Half-title; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, dedication; vii, contents; xi, half-title (repeated); 1, species accounts; 235, index of local names; 251, common names. Contains end paper map (same on both end papers), colored frontispiece and text figures 1-211 by Earl L. Poole including one (154) that is a full-page two-tone unpaginated plate printed on one side only.
Bond adopted this field guide from his Birds of the West Indies of 1936. The main differences are that he omitted the generic introductions and shortened the descriptions. Almost 70 new illustrations were added to those of the previous work.The resulting little book is quite important as an early modern field guide to an area outside of North America. It popularized the Indies as an accessible area in which to see birds and it emphasized the immediate need of many species for conservation measures. Expanded versions of it appeared in 1961 and 1971.
Trinity, p. 40. Absent from Ellis and Yale catalogs.
Bond, Terance James
Birds / the paintings of / Terance James Bond 38.8 x 27.0 cm. Pp. (6)[1-3]4-86[87-90]. Publisher’s gray cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Gray endpapers. Color pictorial dust jacket. New York, Toronto, Athena Press, 1989.
PL1r, half-title; PL1v, blank; PL2r, title; PL2v, copyright Terance James Bond, 1988; 0-922884-00-5; printed in Italy; PL3r-PL3v, contents; 1, introduction; 89, acknowledgements; 90, colored circular vignette of nuthatch. Contains 40 unnumbered half-tone colored plates, most showing a single species, printed on rectos with pertinent letter press on antecedent versos, so facing, all included in pagination. Also contains about 21(14 colored) text vignettes.
This is an attractive art book with meticulously constructed pictures of birds engaged in appropriate activities in their typical habitats. The text is quite painterly but does provide some life history observations.
OCLC locates 48 copies.
Bonhote, J.(ohn) Lewis (James)(1875-1922)
Birds of Britain / with / 100 illustrations in colour / selected by / H. E. Dresser / from his 'Birds of Europe' 22.0 x 15.9 cm. π61-514[$1 signed]; 210 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-x(2)1-404[405] (3, blank). Original publisher's brown cloth extravagantly decorated on upper cover and spine with phoenix design and empanelled gilt block lettering. TEG. Bookplate of Edward Heron-Allen (b. 1861), author of several works on foraminifera and a biography of Alcide d'Orbigny. London, Adam and Charles Black, 1907.
i, Half-title; ii, list of international sales "agents"; iii, title; iv, "published November 1907"; v, preface; vii, list of illustrations; unpaginated leaf: recto, blank; verso, line diagram of bird topography; 1-399(1), systematic accounts, Turdus viscivorus-Diomedea melanophrys, comprising around 450 species; 401, index of English names; 405, printer designation: R. & R. Clarke, Limited, Edinburgh. Contains plates 1-100 (1 as frontispiece), so enumerated only in list of illustrations, printed in color half-tone on one side only with overlying tissue guard containing identifying letter-press. Plates and guards not included in pagination.
Bonhote was a zoologist with special interests in mammals and birds. This work lists every bird recorded for the British Isles but provides substantial accounts only for those that breed. Such accounts include general life histories in addition to size, description etc. The pictures have been photomechanically reproduced from Dresser's Birds of Europe (1871-1881) and are not nearly so attractive as the original hand-colored lithographs. The 100 plates illustrate 108 species
The book was one of two on birds included in the A. & C. Black "20 Shilling Series" known for attractive colored illustrations and elaborately decorated covers. The other one was Charles Whymper's Egyptian birds (1909). Both of these were issued in print runs of 3000 copies and Whymper's was not reprinted. This book, however, was reprinted several times and then published in various editions with fewer plates.
Mengel, #325; Wood, p. 597; Zimmer, p. 78. This original edition listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale. Trinity lists only a 1930 edition with fewer plates.
Bonhote, J(ohn) Lewis (1875-1922), ed.
Practical / bird-keeping / being reprints of articles / which have appeared in / "The Avicultural Magazine," / January, 1911-December, 1912. 21.5 x 13.7 cm. No signatures. Pp. [i-iv]v-xvi[1]2-142. Publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering to upper cover and spine. Red speckled edges. London, West, Newman & Co., 1913.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, contents; vi, preface; vii, list of illustrations; vii, list of illustrations; viii, introductory note by Aubyn Trevor-Battye; 1, text; 139, "references to the more important articles in 'The Avicultural Magazine' on the groups dealt with." Contains: hand-colored lithographic frontispiece of bahama amazon drawn and lithographed by H. Goodchild, printed by Mintern Bros; uncolored plates I-XVI, printed in half-tone on one side only, not included in pagination and comprising: seven photographic displaying 12 images; five after paintings by H. Grönvold; two after H. Goodchild; one one A. Trevor-Battye; one artist undesignated.
This is a repaginated series of reprints taken from a well illustrated periodical devoted to the maintenance of birds in captivity. It contains 21 articles by 14 authors. The major contributors were Bonhote, A. G. Butler and D. Seth-Smith. Bonhote is best remembered for his Birds of Britain in the A. & C. Black "20 Shilling Series". He wrote extensively on a variety of zoological subjects.
This separate listed by Trinity but not by Wood, Zimmer, AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale.
Bonnaterre, l’Abbé (Pierre Joseph, 1752-1804)
Tableau / Encyclopédique / et Méthodique / des Trois Règnes de la Nature, ///// Ornithologie Texte, 26.5 x 20.7 cm; atlas, 28.0 x 20.7. 19th century half-blue morocco with four raised ridges on gilt-lettered spine where author’s name incorrectly (“Bonnataire”) spelled. Marbled boards and endpapers. Paris, Panckoucke, 1790.
“Texte”(on spine): laid paper, 4o. a-k4l4(-l4)m4n2A-R4[$1, 2 signed]; 209 ll. Pp. [I-ii]iii-xcvii[xcviii][1]2-320. I, title; iii, avertissement; ix, introduction (general ornithology including anatomy and taxonomy; 1, species accounts.
“Planches”(on spine): laid paper, crown 2o. Contains uncolored engraved plates 1-240 (3 and 188 folding) and plates 1-7 (folding).
This work is part of the 196-volume Encyclopédie Méthodique and is the second edition of the ornithological portion, the first, unillustrated, having been written by E. Mauduyt de la Varenne and published 1782-1784. According to Zimmer, the plates for the present work actually appeared in livraisons 38(1790)and 40(1790) of the complete encyclopedia and the material in this text volume was issued in livraisons 40(1790), 47(1791) and 51(1792). Further, according to him, folding plates 1-7 were complementary to Mauduyt’s edition. Additional text, not here present, was written by Vieillot and issued in livraisons 89(1820), 91(1822) and 93(1823) through page 1460. The present set thus includes only Bonnaterre’s contribution to the text. Anker (133, p. 120) suggests that the last ten plates may have been published after 1800 because they depict birds that were not known until then. If that is true, they must have been inserted into this copy considerably after the other material. Anker does not comment on the discrepancy between him and Zimmer although both refer to Sherborn.
The plates are designated “Benard direxit” and show several species per plate at least some of which are copied from antecedent illustrations including those of de Seve in Buffon. It is interesting to compare them with those of an edition of this book published in Padua in 1792 where they are labeled “Scattaglia dir”. The latter, the same size though in 4o rather than 2o format, are engraved copies, a minority of which are reversed. In other words, Scattaglia engraved most of them by copying in reverse, those of Benard. The engraving in the Italian edition, at least in my copy, is much darker and this can make a great difference. In most cases, I think the plates of the French edition are superior because their presentation of tone is subtler, i. e. there are many shades of gray between black and white. Perhaps they were etched and those of the Padua edition engraved.
Trinity, p. 40; Wood, p. 333(Encyclopédie Méthodique); Zimmer,p. 79. This edition unlisted by Yale.
Bonnaterre, l' Abbé (Pierre Joseph, 1752-1804)(from Avertissement)
Tableau / encyclopédique / et méthodique / des trois règnes de la nature / dédié a la sérénissme/ Republique de Venise / ornithologie Laid paper. 4o. 30.5 x 23.0 cm. Occasional catch words. [a]4b-k4i2[$1, 2 signed]; 42 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-lxxxiv. Later quarter blind roll-ruled brown calf, marbled boards. Spine divided into six compartments by double blind roll rules, gilt brown paper labeling piece in second compartment. Padoue (Padua), 1792.
I, series half-title; ii, blank; iii, volume title with engraved vignette; iv, quotation from Seneca; v, avertissement par M. Bonnaterre; xi, introduction, a general overview of ornithology; lxix, precis anatomique des oiseaux. Contains183 (of 240) uncolored engraved plates designated Scattaglia dir., and enumerated1-109, blank leaf, title leaf "Planches d'ornithologie, partie II" 110-150, 171-186, 189-196, 201-209. Also contains title vignette and three engraved tail-pieces.
This is a rare Paduan imprint containing part of Bonnaterre's ornithological contribution to the Encyclopédie méthodique of Diderot and Alembert. The 1890 Paris edition of this ornithological volume contained plates 1-240 as well as 209 leaves of text. Pp. v-lxxxiv here correspond to pp. iii-lxxx of the French edition. According to Zimmer , although the Paris volume is dated 1790, much of the text was actually issued in 1791 and 1792 and it may be that the text here represents that issued in livraison 40 of 1790 and lacks the parts issued in livaraisons 47 and 51 of 1791 and 1792. Bonnaterre's text is acutally the second edition of the ornithological section, the first having been written by E. Mauduyt de la Varenne and published 1782-1784. Vieillot later contributed additional text. Bonnaterre's name is not present on the title page for this volume whereas it is on that of the Paris edition. It first appears here with the Avertissement.
The plates here were all copied by Scattaglia from the Paris edition where they are mostly designated "Benard direxit". At least some were originally first drawn by De Seve for Buffon. Only a minority of the plates here are reversed with respect to those in the French volume indicating that Scattaglia engraved most of them by copying them onto copper in reverse to the finished prints of Benard. Pietro Scattaglia was an accomplished artist and engraver who was responsible for the plates in Descrizioni degli animali quadrupedi…. (Venice, 1771-1775) by Alessandrie and Scattaglia which is regarded as perhaps the finest 18th century work on quadrupeds. The engraving in this copy is much darker than that in my Paris volume and there is less gradation of tone.
Wheldon and Wesley sold a copy with this imprint in 1988 (catalogue 183, item 31) that contained the same text as this one but 230 plates. The Harvard copy also has the same text and 230 plates. That figure is interesting because Anker (134, p. 120) suggests that the last 10 (of 240) plates were published after 1800 whereas Zimmer (p. 79) provides evidence that they were issued in 1790.
I don't know whether any volumes of the encyclopedia other than this one were printed in Padua.
Paduan imprint listed by Harvard. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Wood, Yale, Zimmer.
Boonsong Lekagul, Dr. ( Bunsong L-ekhakun,1907-1992) (introduction by Ripley, S.[idney]Dillon[1913-2001])
Bird guide / of Thailand 18.7 x 12.9 cm. Pp. [I-VIII]IX-XXVIII[XXIX-XXXII][1]2-271[272]. Two loose Errata sheets laid in. Original blue cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Pictorial dust jacket with prepublication review dated Feb 11, 1968 on rear flap. Bangkok, printed with the advice of the Association for the Conservation of Wildlife (ND, ca. 1968). "From: Thai National Scientific Papers Fauna Series No. 1"(printed slip pasted on page VI). Printed at Ramin, Press, Bangkok (from page 271). A slip pasted on rear free endpaper states "All correspondents (sic) should by addressed to :-/ Dr. Boonsong Lekagul / c/o The Association for the / Conservation of Wildlife / 4, Old Custom Lane, Bangrak. / Bankgkok."
I-II, blank; III, half-title; IV, dedication to H. R. H. Princess Mahidol; V, title; VI, pasted printed slip as above; first frontispiece of newly discovered white-eyed river martin with pasted slip "Adult and juvenile"; VII, second colored frontispiece; VIII, uncolored photographic plate; IX, introduction by Ripley; XI, preface; XIII, acknowledgement; XIV, list of provinces of Thailand; XV, colored map of Thailand provinces; XVI, zoogeography of Thailand; XVIII, references (15); XIX, glossary (Thai translation of English words); XXII, page in Thai; XXIII, legends for uncolored photographic plates; XXIV, topography of a bird; XXV, contents; XXIX-XXXII, uncolored photographic plates; 1, systematic text, species 1-790, Podiceps ruficollis-melophus lathami; 241, new birds to Thailand, species 791-828; 353, index of common and scientific names; 268, index of Thai names; 271, printer designation as noted above; 272, uncolored photographic plate. Contains two frontispieces and plates 1-8, 15-84, printed in color half-tone; uncolored half-tone plates 9-14 of raptor silhouettes; six unnumbered, uncolored half-tone photographic plates; a colored map; and a line drawing of bird topography. All plates contain printed matter on versos and are included in pagination.
As I write this account, about 35 years after the appearance of this book, Thailand is one of the most popular destinations for birders and its very rich avifauna has been described and illustrated by professionals in many books. However, Boonsong's was the first, and this, the first edition and printing of it, was done entirely by him including the photographs and the illustrations. He based the list on Herbert Deignan's Checklist of the birds of Thailand published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1963. The names of the birds are given in Thai as well as English and Latin and the individual figures on the plates are referenced to the text with numbers so that a Thai could use this book with no knowledge of English. This work is comparable to Salim Ali's Book of Indian Birds in that it provides an identification guide written by and for an inhabitant of the nation whose bird life it describes.
Subsequent revised editions of the present work were published in 1974 and 1991. After writing this book, Boonsong wrote others on the butterflies and on the mammals of Thailand.
This edition is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Boot, Jeremy (1948) (text by Shane Parker)
Birds / of / South Australia 31.5 x 25.0 cm. Pp. [1-7]8-56[57-59](1). Original publisher's quarter brown morocco and cream cloth sides. Gilt-framed color plate of laughing kookaburra mounted in sunken panel on upper cover. Brown lettering on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. South Australia, Oaklands Publishing, 1985.
1, blank; 2, mounted frontispiece (plate I); 3, title; 4, copyright, 1985; first edition, 1985; ISBN 0 9589619 0 5; 5, foreword by Mark Oliphant; 6, blank; 7, list of plates; 8-29, plates II-XI (on recto) with facing letter-press (on verso of antecedent plate page); 29-41, drawings; 42-58, plates XII-XIX with facing letter-press; 59, printer designation: Griffin Press Ltd.; designed by Karin Seja, Ian Kidd + Associates. Contains plates I-XIX, most ca. 21 x 16 cm, printed in color half-tone and mounted in black-double ruled frames with verso of leaf containing letter-press for next plate. Also contains approximately 28 unnumbered, uncolored pencil drawings printed in half-tone on 13 pages.
This is a beautifully illustrated book, superbly designed and produced to display the talents of the artist, Jeremy Boot. It won a National Print Award and images from it were selected for a popular wine label. Boot had first captured attention for his art in a collaborative work on Nocturnal birds of Australia with Richard Schodde (1980).
The work seems to be little known outside of Australia. It is listed by Oxford but is not listed by AMNH, BMNH, Cornell, Harvard, LOC, Smithsonian, Trinity and Yale.
The / birds of Sussex 22.6 x 14.7 cm. [a]8b2(-b2)B-2B82C4(-2C4)X4[$1, 2 signed]; 208 ll. Pp. [I-v]vi-xviii[1]2-385[386-390](8, publisher's advertisements). Publisher's blind paneled blue cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Chocolate endpapers. London, R. H. Porter, 1891.
i, Title; ii, printer's imprint: Taylor and Francis; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, preface; viii, blank; ix, introduction; 1, systematic annotated list of 297 species, Haliaeetus albicilla-Mergus albellus; 366, appendix including description of unpublished manuscript by W. Markwick; 375, index of English names; 380, index of scientific names; 385, printer designation; 387 list of (183 accounting for 291 copies) subscribers. Contains: folded, mostly color-printed (some hand-coloring) map by George Philip & Son, London and Liverpool; six unnumbered chromolithographed plates drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans, printed by Mintern Bros., each with original blank thin tissue guard.
This work continued the well published status of Sussex birds that started with a paper read by William Markwick in 1795 and proceeded with Alfred Knox's Ornithological rambles (1855). The present work, while the most comprehensive to its time, was eclipsed in that regard by John Walpole-Bond's magnum opus of 1938.
Borrer extended the list of Sussex birds to 297. Markwick's first list had contained 168 species including domesticated birds. Here, Borrer provides a status report for each species, much of the material being based on his own field work and collecting. The appendix contains numerous interesting quotations from unpublished manuscripts of Markwick that were made available to Borrer and that contribute substantially to the base of reference for following the population of Sussex birds. According to Borrer, he examined these through the courtesy of their owner, a descendent of Markwick. I suppose that this or these manuscripts are the same as the "unpublished manuscript by William Markwich on the birds of Sussex" described by James Harting in The Zoologist, September, 1890.
The colored plates in this book are very handsome.
Wood, p. 250; Zimmer, p. 82. Also listed by Trinity. Unlisted by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale.
A Guide to the / Birds of Western / Africa 24.1 x 16.6 cm. Pp. [1-7]8-832; 416 ll. Original publisher's green cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Endpaper maps. Pictorial dust jacket. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2001. First printing.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, dedications, copyright, publication data; 5, contents; 8, acknowledgements; 9, introduction; 15, climate, topography, habitats; 19, restricted-range species, endemic bird areas; 21, taxonomy; 22, organizations; 23, bird topography; 25, glossary; 32, color plates; 327, species accounts; 781, references; 801, index of scientific names; 815, French names; 824, English names. Contains colored plates 1-147 by Borrow, each with facing letter-press on obverse of antecedent plate and all included in pagination. Also contains two full-page diagrams of bird topography, six unnumbered, uncolored text illustrations including two full-page, six colored text maps in introductory sections and distribution maps for every regularly occurring species.
This handbook-guide hybrid is an archetypal example of modern regional treatises initiated by Christopher Helm, an imprint of A. & C. Black Ltd in London and published by Princeton in the United States. These works distill an enormous amount of information and illustrative material into a single volume, are very competently executed in every respect, and are relatively low-priced. Although the copyright is dated 2001, the book was actually not distributed until March, 2002.
I took a birding trip to Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea that was led by Nik Borrow, who was trained as an artist and taught undergraduate art until deciding to devote himself entirely to leading ornithological trips and to ornithological illustration. I have examined the originals for this book and the color printing, done in Singapore, is reasonably good. The book covers almost 1300 species, for each of which it gives a careful physical description of all plumages with measurements as well as a brief discussion of its habits, of similar species, and of its status and distribution in Africa. The birds are shown in almost 3000 separate colored figures.
Oiseaux de l’Afrique tropicale Two volumes(all published). 28.1 x 19.5 cm. Original gray wrappers printed in gray and red. Volumes XVI and XVII of the Faune de l’Union Française (Ancienne faune de l’empire Français). Published in Paris by the Office de la Recherche scientifique et technique outré-mer.
Première Partei, 1955. 1-1316[$1,2,5,6 signed]; 208 ll. Pp. [1-7]8[9]10-412(4, blank). 1-2, Blank; 3, half-title; 4, blank; 5, title; 6, quotation from Maeterlinck; 7, Préface by Jean Berlioz; 9, avant-propos dated 30 June, 1953; 11, introduction; 23, vegation, botanical zones; 33, distribution of avifauna; 57, systematic treatment, Struthio camelus camelus-Rhynchops flavirostris; 407, systematic index, French names; 411, table of contents; 412, printer designation,: Imprimerie Nationale. Contains uncolored text figures 1-87, mostly line sketches from other works including those by Schoudeten, Chapin and Bannerman.
Deuxième Partei, 1961. 1-11161218[$1,2,5,6 signed]; 194 ll. Pp. (8)421-498(2, blank). 11-12, Blank; 13, half-title; 14, blank; 15, title; 16, blank; 17, avant-propos by J.-J Juglas;18, blank; 421, systematic treatment, Oena capesis capensis-Thripias namaquus saturatus; 757, general bibliography; 759, bibliography for individual colonies; 767, alphabetical index of Latin names for both volumes; 781, alphabetic index of French names for both volumes; 787, systematic index of French names for second volume; 793, table of contents for second volume; 795, list of figures (1-140) for both volumes; 798, printer designation: Imprimerie Nationale. Contains text figures 88-140 and an uncolored folding map inserted before the title page.
Bouet died in 1957 so he was unable to complete this fine handbook which covers only non-passerine species. It contains keys to orders, families, genera and species. For each species there is an original citation; measurements; a description of males and females; distribution; status in west Africa; and a section entitled écologie-étholgie which goes into various aspects of life history.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Boutan, Louis (Marie August)(1859-)
Mission / Scientifique Permanente d’Exploration / en Indo-Chine 12 “Décades” bound in two volumes. 27.2 x 19.0 cm. Contemporary half-morocco with gilt lettering and four raised bands on spine. Marbled endpapers. Hanoi, Imprimerie Typo-Lithographique F.-H. Schneider, 1905-(1908). Bradley Martin copy.
The first volume is labeled on the spine “Décades Zoologiques / Oiseaux”. It contains the entire complement of nine ornithological parts, each of which describes and illustrates 10 species. It is unpaginated save for the introduction and classification. Most of it was written by Boutan, the overall director of the “mission”, but Fabian Giraud wrote the description of one species and A. Menegaux wrote several descriptions alone or with Boutan. Pp. There is a blank leaf followed by two title leaves. The first of these is entitled as above but contains, in addition, Décades Zoologiques / Oiseaux. It does not contain the publisher’s name but is dated Hanoi, 1905 and stamped on the verso with Boutan’s signature and the designation as copy No. 76 with no limitation statement. It could be termed a sectional title leaf. The next title leaf is similar save that it contains, Première Décade and the name of the publisher and the verso is blank. It could be termed a Décade title leaf. Following these title leaves is the introduction and classification section; pp. [1]2-24. This contains 13 instead of 12 leaves because the rectos only of two uncolored plates of characters are included in the pagination. Next is a blank leaf followed by descriptions of 90 species. For each of these, there are two leaves of descriptive text surrounding a colored plate. When the descriptions are very short, the second leaf, though present, may be blank. There is also a final blank leaf. The total number of leaves, exclusive of illustrations save those two that are included in the pagination, and including initial and final blanks, is thus 198. Each species account is accompanied by at least one colored plate and, in seven cases, there is a second colored plate on the verso, so the total of colored plates is 97. In the case of Ardetta sinensis, the included colored plate depicts Ardetta flavicollis and a lithographed slip has been loosely inserted informing us that the colored plate of Ardetta sinensis will follow in a subsequent Décade. According to Ronsil, it never did.
Almost all the colored plates (probably 84 though not all are designated) were done by Dong-ngoc-Quan with the remaining 13 done by a second artist, Phuc. There are single silver print photographs on the versos of two colored plates. The illustrations can be summarized as two uncolored plates of characters included within text pagination and 97 colored plates included with two silver prints on 90 sheets.
The text material for each species comprises a physical description, measurements, biological and geographical observations, synonymy, and an explanation of the plate. The species are arranged in a sequence consistent with the classification. According to information that Ronsil supplies, this is not the order in which they appeared within the individual Décades. According to him, the only “Liste des Oiseaux” was on the back of the Décade wrappers, discarded in the binding of this copy.
The second volume is labeled on the spine “Décades Zoologiques / et Botaniques / Divers”. It contains single blank leaves at the beginning and the end. The first intrinsic leaf is a sectional title as above, save with Mammifères instead of Oiseaux. It is dated Hanoi, 1906 and on its verso is signed by Boutan and listed as exemplaire No. 85 of a tirage (print run) of 250. This is followed by the classification, paginated [1]2-23[24], then a blank and finally 10 species accounts, each with two leaves of text surrounding a plate sheet. Thus, 33 intrinsic leaves i. e. not counting the opening blank of the volume. The plates on 10 sheets include three colored by Dong-ngoc-Quan and 23 silver prints on seven sheets, some attributed to Duport. Boutan wrote the entire section.
Next is the Reptile Décade with a title leaf that is identical to a sectional title leaf save that it lacks the sectional title (Reptiles). It is dated Hanoi, 1906 and signed by Boutan on the verso where it is designated copy 82 of 250. Classification is paginated [1]2-3[4] followed by an intrinsic blank and 10 species accounts each containing the usual two text leaves surrounding a plate sheet. There are eight colored plates by Dong-ngoc-Quan, seven of which contain silver photo insets and an additional four silver prints on two sheets for a total of 24 intrinsic leaves, eight colored plates and 11 silver prints on 10 sheets. Boutan wrote the entire section.
Last comes the single botanical Décade. Its sectional title leaf contains Botaniques instead of Zoologique, is dated Hanoi, 1906, but does not contain the actual sectional subject, Angiospermae or Dicotyledoneae. It is signed on the verso by Boutan and listed as copy 75 of 250. This section is written, however, entirely by Philippe Eberhardt. Introduction and classification paginated [1]2-12 followed by a blank leaf then 10 species accounts comprising two leaves of text on either side of a colored plate by Dang-cao-Doa. This Décade thus contains 28 leaves and 10 colored plates on 10 sheets.
This rare Vietnamese natural history is a remarkable work, entirely produced in a remote area, the fauna and flora of which it is amongst the first to describe. The artwork is particularly interesting since it was done by indigenous artists. The colored plates are basically paintings although I think I can detect a few faint lithographic outlines. They were done on extremely thin tissue-like paper which was then mounted on sturdy stock. The depictions represent an interesting mixture of the primitive and the scientific. It is extraordinary how much has changed since this completely basic work was done. Twenty-five years later, Delacour and Jabouille summarized a much more sophisticated ornithological exploration of the area and one generation after that Vietnam was decimated by war. Vietnam has long ceased to be a remote backwater.
I have never seen anything quite like this work. One senses palpably in it the juxtaposition of primitive and modern cultures. It is truly an exciting item to own. There were 200 or 250 copies of each Décade but the number of complete sets that have survived the destruction of the area must be very small.
BM(NH) Suppl., p.116 (Boutan); p. 504 (Indochina); Bradley Martin #1412, this copy; listed under Bouton (sic), Yale (ornithology only), p. 37 (Boutan); p. 122 (Hanoi). Also listed for Harvard but "wanting" at McGill and unlisted by AMNH, Berkeley, Cornell, LOC, Oxford, Trinity, Zimmer.
Catalogue / des / collections ornithologiques / en vente chez A. Bouvier / 22 Quai des Grands-Augustins, 55 / classification / de G. R. Gray (Hand-list of birds, 1869-71). (from title page, the upper wrapper differs viz: Catalogue / de la / collection ornithologique….)21.5 x 13.3 cm. 142-108114(-114)[$1, signed]; 79 ll. Pp.[1-9]10-152[154-157](1). Original printed gray wrappers with double frame. Paris, chez A. Bouvier, Naturaliste, 1874.
1, Title; 2, call for clients’ desiderata; 3, author’s note indicating that the classification and the enumeration of all speciemens is taken from Gray; 5, contents by family; 9, generic list of available species; 153, printer designation: Paris, Stalin et Labouré, impr.; 154 blank; 155-157, errata; 157, repeat printer designation.
Bovier was a publisher and a dealer in specimens. His inventory as given here comprises around 4000 species and subspecies of the more than 11, 000 enumerated by Gray. Both Ivory-billed and Imperial Woodpeckers are included. The prices are not listed but the interested prospective client is invited to inquire.
Bouvier was the publisher of several very rare late editions (1874-1907) assembled from old sheets and plates of Vieillot’s "Ornithologie Française ou histoire naturelle generale et particulière des oiseaux de France" first published 1823-1826.
As might be anticipated, this catalog is a rare survival. Ronsil, #364. OCLC lists nine copies including ones at AMNH, Harvard and Yale.
Bowdich, Thomas Edward (1791-1824)
An Introduction / to the / Ornithology of Cuvier / for the use of / Students and Travellers 21.7 x 13.2 cm. [A]8B8C8(+C9)D-F8[$1 signed]; 49 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-30[31-32 omitted by printer’s error]33-86(8). Binder’s blue pebbled cloth. Uncut and partially unopened. Paris, F. Smith, 1821.
A1r, Title; A1v, blank; A2r, second title adding “and sold by Treuttel and Würtz, Soho-Square, London. / Price Fifteen Shillings”A2v, blank; A3r, preface; A3v, blank; 1, birds, general comments; 12, classification; F5r, letter-press for plate I; F5v, blank;F6r, letter-press for plate II; F6v, blank; F7r-F8v, index to ornithology. Contains 21 uncolored plates drawn and lithographed by S. Bowdich. One of these is opposite p. 12 where it is designated to be on the plate and concerns the classification of orders of birds. Two others are numbered I and II on accompanying leaves of letter-press. The other 18 plates are unnumbered. Individual figures on the plates are numbered 1-263 and referenced at various places in the text. Four of the plates are folding.
Thomas Bowdich was an explorer of Africa known for establishing rapport with the Ashanti kingdom. He was married to Sarah Bowdich née Wallis. After his premature death of “fever” (?malaria) his wife remarried and became Sarah Lee. The couple knew Cuvier and lived in Paris for some time in order to solicit his patronage and to use his library. Sarah Bowdich was an exceedingly fine artist who later became celebrated as the author of “The Fishes of Great Britain” (1828-1836) of which there were 50 copies, each embellished with 44 watercolors by her. It is the most beautiful book I have ever seen and is reputed to contain outstanding scholarship as well. A short biography of Mrs. Bowdich by Donald deB. Beaver was published in the Archives of Natural History (1999) 26(1): 19-31.
The present scarce work was one of nine that the two young people produced in a very short period in Paris in order to support themselves. There was much interest in classification in natural history during that era and Cuvier had an authoritative reputation so much of their work consisted of presenting his views to an English-speaking audience.
The work is the first published in France to contain lithographs of birds. It shares with William Swainson’s Zoological Illustrations the distinction of being the first work written in English to contain a substantial number of lithographed ornithological illustrations. Oriental Memoirs by James Forbes (1813) contained two hand-colored lithographs of birds.
Trinity, p. 41; Wood, p. 252. Unlisted by Yale and by Zimmer.
Bowdish, Beecher S., Reed, Chester A(lfred)(1876-1912)
Guide to the / birds of New Jersey 8.4 x 14.0 cm. [1-4]5-188. Original publisher’s tan card covers, upper with black printing and color-printed figure of Kentucky Warbler. Published under the Auspices of the New Jersey Audubon Society, (1911).
1, Blank; 2, uncolored photograph of White-breasted Nuthatch; 3, title; 4, copyright 1911 Chas. K. Reed, Worcester, Mass. 5, systematic list of species, Colymbus hoelbelli-Sialia sialis sialis; 177, list of colored illustrations; 179, index of English names. Contains 64 unnumbered, color half-tone illustrations after paintings by Reed and eight uncolored, unnumbered, full-page photographs after Bowdish, Reed and G. E. McColm included in pagination with running text on verso.
This is the first field guide and first pocket guide to the birds of an individual state. The colored figures are taken from the Land Bird volume of Reed’s Bird Guide, the first edition of which was published in 1905. The present work is very much a cut-and-paste job and the colored pictures are printed on pages containing text that covers entirely different species. This is confusing and necessitated the index of colored illustrations.
The text contains a length measurement, a brief description of the birds and, if a breeder, of its nest and eggs, and the status of the species in New Jersey. The book seems to be rare outside the state of New Jersey.
Not listed by Wood, Zimmer. Also unlisted by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, LOC, Melvyl, Smithsonian, Trinity, Yale. OCLC locates two copies.
Reddish Egret 17.5 x 14.5 inches. Original pencil and pastel drawing mounted on acid-free mat. Signed and dated 1975, Whiskey Island, Clayton, New York.
This is an interesting colored drawing of a Reddish Egret in three different characteristic positions. When I looked at it during the auction exhibition it was framed and the signature was hidden under the mat. The only indication of the artist was an undecipherable monogram. The drawing was dynamic and indicated considerable knowledge of feather structure and of the habits of the bird. I was strongly reminded of the colored sketches done by Terrence Shortt for his “Wild Birds of the Americas” (1977). I bought the picture, and when Bob Braun and I removed the frame, we found the name of the artist and the date and location where it was done. I have not heard of the artist but she is clearly talented and has studied a living example of this species.
Brabourne, Lord (Wyndham Wentworth Knatchbull-Hugessen[1855-1915]), Chubb, Charles
The Birds / of / South America ///// Vol. I. 28.3 x 19.3 cm. [a]8b2B-2I82K4[$1, 2 signed]; 262 ll. Pp. [I-v]vi-xix[xx][1]2-504. London, R. H. Porter, (December, 1912, from wrapper).
i, Series title as above; ii, printer designation; London, Taylor and Francis; iii, volume title: A List / of the / Birds of South America; iv, blank; v-vii, introduction dated December 20th, 1912; viii, blank; ix, systematic index (of genera); 1, systematic list of species; 445, alphabetical list (English and Latin); 504, printer designation. Contains folding, color-printed, hand-finished map by Edinburgh Geographical Institute
bound with
Grönvold, H.(enrik)(1858-1940)
Illustrations to / the Birds / of / South America (from wrapper) 28.3 x 20.0 No signatures. Pp. [1-7]8-11[12]; 6 ll. London, John Wheldon & Co., (1915-)1917.
1, series title; The Birds / of / South America / Vol. II. (Plates); 2, blank; 3, volume title; Illustrations / of the / Game Birds and Water Fowl / of / South America; 4, publisher's note by H. Kirke Swann dated Dec. 1916.; 5, description of plates (by Swann); 12, printer designation; London. Geo. Flower "The Bartholomew Presse". Contains hand-colored lithographed plates 1-36 by Bale & Danielsson after Grönvold.
The two works bound in a single volume of half-red morocco with grey buckram sides. Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and third compartment. Original gray printed upper wrapper for text and upper and lower wrappers for part I of the Illustrations… (dated October, 1915) bound in.
This is all that was completed of a series that was to have comprised 16 volumes with 400 colored plates but was abandoned after Brabourne's death in battle in 1915. The systematic list provides an original citation with the accepted Latin name, the English name, and a brief note on distribution for 4,561 species, by far the largest number to have been ascribed to South America up to the time of publication. Some of Grönvold's illustrations had already been completed at the time of Brabourne's death and H. Kirke Swann decided to publish them with a brief note by him on each depicted species. According to the wrapper, the first 19 plates were published in 1915 as Part I of the Illustrations. Part II must have contained the second group of 19 and been issued in 1917, the date on the title page. The wrapper to the Illustrations.. tells us that only 200 sets were printed and gives a price of £2 2s for the first 19 plates (i. e. £4 4s for the complete set). On the external side of the lower wrapper there is a list of Dresser's publications for sale by John Wheldon. The monographs on Bee-eaters and Rollers are both offered at £4 10s.
This work is often found as two volumes. The plates had to be slightly trimmed in order to bind them in the same volume as the text. As one would anticipate, the plates are much scarcer than the text.
Wood, p. 253 (as a single work); Zimmer, pp. 85, 276 (as separate works). The two works listed as one are also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Bragança, D. Carlos de (Charles (Carlos) I, King of Portugal [1863-1908])
Catalogo illustrado / das / aves de Portugal / (sedenterias, de arribaçao e accidentaes) Two volumes. 30.6 x 23.5 cm. Printed card covers. Presented in pictorial board slipcase with title "Aves de Portugal". Facsimile edition printed in an issue of 3000 copies (Lisbon) by Imprensa Nacional-Casa de Moeda, December 1983. (information from rear endpaper of fasciculo II.
Fasciculo I. 50 Unnumbered leaves printed in black and red on recto only. First leaf: title as above. Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional, 1903; second-50th leaves: text including single leaf for each genus designation and two descriptive leaves, one in Portuguese, one in French for species 1-20. Contains plates 1-20, so designated only on facing text leaf, printed in color half-tone on verso only. Note to reader slip between first and second leaves.
Fasciculo II. 48 Unnumbered leaves. First leaf: title as above. 1907. Second -48th leaves: text for species 21-40. Rear endpaper: publication information as above. Contains colored plates 21-40 as designated in facing text.
The work deals with 40 passerines, mainly thrushes and warblers, and provides names in Portuguese, French, Spanish, English and Italian. The brief text, with identical leaves in Portuguese and French, describes the status of the species in Portugal and the date and location of specimens in the author's collection. The artwork, color half-tone reproductions of lithographs, is signed L(?)A and is very good.
Both the facsimile and the original work are uncommon. This facsimile is listed by the British Museum and the Library of Congress. The original work is not listed by Wood or Zimmer but is listed by the British Museum, Oxford, Yale and Trinity. Yale also lists a 2002 edition without any description and the Library of Congress lists a single volume1998 edition with 404 pages.
Braislin, William C(oughlin) (1865-1948)
Ornithologia Americana / a fine collection of books / relating to / the birds of America / formed by / Dr. William C. Braislin / of Brooklyn, N. Y. 23.5 x 15.5 cm. Pp. Two preliminary leaves 1-113[114](2, auction order form). Later half purple buckram and marbled boards by Starr Bookworks. Original brown printed and decorated wrappers included, the upper wrapper mounted on card. New York, Anderson Galleries, 1923 Sale Number 1729, 2, 3 April, 1923.
First preliminary leaf, recto: title; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf, recto, conditions of sale; verso, blank. 1-114, lots 1-875. Contains prices realized added in ink manuscript.
Braislin was a Brooklyn ear specialist, and the author of A list of the birds of Long Island N. Y. published in the Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New York in 1907. He formed two very important book collections, one dealing with Americana, the other with American birds. This is the catalog for the auction of his ornithological books, a remarkable collection that included virtually every publication pertaining to American ornithology save the Audubon folio. There are numerous rarities, some valuable, like Giraud's A description of sixteen new species…, described even then as "excessively rare"($130.00), others not valuable such as Averill's List of birds found in the vicinity of Bridgeport, Connnecticut($1.00). Although there is not a great deal of information about most items, there are numerous titles here that are hard to find anywhere else. The collection also included a good number of important European and fine folio volumes. As usual with old catalogs, the list of prices realized makes for interesting reading.
Braislin, William Coughlin (1865-1948)
A List of the Birds of Long Island, N. Y. (from upper cover) Astract / of the Proceedings of the / Linnaean Society / of / New York Nos. 17-19. 1904-1907. 23.0 x 14.8 cm. Pp. [1]2-136. Original gray printed wrappers. New York, Linnaean Society, 1907.
1, Abstract…year ending March 14, 1905; 10, …March 27, 1906; 22, March 12, 1907; 31, A List of the Birds of Long Island, New York; 101, bibliography; 124, list of members; 128, index. Contains two uncolored unnumbered plates of photographs by C. G. Abbott.
The ornithology of Long Island was first documented by Jacob Giraud in 1844 and the area has remained one of the most thoroughly studied small areas in the United States. Two names dominated Long Island ornithology at the turn-of-the century, William Dutcher and William Braislin, and this publication is the most significant to emerge from their observations. Braislin, a physician, also amassed an exceptionally interesting collection of books concerned with (American) ornithology and the catalogue of their auction by Anderson Galleries in 1923 is extremely illuminating and instructive.
Braislin provides dates and abundance for 364 species in the present work, an important source for later books on the New York City area by Ludlow Griscom (1923) and by John Bull (1964).
This work was issued as part of the Abstract of the Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New York and the publication also provides an interesting insight into that Society whose meetings I attended as a child in the 40s and to which I have belonged since 1967. The membership list in the present work includes two Honorary, 31Corresponding, and 105 Resident members, some of whom were still members when I was a child. The small membership suggests that the press run for this work was probably no more than 200.
Trinity, p. 42; Wood, p. 253. Unlisted in Yale and Ayer catalogues.
(Brandt, Johann Frederick[1802-1879])
Tentamen / monographiae zoologicae generis / Phaëthon
28.5 x 21.5 cm. Text in Latin. 1-4454(-54)[$1, 2 signed]; 19 ll. Pp. [1]2-37(1)([239])(240)-(275)(1). Late 20th century blue, buckram-backed marbled boards. e Commentariis Academiae Scientiarum Petropolitanae (Mémoires VI. Serie Scien. / mathém. phys et nat. T. V.2de part. Sc. Nat.) separatim impressa (St. Petersburg, 1839).
1, title and introduction; 2, characterization of the genus Phaëthon; natural character including description; 6, anatomy; 10, life history and distribution; 13, “Phaëthontum usus”; 14, descriptions of species; 31, doubtful species; 35, explanation of plates. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-IV and uncolored lithographic plate V, all after W. Pape. Plates are designated at the top: “Mémoires VI Serie SC. Nature TIII” and “Brandt Phaëthon”.
This is an offprint or author’s separate containing both original and separate pagination. The article, itself, is here complete, however, the author’s name is not included in the title at the head of the text on page 1.. According to Zimmer (p. 86) the author’s separate contained two preliminary leaves including a title page dated 1839 (the article appeared in 1840)and a preface. The title given by Zimmer was: “spicilegia / ornithological exotica / auctore / Joanne Friderico Brandt Fasciculus I”. Apparently, there were no other fasciculi.
The work is a monograph on the tropic birds. Three are given full specific status and treated quite copiously including synonymy; description with measurements; distribution and nesting information. Five other forms are mentioned but not considered as true species.
Wood, pl 254; Zimmer, p. 86. OCLC locates about 17 copies under the two titles.
Brandt, Johann Friedrich von (1802-1879) (Lippenthin, Bernt, ed.)
Icones avium Rossico Americanarum / tabulae VII, ineditae 31.5 x 27.5 cm. Pp. [1-7]8-70. Grey paper-covered boards with titular printed red frame on upper cover, red lettering to spine. Copenhagen, Scandinavian fine Editions, 1984. Presented in off-white cardboard slipcase with uncolored version of plate I on upper cover. Laid in is a two-leaf promotional brochure.
1, Half-title; 2, Very brief summary; 3, title; 4, ISBN 87-7312-000-6; copyrights for plates and text; plates produced by Farverepro. DK-2500 Valby; 5, contents; 7, introduction; 9, Johann Friedrich von Brandt; 11, literary research; 14, notes on establishments in Russian North America and expeditions after W. Pape of importance to ornithological studies before 1835; 34, remarks on the birds drawn by W. G. Pope for J. F. v. Brandt’s ICones Avium Rossico-Americanarum; 54, concluding remarks; 57, list of references (over 100); 62, index; 68, map; 70, list of figured birds. Contains half-tone colored plates I-VII after W. Pape depicting 49 birds and printed on one side only. There is also an uncolored version of plate I. Also contains uncolored text illustrations 1-10.
This work deals with seven hand-colored lithographs of birds probably commissioned and owned by Brandt in the 1830s and apparently never published. They may have been designated for an unfinished work on Russian (including Alaska) north Pacific possessions.
OCLC locates about 40 examples.
Brandt, Herbert (1984-)(colored illustrations by Brooks, Allan [1869-1946]; Sutton, George Miksch [1898-1982]; Peterson, Roger Tory [1908-1996]; Shortt, Terrence Michael [1911])
Arizona / and its / bird life / A naturalist's adventures with the nesting / birds on the deserts, grasslands, / foothills, and mountains of / southeastern Arizona 25.4 x 19.2 cm. Pp. (2)[v]vi-xvi1-723[724]. Original faux green leather, gilt road runner on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Photopictorial front endpapers, map on rear endpapers with legend on recto of free endpaper. Cleveland, The Bird Research Foundation, 1951.
First leaf: recto, title; verso, copyright; v, dedication to sons; vi, tribute to Harry Oberholser; vii, contents; ix, list of illustrations; xii, the artist contributors; xiii, interoduction; 42, the deserts; 269, the grasslands; 326, the foothills; 477, the mountains; 641, appendix A, nesting birds of southeastern Arizona; 705, B, supplementary list of possibly breeding birds; 708, C, apologia; 709, D, index; 724, credits: printing by Buehler Printcraft Corporation, Cleveland; color plates by The Cleveland Engraving Company. Contains: 19 unnumbered plates after Brooks (9), Peterson (7), Sutton (2) and Shortt (1), printed in color half-tone on one side only with overlying tissue guard containing letter-press, all not included in pagination; 19 unnumbered text line sketches by Sutton (13), Brooks (3) and E. R. Kalmbach (3); and 20 unnumbered, uncolored photographic plates printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination.
Brandt spent eight spring seasons examining birds in southeastern Arizona and found 170 nesting species and subspecies. He describes his first-hand experience with these in Appendix A. In many, or perhaps all of his outings, he was accompanied by a professional ornithologist. In the remainder of the work , he provides rhapsodically much anecdotal detail concerning his adventures in southeastern Arizona. He had previously undertaken expeditions in Texas and Alaska and written Texas bird adventures (1940) and Alaska bird trails (1943) and he selected southeastern Arizona as the most interesting part of the contiguous states to "undertake an ecological and ornithological project covering a considerable landscape and to work that area intensively." He published his books through his own private foundation. The present work makes one want to read a biography of the author.
The collation suggests that this copy lacks a preliminary leaf, probably the half-title.
The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Brandt, Herbert.
Alaska bird trails / adventures of an expedition by / dog sled to the delta of the / Yukon river at Hooper Bay 24.8 x 19.0 cm. Pp. 3 PL, I-XVIII1-464. Original publisher’s brown cloth with linear horizontal blind design, gilt lettering and gilt ornithological vignette on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Upper endpapers with decorative photograph, lower endpapers depicting map of Alaska. Decorative dust jacket with sepia-colored photographs. Cleveland, The Bird Research Foundation, 1943.
First preliminary leaf, recto, half-title; verso, blank; second PL, recto, title; verso, published December 21, 1943; third PL, recto, dedication; verso, blank; I, table of contents; IV, photographic information; V, list of illustrations; VIII, foreword; XIII, introduction; 1-317, text describing journey; 319, appendix containing annotated list of birds (almost 130 species); 455; index including English, generic and specific names of birds. Contains 12 half-tone colored plates (nine after Alan Brooks, three after Edward R. Kalmbach) each with facing tissue leaf containing letter-press; and 28 full-page, uncolored half-tone photographs by Frank Dufresne, Olaus J. Murie and Brandt. The colored and uncolored plates and the tissue leaves all unnumbered, printed on one side only, and not included in pagination. Also contains 21 unnumbered text pen sketches by C. G. Mitchell, J. R. Moodey and L. B. Towle.
This book describes a trip of 850 miles requiring 40 days by dog sled from Fairbanks to Hooper Bay (latitude @ 62o) taken by Brandt and some colleagues. Extensive ornithological studies were carried out at Hooper Bay and much new and interesting information concerning more than 100 species of birds was acquired. The work is attractively illustrated and entertainingly written.
OCLC locates more than 160 copies.
Birds and Trees of North America 30.5 x 44.7 cm. Oblong format. Twelve volumes. The order of these volumes is not indicated, however, the species that they encompass are numbered so that the intended sequence of the volumes can be inferred. The binding is brown half-leather, probably pigskin, and masonite (composition) boards. It was done by Brewer.Cantelmo Co. Inc. / New York City, as indicated on a metal plate at the internal inner margin of the lower cover of each volume. It has been done using three screws as posts and bears no resemblance to anything I have ever seen.
(Volume 1) Unpaginated. Title, Index and introductory leaf, the latter including acknowledgments as well as lists of 14 Patrons and 50 Subscribers including Paul de Kruif and Evan Evans. This leaf is followed by an unexplained, undesignated and unnumbered colored plate depicting stages of plate production of a colored plate of swans and 57 leaves of text corresponding to colored plates of 57 species from which each is separated by a tissue guard. The text for each species is on the recto and the explanatory letter-press for the colored plate of the species is on the verso of each text leaf. In total, 60 leaves and 58 colored plates, the latter mounted on guards and actually four cm shorter than the text leaves.
The numbers in the index correspond to those used in the text and designate numbered colored plates. According to the Yale catalogue, these numbers “..refer to the official number assigned by the American Ornithologists’ Union”. However, in the various volumes, there are several decorative paintings that are neither numbered nor designated in the index. They are, however, included in the plate count that is called for on the title leaf. In addition, they are usually indicated by their captions which may be on the verso of the preceding text leaf or on their own separate tissue guard.
This volume, and only this volume, has a plain gray cardboard leaf between the endpaper and the title leaf. The endpaper is designed to match the brown masonite binding. The upper cover is embellished at its center by a partially carved, painted figure of an Eastern Kingbird. Above this figure is: Bird and Trees / of / North America / Rex Brasher On the lower left of the upper cover, embossed on the leather in gilt is: Grebes / Loons / Puffins / Auklets / Murres / Jaegers / Gulls These designations are, of course, different for each volume. They are not repeated on the title page.
The recto of the title leaf may be described as follows with parentheses used to denote what is specific for each volume: Birds and Trees/ of / North America / Rex Brasher / (Fifty-eight) hand colored plates / Sixty-one species and sub-species of birds / Done in Chickadee Valley near Kent, Connecticut in the year (1932)/ Rex Brasher [signature in ink] On the lower left of the leaf: Edition limited to 500 copies/ of which this is No. 60 On the lower right of the leaf is a four-line poem which is different for each volume. The use of hyphens is not consistent on the various title pages of the different volumes. On the verso of the title leaf: Copyrighted (1932) / Rex Brasher Associates / All rights reserved
The index leaf lists species numbered 1-62 but the numbers 22, 33, 50, 52 and 56 are lacking so only 57 species are actually covered. In addition, four subspecies are also mentioned and illustrated (though not, in this volume, on separate plates) so the total cited on the title leaf of 61 species and subspecies is correct.
Although Brasher anticipated a printing of 500, the number of copies actually produced is thought to be about 100. This volume, dated 1932, was probably the last to be issued and the number of subscribers was far lower than expected, presumably because of the economic depression.
On the leaf following the index, that I have designated “introductory”, Brasher presents a short essay and acknowledges various individuals including Fuertes. He cites Meriden Gravures for the “gravures” which, however, are actually collotypes, Chalfont Paper Company for the paper, and “Alfred Worley and the New Milford Times group” for the printing.
As regards the text, he writes an introduction to each family and then supplies the English and Latin name for each species followed by a variable discourse depending on his personal experience with it. The individual treatment of the species ends with a summary of its distribution in North America. The plates are signed and numbered at the lower left to correspond with the number designating the species. Some throughout the work are dated (1910-1917) on the lower right.
(Volume 2) Upper Cover: Terns / Shearwaters / Petrels / Tropic Birds / Gannets / Cormorants / Pelicans Pp. Title (Sixty-two hand-colored plates / Sixty-four species and sub-species of birds / 1932), Index (includes species numbered 63-128 lacking 68, 76, 78, 83, 84, 85, 90, 97-102, 110, 111, 127 but with 82.1, 86.1, 93.1, 96.1, 105.1, 106.1, 108.1, 114.1 and 115.1 for a total of 59. Also includes five sub-species to yield the value of 64 called for on the title page, and designates 60 leaves including one per species and one for the two subspecies.
There are 62 colored plates including one for each of the 59 species, one devoted to two sub-species of the Double-crested Cormorant, and two fine paintings, the first Magellans of the Air / Arctic Terns (so designated on the verso of the preceding index leaf), the other designated on its tissue guard “Where the blue of the ship on the bluer Wave looks down” and depicting Sooty Terns. Thus, a total of 62 plates and 62 leaves.
(Volume 3) Upper Cover: Ducks / Geese / Swans / Flamingo / Spoonbill / Ibises / Herons Pp. Title (Eighty hand-colored plates / eighty-one species and subspecies of birds / Four species of trees / 1930), Index (includes 72 bird species numbered 129-207 lacking 138, 145, 156, 164, 179, 185, 189, 193, 195 but with 169.1 and 191.1 as well as 10 subspecies [several illustrated on separate plates] for a total of 82 [instead of the eighty-one called for on title page], and 77 leaves of explanatory text.) In the case of the sea ducks, this text includes a running narrative entitled “Let Her Blow Off”. Thus, totals of 79 colored plates and 79 printed leaves.
There are 77 plates for the designated species and subspecies and there are two decorative paintings. The first is unbound but belongs after the index leaf on the verso of which it is designated “Moonlit Haven”. It depicts Whistling Swans illuminated by the moon. The second is designated on its tissue guard as Redbreast Merganser / Courting. Thus, the total of colored plates is 79 rather than 80. There is an unassociated tissue guard labelled: Canvasbacks / Off their Course which presumably represents the missing plate. This putative missing plate remained a mystery to me until March 14, 2001 when I found an item offered on ebay (#1415294937) by "usemegood" and described as an "original signed lithograph of geese flying in formation that was not used in the publication…was never colored,…and was acquired from the remaining family heirs…" The accompanying picture revealed a V-shaped formation of Canvasbacks (not geese) in flight!
(Volume 4) Upper Cover: Rails / Gallinules / Coot / Phalaropes / Snipe / Plovers / Turnstones / Oystercatchers / Jacana Pp. Title (Seventy-six hand-colored plates / Seventy-six species and subspecies of birds / 1930), Index (includes species 208-288 lacking 213, 217, 220, 227, 229, 232, 236, 237, 252, 253, 257, 260, 267, 269, 271, 276, 279, 285 but including 210.1 and 211.2 and 11 subspecies i. e. 65 species and 11 subspecies for a total of 76. These correspond to 74 text leaves and accompanying colored plates.) In additions, as designated on the verso of the index leaf, a decorative painting: Are you sure, Mrs. Coot, that these are our children? And a second decorative painting of Greater Yellowlegs designated on its own tissue guard, A Misty Breakfast / Greater Yellowlegs. Thus, a total of 76 plates and 76 leaves. The text for species 240-245 includes a running narrative in large print entitled Summer Sands. Included in this narrative are six text illustrations, five of which are colored (by hand or airbrush).
(Volume 5) Upper Cover: Quail / Grouse / Turkeys / Guan / Pigeons / Vultures / Hawks Pp. Title (Eighty-one hand-colored plates / Ninety-three species and subspecies of birds / Sixteen species of trees / 1930), Index (includes species 289-348 lacking 290, 336, and 338 but with 302.1 for 57 species. Also lists 35 subspecies for a total of 92 species and subspecies (instead of 93). These correspond to 78 indicated plates and text leaves.) In addition, there are three decorative paintings, Goshawk and Ruffed Grouse / “Right Turn!” as designated on the versoof the index and November Mist/ Bobwhites and Grace and Speed/ Swallowtail Kites as labelled on their tissue guards. Thus, a total of 81 plates and 81 leaves. The index calls for 18, rather than 16, species of trees.
(Volume 6) Upper Cover: Eagles / Falcons / Caracara / Owls / Parrots / Cuckoos / Trogons / Kingfishers / Woodpeckers Pp. Title (Seventy-six hand-colored plates / One hundred and one species and subspecies of birds / Forty-six species of trees / 1931), Index (lists species 349-404 lacking 350, 351, 358, 361, 363 and 368 but with 373.1, 373.2, 379.1 and 382.1 for 54 species. Also lists 48 subspecies for a total of 102 [instead of 101]. These correspond to 75 designated plates and leaves.) In addition, there is one decorative painting, Teamwork / Golden Eagles and Redhead Ducks as designated on the verso of the index. Thus, a total of 76 plates and 77 printed leaves.
(Volume 7) Upper Cover: Woodpeckers / Night Jars / Swifts / Hummingbirds / Flycatchers Pp. Title (Sevety-four hand-colored plates / Eigthty-five species and sub-species of birds / Fifty-five species of trees / 1931), Index (lists species 405-472 lacking 442 and 450 but with 431.1, 440.1 and 469.1 for 69 species and 16 subspecies for a total of 85. Calls for 74 leaves and plates). Altogether, 74 plates and 76 leaves. The text for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird contains a line-drawing.
(Volume 8) Upper Cover: Horned Larks / Magpies / Jays / Crows / Blackbirds / Orioles / Grackles Pp. Title (Sixty-four hand-colored plates / Eighty-four species and subspecies of birds / Forty-seven species of trees / 1931), Index (lists species 474-513 lacking 493, 502 and 512 but with 480.1, 481.1 and 501.1 for 40 species and 44 subspecies for a total of 84. Calls for 63 leaves and plates). There is a decorative painting, “Chestnut Days”, following the index leaf. Thus, altogether, 64 plates and 65 leaves. A running narrative, Edge o’ the Dark, fills much of the text for the subspecies of Horned Lark and species of Jays.
(Volume 9) Upper Cover: Finches / Grosbeaks / Crossbills / Redpolls / Goldfinches / Longspurs / Sparrows Pp. Title (Seventy-eight hand-colored plates / One hundred and nineteen species and subspecies of birds / Forty-seven species of trees / 1932), Index (lists species 514-580 lacking 516, 532, 555, 556, 568, 569 and 577 but with 520.1, 549.1 and 574.1 for 63 species and 56 subspecies for a total of 119. Calls for 77 leaves and plates). An untitled decorative painting of a Purple Finch with a poem in large print follows the index leaf so altogether 78 plates (counting this as a plate) and 79 printed leaves.
(Volume 10) Upper Cover: Sparrows / Tanagers / Swallows / Waxwings / Shrikes / Vireos Pp. Title (Seventy-five hand-colored plates / One hundred eighteen species and subspecies of birds / Sixty-eight species of trees / 1930), Index (lists species 581-634 lacking 582, 590, 603 and 606 but with 591.1, 592.1, 611.1 and 611.2 for 54 species and an additional 64 subspecies giving a total of 118. Calls for 75 leaves and plates). Altogether, 75 plates, 77 leaves. The text for the many subspecies of Song Sparrow includes a running narrative entitled Fair Play.
(Volume 11) Upper Cover: Warblers / Wagtail / Pipits / Dipper / Thrashers
Pp. Title (Seventy-five hand-colored plates / Ninety-two species and subspecies of birds / Forty-two species of trees / 1930), Index (lists species 635-712 lacking 635, 689, 691-695, 698 and 699 but with 682.1 for 70 species and an additional 22 subspecies for a total of 92. Calls for 74 leaves and plates). Additional leaf devoted to general discussion of warblers on recto. Its verso contains title of following decorative painting, Evening-the South and June / A Mocker ‘bove the primrose moon. Altogether 75 plates, 77 leaves. The text for warblers 663-669 includes a running narrative, Spring Long Shore, in large print containing 7 half-tone illustrations and a line drawing.
(Volume 12) Upper Cover: Wrens / Creepers / Nuthatches / Titmice / Wrentits / Kinglets / Gnatcatchers / Thrushes Pp. Title (Sixty-eight life-size hand-colored plates / One hundred and nineteen species and subspecies of birds / Fifty-eight species of trees/ 1929. Also, dedication in manuscript: To the Watkins / Friends and fellow / bird lovers. / Rex Brasher ), Index (lists species 713-768 lacking 714, 716, 742, 750, 760 and 764 but with 719.1 and 723.1 for 52 species and an additonal 67 subspecies for a total of 119. Calls for 67 leaves and plates. The verso of the index leaf contains a fine half-tone decorative stencil and a story.) Additional following leaf blank on recto with verso containing title, February Adventurers, for following decorative painting of Eastern Bluebirds. Altogether 68 plates and 70 leaves.
Although this volume represents the last in the taxonomic sequence of birds, its date and the warm dedication on the title leaf indicate that it was the first to be produced. Much experimentation is evident. The half-tone printing for the colored plates was done by photolithography rather than collotype. There are two text leaves of obviously different paper that contain colored illustrations that have been entirely produced by photo-offset. These are the only examples of coloring in the entire set that are not done by hand or air brush. This volume also contains several examples of decorative initials or initial words, some of which have been colored. There are two running narratives included with the text entitled respectively The Curving Road and Thar’s Ghosts In Them Hills. There is also a fine half-tone text illustration of Bush Tits.
By my reckoning, this work covers 712 species and 382 subspecies (as delineated by Brasher) and contains 879 printed leaves as well as 851 numbered, and 16 unnumbered, colored plates. A minority of the plates are unframed and, in my view, the better for it. My copy has the printed flimsey, but not the actual painting, "Canvasbacks / Off their Course", which was apparently not included in the finished publication; thus, the total of 767 plates in my copy is that usually ascribed to the work. There are also several illustrations in the text including seven that are colored, five by hand. The plates are all colored by air brush and by hand. They are printed from the originals mostly by collotype save for the volumes I have designated 11 and 12 in which they are done by half-tone. These two volumes were the first to be printed although they cover the last species in the taxonomic sequence. There are a few examples of collotype color printing. These usually involve conifer needles, for example, the Black Spruce in plate 581 depicting the Song Sparrow.
The ornithological text is rather scanty except in those instances where Brasher has personal anecdotal material. This text is supplemented by a number of essays and stories. The illustrations are likewise extremely personal and unconventional. Brasher’s notion of showing most Passerine species in a carefully drawn and identified tree is a wonderful innovation. He is not an artist but his big bold figures are straight from the heart and this work is a great achievement in presenting the love and work of a lifetime and is a very great pleasure to possess.
Wood, p. 254 (wanting); Yale, p. 39.
Rex Brasher Painter of Birds A Biography 24 x 16 cm. Pp. 3 preliminary leaves (half title recto, portrait verso, title, a second half title recto, colored plate verso)1-345[346]. Original green cloth. Pictorial endpapers. DJ. Rowman and Littlefield, New York, (1961).
Contains four double-page colored reproductions, two other colored plates (on versos of preliminary leaves) and 12 uncolored plates, mostly photographic. The plates are not included in pagination and some, but not all, are printed on recto only.
This is a biography written by Rex Brasher’s nephew and timed to appear simultaneously with the same publisher’s trade edition of Brasher’s magnum opus.
Trinity, p. 42.
Secrets of the Friendly Woods 205 x 140 mm. Pp. [i-vi]vii[viii]ix-xi[xii][1-2]3-220. Original green cloth, gilt title and design on upper cover and spine. New York & London, The Century Co., 1926.
i, Half-title; iii, title; v, dedication “to the birds of Chickadee Valley...”, ; vii, contents; ix, list of illustrations, ; 1, title; 3, text. Contains 24 uncolored photographic reproductions of drawings by Brasher. These are not included in the pagination. The half-title is on a shorter (142 mm) sheet, contains a fine little picture, which may be a woodcut, that shows a pileated woodpecker flying over an evergreen forest, and is signed by Brasher with the R of Rex transmuted into a pipe smoking face.
This book contains a series of essays about the natural history of Chickadee Valley in Kent, Connecticut, where Brasher lived for many years and from where he published his masterpiece, Birds and Trees of North America. Unlike that work, this one was not published privately. Each essay is accompanied by at least one plate representing an illustrative vignette by Brasher that shows a key incident of the essay in pictorial form. Most of these essays are about birds and the plates have considerable charm.
Yale, p. 39; Absent from LSU, Mengel, Trinity and McGill catalogues.
Birds and Trees of North America, 1929-1932, three largely uncolored prints. Wove paper. 40.5 x 30.5 cm.
First print. Nos. 375 e, f, g depicting dwarf, Labrador and saint Michael horned owls. Framed (35.5x 25. 5 cm). The entire frame with its image and background has been printed in collotype. Because the responsible firm was the Meriden gravure company, these prints are often mistakenly called photogravures. Most of the images in the work were not printed in frames.
Second print. No. 586, texas sparrow and cat claw. The leaves of the plant have been printed in colored collotype, unusual in this work where almost all the coloring was done by air brush and by hand as the remainder of this image would have been.
Third print. Nos. 645a and b depicting nashville and calaveras warblers and Texas elder. This print is unusual for the work because it was printed in half-tone rather than collotype. Half-tone was used for printing the images only in the two volumes containing the last species in numerical (taxonomic) sequence. These were actually the first two volumes printed. The coloring of the half-tone images, not present here, was applied by air brush and by hand.
An Audubon Concordance Migration Through the Plate Numbers Pp. (3, title, copyright, contents)1-122(5, blank). Original spiral loose-leaf binding with printed blue wrappers. American Historical Print Collectors Society, Fairfield, CT, 1999.
1, Preface, acknowledgements; 2, introductions to tables; 4, tables.
This is the ultimate compilation of three editions of Audubon’s Birds of America: the “Havell Edition” or elephant folio, 1827-1838; the first “Octavo Edition”, 1841-1844; and the “Bien Edition”, 1858-1860. The concordance is done through 18 tables. The plates in each edition are listed both alphabetically for Audubon’s assigned name and by number. The plants are listed for each edition by plate number. The plants are also listed by scientific and common English names, each alphabetically. The birds are listed alphabetically for both present common and scientific names; Other images (insects, reptiles etc) are listed by common name; other images are listed by plate number; and first describers of the birds are listed alphabetically.
Bob Braun is an old friend who shares my interest in ornithological books and this particular copy is one of 30 that he, personally, had printed and bound. The work will be printed on demand and sold by the American Historical Print Collectors (sic) Society for $22. Bob is the treasurer of that society. I have no doubt that the concordance will serve as a definitive and useful reference for collectors of prints by Audubon. I am very generously acknowledged on page 1.
Braun, Robert (1927-)
Identifying Audubon bird prints / originals, states, editions, restrikes, / and facsimiles and reproductions 27.9 x21.5 cm. Pp. [1]2-16. Original printed bottle green pictorial wrappers with framed cock turkey on upper cover. American Historical Print Collectors Society, Fairfield, CT, 2001.
1, Title; 2, Copyright, 2001; ISBN 0-9706674-1-8; “Production of this publication was supervised by Chris Lane of the Philadelphia Print Shop. Its content is based on an article in Vol. 21, No. 2 of Imprint, the Journal of the American Historical Print Collectors Society”; 3, text; 15, selected bibliography. Contains color half-tone
This important offprint describes in both words and pictures how to distinguish Audubon prints from various editions including , among others, the Havell, Bien, octavo, Leipzig, Amsterdam, Abeville, Loates and Oppenheimer versions. Details include diagnostic placement of author and engraver names, plate numbers, part numbers, watermarks, etc.
A particular strength and asset of this article is the discussion of how to distinguish among various types of color printing such as hand-colored engraving and aquatint, hand-colored lithography, tintstone lithography, chromolithography, colored collotype and modern color half-tone.
Bree, G(eorge) R(obert) (1811-1886)
A History of the / Birds / of Europe, / Not Observed in the British Isles (from upper cover of wrappers) 25.5 x 15. 8 cm. Original printed gray-blue wrappers with title printed in black on upper cover and advertisements on endpapers and lower cover. London, Groombridge and Son, (1859).
Part VII. O-P4[$1 signed]; 8 ll. Pp. 97-112. Contains text for African Buzzard, Black Kite, Arabian Kite and Black-winged Kite. Contains four unnumbered colored wood-engraved plates, one each depicting African Buzzard, Black Kite and Arabian Kite and the final one showing the eggs of these three species.
Part XI. X4Y4(-Y4)[$1 signed]; 7 ll. Pp. 153-164 (2, text for egg of Sociable Vulture on recto, verso blank). Contains text for Alpine Chough, Sardinian Starling, Great Grey Shrike and egg of Sociable Vulture. Contains colored plate of Alpine Chough, Sardinian Starling, Great Grey Shrike and egg of Sociable Vulture.
The first printing of Bree's work was issued 1859-1863. According to Zimmer, there were at least 59 parts, 16 of which appeared in 1859. There were many later printings of the complete volume and there was a second edition (1875-1876) by a different publisher.
This work was a competently executed and quite comprehensive handbook, far superior to Morris's British Birds which it resembled in format. The illustrations for both were printed by Benjamin Fawcett of Driffield, in my view the most outstanding of all chromoxylographers. The plates for the present work were probably drawn by Fawcett himself although it possible that some, or even all, were done by his great chief draughtsman, A. F. Lydon. These plates look as though they were colored by hand but so superb was Fawcett's technique of printing in color that one cannot be certain. It is hard to imagine that hand-coloring could have been used for the very large print runs and low prices associated with books printed by Fawcett. The present work was issued at one shilling per part.
The text for the Sociable Vulture ends at page 6 of the complete work so this is where the text and plate of its egg belong. However, they first appeared, without pagination, in Part XI as described above and one can identify a first printing by their presence after page 164 instead of after page 6.
Wood, p. 254; Yale, p. 39; Zimmer, p. 87. Trinity doesn't list the first edition.
A History of the Birds of Europe not Observed in the British Isles 24 x 15 cm. 4 Volumes. Contemporary half-morocco, marbled boards and end papers. TEG. London, Groombridge & Sons, 1859, 1860, 1862, 1863. All volumes contain single blank leaves at their beginnings and ends that are not further designated in my description.
Vol. I. [a]4 b4 B-X4Y2 (Y2+1)Z-2A4 2B2 2C4 2D2 2E4 (2E4+1)[$1 signed]; 112 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[v-vii]viii-xv+(1)[1]2-164(2, Egg of the Sociable Vulture)165-206. Contains 44/15 colored plates of birds/eggs.
Vol. II. [A]2 B-D4E2 F-I4K2 L-Q4R4 (R4+1)S-U4X4 (X4-1)Y-2C4 2D2 2E4 (2E4+1)c[$1 signed]; 106 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[1]2-118,117*(Egg of Accentor montanellus)+(1)119-203+(1)203*(Egg of Ixos obscurus, designated for volume I)+(1). Contains 45/16 colored plates including the egg of the Dusky Ixos usually in Volume I.
Vol. III. [[A]2B4C2 D-P4Q2 R-2K4 [$1 signed]; 126 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[1]2-247+(1). “Notice” slip inserted after page 60 and single “Errata” and “To The Binder” slip inserted after page 176. Contains 45/15 colored plates.
Vol. IV. [A]2 B-N4O2 P-2I4 [$1 signed]; 128 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[1]2-250[251, errata for all four volumes]+(1). “Erratum” slip inserted after page 164. Contains 46/12 colored plates.
This is the first issue of the first edition of a work that went through many later issues as well as a second edition by a different publisher in 1875-1876. This issue has many peculiarities and a copy is described in minute detail by Mengel (#365). This copy differs from that one in that the added leaf of text for the egg of the Sociable Vulture is inserted after page 164 where it appeared in the original part (XI) instead of after page 6 where it logically belongs; the added leaf of text and the plate of the egg of the Dusky Ixos is placed at the end of volume II instead of volume I where it belongs; and the preface, dated 1863 as it should be, is none-the-less found in volume I rather than volume IV. This copy was probably bound up (carelessly) from the parts after completion of the publication. Complete copies issued later by the publisher or bound from the parts by knowledgeable binders would have had the added leaves in their logical places rather than where they appeared in the parts.
This was a cheap and popular book as were most of the ornithological publications of Groombridge. The plates, like those for Morris’s British Birds, also originally published by that firm, were printed by Benjamin Fawcett of Driffield. Fawcett was an extraordinary craftsman able to produce enormous numbers of high-quality wood engravings at very little cost. Early in his career, these were colored by hand, however, later he developed superb chromoxylography that can scarcely be distinguished from hand-coloring. Although he had other artists including A. F. Lydon working for him, Fawcett actually drew the birds for the present work which Anker considers to have been printed in color. I believe that I can distinguish elements of hand-coloring and color printing.
Bree was a serious ornithologist and the text of this work is much superior to that of Morris which it was intended to complement. It is in all respects a competently executed handbook.
Anker, #59; Mengel, #365; Wood, p. 254; Yale, p. 39; Zimmer, p. 87. Trinity lacks the first edition.
Brehm, A(lfred)E(duard) (1829-1884)(translated from German by H. M. Labouchere and W. Jesse)
Bird-Life / being a / History of the Bird, its Structure, / and Habits / together with / Sketches of Fifty Different Species 24.0 x 15.4 cm. [a]4b-c4d2B-M4N2O-X4Y4(-Y4)Z-2K42L2(-2L2)2M-2X42Y2Z-3I43K4(-3K4)3L-3U43X23Y-5K45L25M-6A46B2[$1 signed]; 463 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xxvi(2, title leaf to part I)[1]2-898. Contemporary quarter-leather. London, J. van Voorst, 1874
1, 2, Blank (? Intended to be half-title); iii, title; iv, blank; v, dedication to his father, Christian Ludwig Brehm; vi, blank; vii, contents; xi, list of (colored) plates; xii, blank; xiii, preface to the translation; xv, preface to the second edition; xvi, blank; vvii, extract from preface to the first edition; xix, introduction; 1, text; 889, index; 898, errata. Contains 11 unnumbered, partially colored and tinted lithographic plates drawn and lithographed by Keulemans and printed by M. & N. Hanhart, imp., and 11 unnumbered, uncolored woodcut plates by Giacomelli, all not included in pagination or signatures.
This work was published in nine parts between 1871 and 1874. It is a translation of the second edition of Das Leben der Vögel by Brehm which appeared in 1867. The first edition of this well known German book was issued in 1861. The book consists of a series of essays, some devoted to major aspects of ornithology such as structure, courtship, breeding, migration etc. and others devoted to quite comprehensive sketches of individual species. Amongst the more interesting of the latter is the Great Auk. The work is written at a popular level.
The illustrations are interesting and those by Keulemans were commissioned specifically for this book. They are unusual in that they are tableaux as opposed to portraits and in this sense closely anticipate and resemble those which he did 30 years later for Oort's Het Vogeljaar. The tinted lithographic plates are printed in the style of P. W. M. Trap and are decidedly atypical for the firm of the Hanharts. I believe I recognize the woodcut plates as a selection of those after Giacomelli that first appeared in the 1867 edition of L'Oiseau by Jules Michelet.
Trinity, p. 43; Wood, p. 255; Yale, p. 39. Zimmer lists only the German volume.
(Brehm, A.[lfred] E.(dmund][1829-1884])
Brehhm's / Thierleben / allgemeine Kunde des Thierreichs / Zweite umgearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage / Kolorirte Ausgabe / Zweite Abtheilung-Vögel from general title page. Three volumes. 25.2 x 17. 6 cm. Later binder's green cloth with gilt rules and lettering on spine. Leipzig, Verlag des Bibliogaphischen Instituts, 1882.
Erster Band: / Papageien, Schwirrvögel, Spechte, und Raubvögel. (from section title page) π81-2838(+1, 39)4-478482(-482)[$1, 2 signed]; 385 ll. Pp. [I-VII]VIII-XIV[1]2-34(2)35-754. I, series half title: Brehm's Thierleben; II, blank; III, series title; IV, rights statement; V, section title: Die Vögel; VI, blank; VII, contents; XIII, list of illustrations; 1, ein Blick auf das Leben der Gesammtheit; 39, Vorbemerkung zu Brehm's Thierleben, Chromo-Ausgabe; 35, erste Reihe. Die Hochvögel (Volucres); 37, erste Ordnung. Die Papageien (Psittacini); 172, zweite Ordnung. Die Leichtschnäbler (Levirostres); 412, dritte Ordnung. Die Schwirrvögel (Stridores); 452, vierte Ordnung. Die Spechtvögel (Pici); 517, zweite Reihe. Die Fänger (Raptatores); 519, fünfte Ordnung. Die Raubvögel (Acciptres); 737, index of German and Latin names; 754, printer designation: Druck vom Bibliographischen Institut in Leipzig. Contains 17 unnumbered chromolithographed plates and 140 unnumbered text wood-engravings.
Zweiter Band: / Raubvögel, Sperlingsvögel und Girrvögel. π81-438446; 358 ll. Pp. [I-VII]VIII-XVI[1]2-699[700]. 1, series half-title; II, blank; III, series title; IV, rights statement; V, section title; VI, blank; VII, contents; XV, list of illustrations; 1, Raubvögel (Accipitres)111, dritte Reihe. Die Sperlingsvögel (Passeres); 113, sechste Ordnung. Die Sperlingsvögel (Passerinae); 621, siebente Ordnung. Die Girrvögel (Gyratores); 667, index; 700, printer designation. Contains 20 colored plates, 206 text figures.
Dritter Band: / Scharrvögel, Kurzflügler, Stelzvögel, Zahnschnäbler, Seeflieger, Ruder- / füssler, Taucher. π81-428; 344 ll. Pp. [I-VII]VIII-XVI[1-3]4-671[672]. 1, series half-title; II, blank; III, series title; IV, rights statement; V, section title page; VI, blank; VII, contents; XV, list of illustrations; I, vierte Reihe. Die Laufvögel (Cursores); 3, achte Ordnung. Die Scharrvögel (Rasores); 191, zehnte Ordnung. Die Stelzvögel (Grallatores); 437, fünfte Reihe. Die Schwimmvögel (Natatores); 439, elfte Ordnung. Die Zahnschnäbler (Lamellirostres); 518, zwölfte Ordnung. Die Seeflieger (Longipennes); 578, dreizehnter Ordnung. Die Ruderfüssler (Steganopodes); 605, vierzehnter Ordnung. Die Taucher (Urinatores); 643, index; 672, printer designation. Contains 18 colored plates, 96 text illustrations.
These volumes 1-3 of the bird section correspond to volumes 4-6 of the series, having been preceded by three volumes on mammals. The entire set comprised 10 volumes. The first edition of Brehm's Thierleben was completed in 1869, the second in 1880, the third in 1893, and the fourth and last, in 1911. There were no colored plates until this, the second issue of the second edition. A notice inserted between pages 34 and 35 of the first volume explains the publisher's hopes and expectations as regards the colored plates. Unfortunately, their reproduction by color-printing proved too expensive and they were reduced in number from 55 here to 29 in the third edition. They were increased substantially in the last edition because they were reproduced photomechanically. This later issue of the second edition is, therefore, the most desirable from the print perspective. In my description above, I characterized these plates as chromolithographs but some of them may have been done by a more complicated process such as that used for Cassell's Book of Birds. Some appear to have involved the use of both wood and stone in their production. They are interesting and attractive prints that became popular in the United States when they were copied by Prang and used for Animate Creation.
Brehm's Thierleben is an amazing production that is not nearly so well recognized as it deserves. Its text and pictures appeared in contemporary works of all countries including Animate Creation, Cassell's Book of Birds, La Vie des Animaux etc. It is amongst the most authoritative, comprehensive and beautiful of zoological encyclopedias and for many years, was the standard of its genre.
The bird section was written entirely by Brehm. It is quite extraordinary, comprising more than 2000 pages and touching on every known Genus and most species. The text illustrations are just as impressive as the colored plates and the task of soliciting and arranging for the full complement of 442 must have been staggering. The two major artists were Robert Kretchmer (1818-1872) with whom Brehm had become friends during an expedition in Africa and Gustav Mützel (1839-1893) with smaller contributions by Ludwig Beckmann (1822-1902), Anton Goering (1836-1905) and Christian Kröner (1838-1911). The very highly regarded Wilhelm Kühnert (1865-1926) achieved much recognition for his work in later (third and fourth) editions of this work.
Alfred Brehm, a prodigious traveler and writer, was the son of Christian Ludwig Brehm (1787-1864), an influential member of the German ornithological establishment during the first half of the 19th century.
This edition listed by AMNH, Cornell, Yale.
(Brehm, Alfred Edmund [1829-1884])
(Brehm’s Tierleben, Russian adaptation in Cyrillic) Three volumes (complete). 24.8 x 17.7 cm. Contemporary red-brown half-morocco and green cloth. Marbled edges. St. Petersburg.
Volume 1. 1904. Mammals. [I]8II4 (-II4)1-538 544 (-544 )X2 [$1, 2 signed]; 440 ll. Pp. [I-VII]VIII[IX]X-XVIII[XIX]XX-XXI[XXII][1-3]4-853[854](4, publisher’s catalog). I, Half-title; II, series title; III, volume title; V, (publisher’s?) note; VII, (editor’s?) note; IX, contents; XIX, illustrations; 1, text; 846, index of Russian names; 851, index of Latin names. Contains 10 chromolithographic and 16 uncolored plates not included in pagination and 221 text figures, all unnumbered though listed.
Volume 2. 1903. Birds.[I]8II4(-II4)1-558X2 [$1, 2 signed]; 453 ll. Pp. [I-V]VI-XVIII[XIX]XX-XXI[XXII][1-34-880(4, publisher’s catalog). I, Half-title; II, series title; III, volume title; V, contents; XIX, illustrations; 1, text; 871, index of Russian names; 876, index of Latin names. In an unusual type of printer’s error, the first pages of the Russian and Latin names have been exchanged. Contains 10 chromolithographs, 19 uncolored plates and 225 text illustrations.
Volume 3. 1903. All other animal phyla.[I]8II8 III6 1-668676 (-676 )X2 [$1, 2 signed]; 557 ll. Pp. [I-V]VI-XXXVIII[XXXIX]XL-XLIII[XLIV][1-3]4-1066(4, publisher’s catalog). I, Half-title; II, series title; III, volume title; V, contents; XXXIX, illustrations; 1, reptiles; 199, amphibians; 255, fish; 477, insects; 765, Myriapoda and Arachnoidea; 811, Crustacea; 851, Vermes; 901, Molluscoidea; 909, Tunicata; 917, Mollusca; 999, Echinodermata; 1011, Coelenterata; 1037, Protozoa; 1053, index of Russian names; 1060, index of Latin names. Contains 10 chromolithographic and 16 uncolored plates, 713 text illustrations and a double-page colored (both printed and by hand) map.
This is a Russian adaptation of the third edition of Brehm’s Tierleben that was published in Leipzig in ten volumes, 1890-1893. The work is one of the most beautifully illustrated general natural histories with the bird and mammal art by Mützel, Specht, Kretschmar and Kuhnert. Kuhnert’s plates first appeared in the third edition and they are particularly beautiful, accounting for eight and three of the chromolithographed animal and bird plates, respectively. The other bird plates were continued from the second edition. They are absolutely identical to those in my second edition so that I can say with reasonable certainty that they were imported from Germany, not chromolithographed in Russia, even though they have Cyrillic designations.
The effort involved in condensing this work of ten German volumes into three Cyrillic and then reformatting the pages to accommodate the huge number of beautiful woodcuts must have been staggering. I should love to learn something about the production of this rare edition, which is unlisted in Western bibliographies.
Brenchley, Julius L.(ucius)(1817-1873)
Jottings / During the / Cruise of H. M. S. Curaçoa / among / the South sea Islands / in 1865 24.2 x 17.4 cm. π8(-π1[?])a4b2B-HH8II4[$1, 2 signed]; 257 ll. Pp. [iii-v]vi-xxviii[1]2-487[488]. Contemporary maroon half morocco and pebbled cloth. Spine with five gilt-ruled and decorated raised ridges. Gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments, gilt design in other four. Marbled endpapers. Differently marbled edges. London, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1873. Bradley Martin copy.
Lacking half-title(?); iii, Title; iv, blank; v, preface written by "friend" after Brenchley's death; xvii, contents; xxiii, list of engravings; xxv, list of lithographed natural history illustrations; xxviii, erratum; 1, Norfolk Island; 17, Niue or Savage Island; 36, Samoan group; 88, Tonga group; 143, Fiji group; 193, New Hebrides; 233, Vanua-Lava-Banks' Islands; 243, Santa-Cruz Island; 248, Solomon group; 294, Eramanga-New Hebrides; 323, New Caledonia-Loyalty Islands;353, natural history notices: birds by G. R. Gray; 395, reptiles by Albert Günther; 409, fish by Albert Günther; 431, shells unattributed. (? "Dr Baird"); 455 insects unattributed (? "Smith"); 475, index; 487, printer designation: (London) Spottiswoode and Co. Contains folding chromolithographed frontispiece by M. & N. Hanhart of a decorated beam and chromolithographed plate by Mintern Bros. of a village hall, both unattributed and unnumbered. Also contains eight full-page wood-engraved plates of scenes printed on a single side and neither numbered, nor included in pagination as well as 36 unnumbered, uncolored text engravings. Plates 1-50 concern natural history and are all lithographs by Mintern Bros.: 1-21, birds, hand-colored after J. Smit; 22-25, reptiles, uncolored, after G. A. Ford; 26-35, fish, five uncolored, five chromolithographed after Ford; 36-42, shells, chromolithographed after Ford; 43-50, insects, hand-colored after Ford (3) and A. G. Butler (5). In summary 14 chromolithographed plates; 29 hand-colored lithographed plates; nine uncolored lithographed plates; eight uncolored wood-engraved plates; and 36 engraved text illustrations.
Brenchley was an adventurer and an explorer who was invited by Sir William Wiseman, the commander, to join this expedition which sailed from Sydney for the purpose of "displaying the British flag" in various interesting places including New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands. Various experts wrote the specific section on natural history. Only the rare or new objects of natural history were discussed. G. R. Gray did the ornithological section and, according to Zimmer, the original descriptions of the birds with which he deals, had been published previously in various places. It was certainly not unusual to publish brief reports laying claim to various species before summarizing the results of an expedition in a book. The quality of the art in this work is very high.
Wood, p. 256; Zimmer, p. 92. Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Brewer, T(homas) M(ayo) (1814-1880)
Wilson's / American Ornithology, / with Notes by Jardine: / to which is added / A Synopsis of American Birds, / including those described / by / Bonaparte, Audubon, Nuttall, and / Richardson; 18.9 x 12.0 cm. A41-626632(-631)[$1, 3 signed]; 377 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-viii1-746. Original publisher's green morocco (spine faded to brown) with blind ornamental paneling, central gilt design on upper cover, richly gilt ornamental spine with gilt lettering. Gilt dentelles, moiré end papers. AEG. Blindstamp Bradley Binder on front free endpaper. Boston, Otis, Broaders and Company, 1840.
i, Printed title page; ii, copyright, printer's designation; iii, advertisement (preface); v, contents; 1, text with species in the same unsystematic order as Wilson's original edition; 682, synopsis of the birds of North America (listing 491 species in systematic order). Contains additional, engraved, illuminated title page and 24 (of 25) unnumbered, engraved hand-colored plates containing figures 1-38, 53-315 (lacking plate containing figures 39-52). Also contains two unnumbered, uncolored text woodcuts and uncolored text woodcuts 316-318 and 322 (printer's error, should be 319).
This was an important book in its day, the first American edition of Wilson that was small format (third American edition after the first two folios) and available at a price affordable to the general public. The illustrations were much reduced and combined to compress the number of plates from Wilson's original 76 to 25. Brewer followed Jardine in using Wilson's original haphazard order of species rather than the systematic arrangement that had been adapted for the second American (Ord) edition. However, Brewer did add a systematic list as the synopsis at the end that he adapted from Audubon's synopsis. Furthermore, he included information not present in the original Wilson from the works of Bonaparte, Audubon, Swainson and Richardson, and Nuttall. Jardine had included some, but not all of this material. Brewer omitted the section on the life of Wilson which had been included in earlier American and British editions.
The Brewer edition is a common book, present in all major libraries and collections. However, the present copy is apparently one of a very small number that was issued with a special binding and with the plates colored. My friend Bob Braun has an identical copy. Amongst the major libraries and collections, the only one that contained a colored copy was the Gallatin collection. This de luxe issue is lacking from the libraries of the AMNH, BM(NH), Cornell, LSU, McGill, Oxford, Trinity and Yale as well as the Ayer, Braislin, Evans and Thayer collections and may be bibliographically unrecorded.
Brewster, William (1851-1919)
Birds of the Cape region of Lower California 24.2 x 15.8 cm. π1-15816[$1 signed]; 122 ll. Pp. (2) [1]2-241[242]. Original printed olive wrappers with title leaf reprinted on upper cover and with other Museum publications listed on lower cover. Uncut and unopened. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College Vol. XLI, No. 1. Cambridge, printed for the Museum, September, 1902.
Preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, blank; 1, introduction; 13, systematic notice of birds: Colymbus nigric olliscalifornicus-Merula migratoria propinqua; 219, list of new species (1) and subspecies (3); 220, bibliography (about 70 references); 229, index of English, generic and specific names; 242, legend for map. Contains a black and white folding map of Lower California and adjacent regions.
Brewster sent Abbott Frazar to Lower California in 1887 and uses the 4,400 specimens collected by Frazar as the basis for this work which he supplements with published information from other sources. He lists 167 species and an additional 88 subspecies, provides a citation for their first local occurrence, and summarizes their distribution in lower California. Much attention is played to minor geographical variations.
Wood, p. 256. Also listed by Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by AMNH, Cornell, Zimmer. OCLC locates 28 copies.
The Birds of the Cambridge Region of Massachusetts 27.8 x 21.6 cm. Pp.[1-3]4-6[7]8-84[85]86-396[397]398[399-401]402-426. Contemporary half red morocco with marbled boards and endpapers, gilt spine with five raised ridges by McNamee of Cambridge. TEG, others uncut. Original gray printed wrappers included. Cambridge, Nuttall Ornithological Club, July, 1906. Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club No. IV. Contains three uncolored maps and four plates (three uncolored and a chromolithograph by B. Meisel of Boston after Fuertes.)
1, Title; 3, preface;7, introduction; 85 annotated list; 397, additional notes; 399, explanation of plates; 401, index. A special copy with a complimentary slip and a warm inscription on a binder’s blank leaf to Walter Deane dated August 14th, 1906. Also laid in are two four-page letters from Brewster to Deane dated Cambridge, June 20th, 1906 and Concord, October 7, 1907. Deane is singled out for praise in the preface to the work and was evidently an assistant and colleague to Brewster.
William Brewster was a major figure in ornithological Americana, a founder and long-time president of the Nuttall Ornithological Club and a founder and president of the American Ornithologists’ Union as well as a highly regarded author of popular works on local natural history. The Brewster Award, established in his honor by his friends after his death, is given biennially to the author of the most important work to appear during that time on birds of the western hemisphere.
This work has always been regarded as one of the finest analyses of the historical trends and contemporary ornithology of a small area, a kind of American equivalent to Gätke’s treatise on Heligoland. According to Brewster, the avifauna of Cambridge has probably been better studied than that of any other comparable area in the United States beginning with the field work of Nuttall and continuing with the efforts of many Harvard students. The work describes virtually every blade of grass for the Cambridge of its time and gives dates, abundance, special records and historical data for the 248 species encompassed by the annotated list.
Mengel, #375; Trinity, p. 44; Wood, p. 256; Yale, p. 212 (Nuttall Ornithological Club); Zimmer, p. 93.
Brightwell, C.(ecilia) Lucy (1811-1875)
Difficulties overcome / scenes in the life of / Alexander Wilson / the ornithologist 16.4 x 10.5 cm. [a]2b2B-L8χ8[$1 signed]; 92 ll. Pp. (4)i-iv[1]2-160[12]22-162. Original publisher’s purple cloth with two blind frames and blind decorations on both covers. Yellow endpapers, the upper one apparently lacking with blank side of frontispiece in its place. London, Sampson Low, Son, and Co., 1861.
a1r; a1v, uncolored, wood engraved frontispiece by Charles Keene; a2r, title; a2v, blank; i, contents; 1, text; 160, printer designation: Thomas Richards, Printer, London; 12, list of publications, Sampson Low, Son and Co., dated 1 November, 1868. Contains uncolored frontispiece, head and tail pieces and decorative initial letters for 11 chapters.
This is an early biography of Wilson. The author wrote several other biographies including one on Linnaeus.
The work is rare. OCLC locates only seven copies.
Catalogue / of the / birds / in the / British Museum 27 volumes. 22.0 x 14.0 cm. Blind paneled plain brown cloth. Spine ruled into five compartments with gilt lettering in second and fourth. Yellow endpapers with bookplate of Watkinson Library. London, printed by order of the Trustees.
Volume I. 1874. Catalogue / of the / Accipitres, / or / diurnal birds of prey, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe (1847-1909). π8(-π8)B8C-D4E-2I8[$1, 2 signed]; 247 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xiii(1)[1]2-479[480]. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Endpapers renewed. i, Series title page with year; ii, blank; iii, volume title page; iv, printer designation: Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street; v, preface b J. E. Gray, Keeper of the Department of Zoology, dated June 1, 1874; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue including specific accounts, Vultur monachus-Polioaetus humilis, comprising 377 species; 455, addenda; 461, alphabetical index of specific names and of genera; 479, printer designation; 480, list of plates. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-XIV displaying 21 species designated Keulemans del., all designated Mintern Bros. lith.; about 57 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations depicting heads, feet, or both. Plates are bound together in a section at the end.
Volume II. 1875. Catalogue / of the / Striges, / or / nocturnal birds of prey, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. [a]4b2B-U8X4Y8(-Y8); 169 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xi(1)[1]2-325[326]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Albert Günther dated Dec. 1875; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue including specific accounts, Ketupa ceylonensis-Phodilus badius, comprising about 190 species; 311, addenda; 317, alphabetical index; 325, printer designation; 326, list of plates. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-XIV displaying 21 species designated Keulemans del., 12 designated Mintern Bros. imp., two Mintern Bros. lith.; about 35 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts of different species.
Volume III. 1877. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Coliomorphae, / containing the families / Corvidae, Paradiseidae, Oriolidae, Dicruridae, and / Prionopidae. / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. [a]4b4(-b4)B4C-Z8; 179 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xiii(1)[1]2-343[344]. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Endpapers renewed. i, Series title page; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Albert Günther dated June, 1877; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Trypanocorax frugilegus-Euryceros prevosti, comprising 367 species; 327, appendix (alterations and additions); 329, alphabetical index; 343, printer designation; 344, list of plates. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-XIV designated Keulemans del., Mintern Bros., imp.; about 49 text woodcuts including those of Dissemurus, numbered 1-11;
Volume IV. 1879. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Cichlomorphae: part I. / containing the families / Campophagidae and Muscicapidae / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. π8B4C-2G82H42I-2K8; 256 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvi[1]2-494[495](1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Albert Günther dated March, 1879; vi, blank; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Cochoa viridis-Cassinia semipartita comprising 539 species; 469, addenda; 474, alphabetical index; 494, printer designation; 495, list of plates. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-XIV displaying 24 species designated J. G. Keulemans. Mintern Bros. imp.; about 56 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts, some displaying two parts.
Volume V. 1881. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Cichlomorphae: part II. / containing the family / Turdidae / (warblers and thrushes) / by / Henry Seebohm (1832-1895). π10B-2D82E42F2; 224 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvi[xvii](3)[1]2-426[427](1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated Jan. 14, 1881; vi, blank vii, introduction; xiii, systematic index; xvii, errata; unpaginated blank leaf; 1, catalogue, Sylvia nisoria-Saxicola bottae, comprising 344 species; 403, addenda; 407, alphabetical index; 426, printer designation; 427, list of plates. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-XVIII displaying 19 species; 16 plates designated J. G. Keulemans del., two plates designated J. Smit del., all plates designated Mintern Bros. imp. 13 unnumbered woodcut text illustrations each depicting one to three body parts.
Volume VI. 1881. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Cichlomorphae: part III. / containing the first portion of the family / Timeliidae / (babbling-thrushes). / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. π8(-π8)B-2D82E4(-2E2); 218 ll. Pp. [i-vii]vii-xiii(10[1]2-420[421](1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated Dec. 1881; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Aegithina viridissima-Sericulus melinus, comprising 407 species; 397, addenda; 405, alphabetical index; 420, printer designation; 421, list of plates. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-XVIII displaying 25 species, all designated J. G. Keulemlans del. Mintern Bros. imp.; about 51 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts, some depicting more than one.
Volume VII. 1883. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Cichlomorphae: part IV. / containing the concluding portion of the family / Timeliidae / (babbling thrushes) / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. π8B-2U82X-2Z43A2; 358 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvi[1]2-698[699](1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated July 1, 1883; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Turnagra crassirostris-Ephthianura albifrons, comprising 687 species; 671, addenda; 675, alphabetical index; 699, list of plates. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-XV displaying 18 species, all designated J. Smit, del. et lith. Mintern Bros. imp.; about 40 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts, some depicting more than one.
Volume VIII. 1883. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Cichlomorphae: part V. / containing the families / Paridae and Laniidae / (titmice and shrikes) / by Hans Gadow, Ph. D (1855-1928). [a]4b2c2(-c2)B-2A82B42C6(-2C6); 200 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xiii(1)[1]2-385[386]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated June 28, 1883; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Parus sultaneus-Hypositta corallirostris, comprising 367 species; 367, addenda; 371, alphabetical index; 385, printer designation; 386, list of plates. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-IX displaying 12 species, all designated J. Smit del. et lith. Mintern Bros. imp.; about 25 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts of different species, each depicting one to four anatomical parts.
Volume IX. 1884. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Cinnyrimorphae: / containing the families / Nectariniidae and Meliphagidae / (sun-birds and honey-eaters) / by Hans Gadow,M. A., Ph. D. [a]4b2B-T8U-Y4; 162 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xiv[1]2-310[311](1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated February 11, 1884; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Neodrepanis corruscans-Pycnopygius stictocephalus, 333 species; 291, addenda; 295, alphabetical index; 310, printer designation; 311, list of plates. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-VII displaying nine species, all designated J. Smit del. et lith. Mintern Bros. imp.; about 28 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts of different species, some depicting two parts.
Volume X. 1885. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Fringilliformes: part I. / containing the families / Dicaeidae, Hirundinidae, Ampelidae, / Mniotiltidae, and Motacillidae / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. [a]4b4(-b4)B-2U82X6(-2X6); 348 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xiii(1)[1]2-682. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated March 9, 1885; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Hemignathus obscurus-Macronyx ameliae, 448 species; 630, addenda; 655, alphabetical index; 679, explanation of plates; 682, printer designation. Contains: hand-colored lithographic plates I-XII displaying 25 species, some with heads of different variants, all designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith. Mintern Bros. imp.; about 66 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts of different species, some depicting more than one view.
Volume XI. 1886. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Fringilliformes: part II. / containing the families / Coerebidae, Tanagridae, and Icteridae. / by / Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913). [a]8b2(-b2)B-2D82E-2F4; 225 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvii(1)[1]2-431(1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated May 7, 1886; vi, blank; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Diglossa baritula-Aphobus chopi, 575 species; 409, alphabetical index; 429, explanation of plates; 431, printer designation. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-XVIII displaying 27 species, all designated J. Smit del. et lith. Mintern Bros. imp.; about 33 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of structures of different species, some depicting as many as five structures from the same species.
Volume XII. 1888. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Fringilliformes: part III. / containing the family / Fringillidae. / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. π8B-3G83H4; 444 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xv(1)[1]2-871[872]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated 6 Jan., 1888; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Geospiza magnirostris-Gubernatrix cristata, 559 species; 817, addenda; 841, alphabetical index; 871, printer designation; 872, list of plates. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-XVI displaying 22 species, 12 designated W. Hart del. et lith., four J. G. Keulemans del. et lith. all Mintern Bros. imp.; about 53 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of anatomical parts of different species, some depicting more than one part.
Volume XIII. 1890. Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Sturniformes, / containing the families / Artamidae, Sturnidae, Ploceidae, Alaudidae. / also the families / Atrichiidae and Menuridae / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. π8(-π1)B-2X82Y8(-2Y8)X4; 362 ll. Pp. [iii-ix]x-xvi[1]2-701[702][12]22-82. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Endpapers renewed. Lacking Series title leaf; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated May 14, 1890; vi, blank; vii, introduction; viii, blank; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Artamis leucogaster-Menura alberti, 601 species and subspecies; 664, addenda; 673, alphabetical index; 701, printer designation; 702, list of plates; 12-82, selected list of natural history publications of the Trustees of the British Museum bound after plates; 82, printer designation. Contains: colored plates I-XV including 10 hand-colored lithographic, five chromolithographic, eight designated J. Smit del et lith., seven designated Peter Smit del. et lith., 10 designated Mintern Bros. imp., five designated Mintern Bros. chromo; about 45 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations.
Volume XIV. 1888. . Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Oligomyodae, / or the families / Tyrannidae, Oxyrhamphidae, Pipridae, Cotingidae, / Phytotomidae, Philepittidae, Pittidae, / Xenicidae, and Eurylaemidae / by / Philip Lutley Sclater [a]8b2B-2G82H-2I42K8; 258 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xix[xx][1]2-494[495](1). Notice regarding delayed appearance of volume XIII tipped in before series title; i, series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated May 17, 1888; vi, blank; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; xx, errata; 1, catalogue, Agriornis livida-Cymborhynchus affinis, 665 species; 471, alphabetical index; 494, printer designation; 495, list of plates. Contains: colored plates I-XXVI displaying 30 species, all designated J. Smit del. et lith., 12 chromolithographic and designated Mintern Bros. Chromo lith., 14 hand-colored lithographic and designated Mintern Bros. imp.; about 30 text woodcut illustrations of structures in different species, many with several structures per species.
Volume XV. 1890. . Catalogue / of the / Passeriformes, / or / perching birds, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Tracheophonae / or the families / Dendrocolaptidae, Formicariidae, ; Conopophagidae, and Pteroptochidae. / by / Philip Lutley Sclater [a]8b2(-b2)B-2A82B2X4;199ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvii[xviii][1]2-371[372][12]22-82. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated March 7, 1890; vi, blnak; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; xviii, corrigenda; 1, catalogue, Geobates poecilopterus-Triptorhinus paradoxus, 531 species; 353, alphabetical index; 371, printer designation; 372, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications; 82, printer designation. Contains chromolithographic plates I-XX displaying 20 species, all designated J. Smit del. et lith., 18 designated Mintern Bros. Chromo., two designated Mintern Bros. imp. (despite being chromolithographs; about 25 text woodcut illustrations of structures in different species, some with several structures per species.
Volume XVI. 1892. Catalogue / of the / Picariae / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Upupae and Trochili, / by / Osbert Salvin 1835-1898). / Coraciae, / of the families / Cypselidae, Caprimulgidae, Podargidae, and / Steatornithidae, / by / Ernst Hartert. π8B-2Y8A8X; 369 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xvi[1]2-703[704][12]22-172[182]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated June 12, 1892; vii, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Upupa epops-Steatornis caripensis, 687 species; 655, addenda; 669, alphabetical index; 703, printer designation; 704, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications; 182, Eyre and Spottiswoode, Printers.. (new printers for publications list only). Contains chromolithographic plates I-XIV displaying 21 species designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith., Mintern Bros. Chromo lith. (9) or Chromo (5); about nine unnumbered text woodcut illustrations.
Volume XVII. 1892. Catalogue / of the / Picariae / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones, / with the families / Leptosomatidae, Coraciidae, Meropidae, / Alcedinidae, Motmotidae, Todidae, and Coliidae, / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe / Bucerotes and Trogones, / by / W. R. Ogilvie[-]Grant (1863-1924). [a]4b2B-2K82L6A8X; 277 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xi(1)[1]2-522[523-524]12-172[182]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated June 1, 1892; vi, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Leptosoma discolor-Hapalarpactes mackloti, 397 species; 498, addenda; 503, alphabetical index; 523, list of plates; 524, printer designation; 12, list of Museum publications; 182, printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode (publications list only). Contains chromolithographic plates I-XVII displaying 31 species designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith. Mintern Bros. Chromo lith.
Volume XVIII. 1890. Catalogue / of the / Picariae / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Scansores, / containing the family / Picidae. / by / Edward Hargitt (1835-1895). π8B-2P82Q4(-2Q4)X4; 311 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xv(1)[1]2-597[598][12]22-82. Notice slip concerning late appearance of volumes XVI, XVII inserted before series title; i, series title; ii blank; iii, title; iv, printer desgination; v, preface by Günther dated June 9, 1890; vi, blank; vii, introduction; xi, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Geocolaptes olivaceus-Lynx aequatorialis, 385 species; 568, addenda; 573, alphabetical index; 597, printer designation; 598, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications; 82, printer designation (Taylor and Francis). Contains plates I-XV displaying 17 species, all designated Peter Smit del. et lith., 15 chromolithographic, two hand-colored lithographic designated respectively Mintern Bros. Chromo. and Mintern Bros. imp.; 22 unnumbered woodcut illustrations of parts of different species, some depicting more than one part.
Volume XIX. 1891. Catalogue / of the / Picariae / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Scansores and Coccyges, / containing the families / Rhamphastidae, Galbulidae, and Bucconidae, / by / Philip Lutley Sclater, / and the families / Indicatoridae, Capitonidae, Cuculidae, / and Musophagidae, / by / G. E. Shelley (1840-1910). [a]4b2B-2F82G42H82I8(-218)A8X; 258 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xii[1]2-484[485[(1)12-172[182]. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Endpapers renewed. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated March 28, 1891; vii, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Indicator xanthonotus-Gymnoschizorhis leopoldi, 448 species; 457, addenda; 461, alphabetical index; 484, printer designation; 485, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications; 182, printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode (publications list only). Contains chromolithographic plates I-XIII, nine designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith., four J. Smit del. et lith., all Mintern Bros. Chromo lith.; one text woodcut illustration.
Volume XX. 1891. Catalogue / of the / Psittaci, or parrots, / in the / collection / of the British Museum. / by / T. Salvadori (1835-1923). [a]4b2(-b2)c4B-2Q82R42S-2T82U6A8X; 348 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvii(1)[1]2-658[659](1)[12]22-172[182]. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Endpapers renewed. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated Dec. 13, 1891; vi, blank; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Nestor notabilis-Stringops greyi, 450 species; 603, appendix (doubtful species); 617, addenda; 621, alphabetical index; 658, printer designation; 659, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications; 182, printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode (publications list only). Contains plates I-XVIII displaying 21 species, all designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith., 14 chromolithographs designated Mintern Bros. Chromo lith., four hand-colored lithographs designated Mintern Bros. imp.
Volume XXI. 1893. Catalogue / of the / Columbae, or pigeons, / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / by / T. Salvadori. [a]8b2B-2U82X2A8X; 357 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvii[xviii-xix](1)[1]2-676[12]22-172[182]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated June 30, 1893; vi, blank; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; xviii, blank; xix, list of plates; 1, catalogue, Sphenocercus apicicauda-Didus borbonicus, 458 species; 637, appendix (doubtful species); 649, alphabetical list; 676, printer designation; 12, list of Museum publications; 182, printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode (publications list only). Contains chromolithographic plates I-XV displaying 20 species, all designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith. Mintern Bros. Chromo lith.
Volume XXII. 1893. Catalogue / of the / game birds / (Pterocletes, Gallinae, Opisthocomi, Hemipodii) / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / by / W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. π8B-2O82P6A8X; 311 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvi[1]2-585[586-587](1)[12]22-172[182]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated Nov. 17, 1893; vi, blank; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Syrrhaptes paradoxus-Pedionomus-torquatus, 426 species; 556, addenda; 563, alphabetical index; 585, printer designation; 586, blank; 587, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications; 182, printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode (publications list only). Contains: eight plates displaying eight species, four chromolithographs designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith. Mintern Bros. Chromo lith., four hand-colored lithographs designated J. Smit del. et lith. Mintern Bros. imp.; two unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of heads.
Volume XXIII. 1894. Catalogue / of the / Fulicariae / (Rallidae and Heliornithidae) / and / Alectorides / (Aramidae, Eurypygidae, Mesitidae, Rhinochetidae, / Gruidae, Psophiidae, and Otididae / in the / collection / of the / British Museum / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. [a]4b2c2(-c2)B-Y8Z8(+1=Z9)A8X; 193 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xiii(1)[1]2-353[354][12]22-172[182]. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated Feb. 28, 1894; vii, introduction; viii, blank; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Rallus peruviana-Eupodotis australis; 329, addenda; 341, alphabetical index; 353, printer designation; 354, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications; 182, printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode (publications list only). Contains chromolithographic plates I-IX displaying 11 species, all designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith. Mintern Bros. Chromo lith.
Volume XXIV. 1896. Catalogue / of the / Limicolae / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. π6B-3D83E43F2A8B22; 414 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xii[1]2-794[795(1)[12]22-192(1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by W. H. Flowers dated July 10, 1896; vi, blank; vii, introduction; ix, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Oedicnemus oedicnemus-Thinocorus rumicivorus, 255 species; 721, addenda; 771, alphabetical index; 794, printer designation; 795, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications. Contains; chromolithographic plates I-VII displaying 11 species, all designated J. G. Keulemans del et lith. Mintern Bros. lith.; text woodcut illustrations designated figures 1-14 and four others unnumbered, the latter each containing two components.
Volume XXV. 1896. Catalogue / of the / Gaviae and Tubinares / in the / collection / of the / British Museum. / Gaviae / (terns, gulls, and skuas) / by / Howard Saunders (1835-1907) / Tubinares / (petrels and albatrosses) / by Osbert Salvin. π8B-2G82H42I2A8B22; 256 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xv(1)2-475[476][12]22-192(1). i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated Dec. 16, 1895; vii, introduction to Gaviae; viii, blank; ix, introduction to Tubinares; xii, blank; xiii, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Hydrochelidon leucoptera-Phoebetria fuliginosa, 224 species; 456, addenda; 459, alphabetical index; 475, printer designation; 476, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications. Contains: chromlithographic plates I-VIII displaying eight species, all designated J. Smit del. et lith. Mintern Bros. Chromo lith.; 19 unnumbered text woodcut illustrations of wing feathers of different species, most with more than one feather per illustration.
Volume XXVI. 1898. Catalogue / of the / Plataleae, Herodiones, Steganopodes, / Pygopodes, Alcae, and Impennes / in the / collection / of the British Museum. / Plataleae (ibises and spoonbills) / and / Herodiones (herons and storks), / by / R. Bowdler Sharpe. / Steganopodes (cormorants, gannets, frigate-birds, tropic- / birds, and pelicans), Pygopodes (divers and grebes), Alcae (auks), and Impennes (penguins), / by / W. R. Ogilvie-Grant.
[a]8b2(-b2)B-2X8A8B22; 363 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xvii(1)[1]2-687[688][12]22-202. i, Series title; ii, blank; iii, volume title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by W. H. Flowers dated September 30, 1898; ix, introduction by Sharpe; xi, introduction by Ogilvie-Grant; xiii, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Ibis aethiopica-Sheniscus mendiculus, 298 species; 654, addenda; 659, alphabetical index; 687, printer designation; 688, list of plates; 12, list of Museum publications. Contains: 14 chromolithographic plates numbered I, IA-IC, II, IIA, III-IV, V, VA-B, VI-VIII of which four undesignated but signed J. S. or J. Smit and designated Riddle & Couchman Chromo lith.; four designated J. Smit del. et lith. Mintern Bros. Chromo lith.; four designated J. G. Keulemans del. et lith. Mintern Bros. Chromo lith.; text woodcut figures numbered 1-9 and 1-2.
Volume XXVII. 1895. Catalogue / of the / Chenomorphae / (Palamedeae, Phoenicopteri, Anseres), / Crypturi, / and / Ratitae / in the / collection / of the/ British Museum. / by / T. Salvadori. π8B-2R82S42T4(-2T4)XA8B22; 338 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xv(1)[1-2-636[637-638(2)[12]22-202. Slip concerning later appearance of volumes XXIV, XXV and XXVI inserted before series title page; i, series title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation; v, preface by Günther dated September 6, 1895; vii, introduction; x, blank; xi, systematic index; 1, catalogue, Palamedea cornuta-Apteryx haasti, 296 species; 613, alphabetical index; 636, printer designation; 637, blank; 638, list of plates; X, blank leaf; 12, list of Museum publications. Contains chromolithographic plates I-XIX displaying 21 species of which five 11 designated Mintern Bros. Chromo lith., six of these J. Smit, del. et lith., five J. G. Keulemans, del. et lith.; the other eight designated Riddle & Couchman Chromo lith., four undesignated but signed J. Smit, four undesignated but signed J. G. K.
This great work contains elaborate generic and specific keys and treats every known species, even those few not contained in the museum's extraordinary collection. Subspecific forms are usually considered within the text of the species but with the designation applied to them in their original description.
The information supplied for each species is as follows: a section on nomenclature that is much more than synonymy; it contains a reference to virtually every allusion made to the species (or a subspecific form) in the literature and thus, the work in its entirety provides a almost complete ornithological bibliography; an extraordinarily comprehensive description of male, female and young and of subspecies or geographic variants; distribution; a list of the specimens in the museum, the localities and dates they were collected and the collector or collection from which they were obtained.
The volumes contain more than 14,000 pages of text and 387 colored lithographic plates displaying about 540 species most of which are type specimens being here illustrated for the first time. It is noteworthy that the entire catalogue, as such, was never in print. By the time volume 13 appeared in 1890, volumes one and two were already out of print. The works of Buffon and Latham attempted to deal with all known species but they were written before the mid 19th century era of ornithological exploration. The present work may be regarded as the first and only modern one to deal seriously with the entire global avifauna until the end of the 20th century when the use of the computer could facilitate this type of monumental objective.
Anker, No. 70; Wood, p. 564; Zimmer, p. 95-98. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Catalogue / of the / books, manuscripts, / maps and drawings / in the / British Museum / (Natural History) Eight volumes. 27.0 x 21.5 cm. Original publisher's red cloth with two double-gilt ruled red morocco lettering pieces on spine. London, printed by order of the Trustees.
Vol. I. / A-D. 1903. π41-624632[$1 signed]; 254 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii[1]2-500. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title with Museum logo; iv, printer designation: Hazill, Watson, and Viney, LD, London and Aylsbury; v, preface by E. Ray Lankester, Director; vi, blank; vii, introduction; 1, entries A-D; 500, printer designation.
Vol. II. / E-K. 1904. π4[63]264-1304; 274 ll. Pp. [(8, including initial blank)501-1038 (2, blank). π1r-π1v, blank; π2r, half-title; π2v, blank; π3r, title; π3v, printer designation; π4r, preface; π4v, blank; 504, entries E-K; 1038, printer designation.
Vol. III. / L-O. 1910. π4131-1874; 232 ll. Pp. (8, including initial blank)1039-1494. π1r-π1v, blank; π2r, half-title; π2v, blank; π3r, title; π3v, printer designation; π4r, preface by L. Fletcher, Director; 1039, entries L-O; 1494, printer designation.
Vol. IV. / P-SN. 1913. π4188-2454; 236 ll. Pp. (8, including initial blank)1495-1956(2, blank). π1r-π1v, blank; π2r, half-title; π2v, blank; π3r, title; π3v, printer designation; π4r, preface; π4v, blank; 1495, entries P-SN; 1956, printer designation.
Vol. V. / SO-Z. 1915. π4246-3014; 228 ll. Pp. (8, including initial blank)1957-2403(1). π1r-π1v, blank; π2r, half-title; π2v, blank; π3r, title; π3v, printer designation; π4r, preface; π4v, blank; 1957, entries SO-Z; 2403, printer designation; Museum logo.
Vol. VI. / Supplement: / A-I. 1922. π4(-π1[blank])1-644X12-624; 284 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-511(1)(2)12-482. π2r, Half-title; π2v, blank; π3r, title; π3v, printer designation: William Clowes and Sons, Limited, London; π4r, preface by Sidney F. Harmer, Director; 1-511(1), entries A-I; unpaginated leaf: recto, section title: addenda and corrigenda / Vols. I. and II. / A-Hooker; verso, blank; 12-482, addenda and corrigenda, volumes I-II, pages 1-868.
Vol. VII. / Supplement / J-O 1933. π4(-π1[blank])1-574; 231 ll. Pp. (6)[513]514-967(1). π2r, Half-title; π2v, blank; π3r, title; π3v, printer designation: John Johnson, University Press, Oxford; π4r, preface by C. Tate Regan, Director; [513]514-967(1), entries J-O.
Vol. VIII. / Supplement / P-Z 1940. π41-644; 260 ll. Pp. (8)[969]970-1480. π1r-π1v, blank; π2r, half-title; π2v, blank; π3r, title; π3v, printer designation: π4r, preface by C. Foster-Cooper, Director; π4v, corrigenda (this volume); 969-1480, entries P-Z.
This work contains well over 100,000 entries and in its day was the ne plus ultra of catalogs because the printed list is so comprehensive. Unfortunately, the information for each entry is highly variable. One can rely on the presence of: the author's last name and initials; at least the important part of the title; place and date of publication; some indication of size. Often, but by no means always, one can find: an indication of pagination; whether there are plates and, if so, how many, and whether some or all are colored; whether there are text illustrations. The information is not explicit enough to be of detailed bibliographic help. Since most major libraries now list their entire holdings on the internet with at least as much, and often more information than is found here, the catalog is not nearly so important as it formerly was.
There are two areas where it can still be particularly useful. First, it sometimes describes each part of a work that was issued in parts. Second, it sometimes describes every volume of a multi-volume series, for example, the 27 volumes of the Catalogue of birds in the British Museum.
The work was reprinted in 1964 and again in the 1990s. The catalog is present in every collection or major institutional holding of natural history books.
(British Museum), Oates, Eugene W.(illiam)(1845-1911), Reid, Savile G(rey)(1845-1915), Ogilvie-Grant, W.(illiam) R.(obert) (1863-1924)
Catalogue / of the / collection / of / birds' eggs / in the / British Museum / (Natural History) Five volumes. 22.4 x 14.3 cm. Original blind-paneled brown cloth. Spine divided into five compartments by triple blind rules. Gilt lettering in second, fourth and fifth compartments. Yellow endpapers. Volume II recased in original binding with endpapers renewed. London: Printed by order of the Trustees (British Museum).
Volume I. / Ratitae, Carinatae (Tinaformes-Lariformes). By Eugene W. Oates. 1901. [a]8b4B-Q8R6A8B24[$1, 2 signed]; 150 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xxiii)(1)[1]2-252[12]22-232[242]. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Taylor and Francis; v, preface by E. Ray Lankester, Director, BM(NH); vii, introduction; xiv, blank; xv, systematic index; 1, systematic accounts, Rhea americana-Stercorius parasiticus, comprising 520 species and 12,156 eggs; 229, appendix (additions); 235, alphabetical index of Latin names; 247, explanation of plates; 12, list of current natural history publications of the trustees of the British Museum; 242, printer designation (for list of publications): Darling & Son, Ltd. Contains chromolithographic plates I-XVIII depicting 138 eggs, printed by Pawson & Brailsford of Sheffied after original paintings by H. Grönvold.
Volume II. / Carinatae (Charadriiformes-Strigiformes). By Eugene W. Oates. 1902. [a]8b2B-2A82B42C82D4A8B24; 222 ll. Pp. [i-ix]x-xx[1]2-400[12]22-242. i, Half-title; ii, printer designation; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, introduction; viii, blank; ix, systematic index; 1, systematic accounts, Chionarchus minor-Strix candida, comprising 726 species and 14,998 eggs; 343, appendix; 381, alphabetical index; 397, explanation of plates; 12, list of current publications. Contains plates I-XV depicting 96 eggs.
Volume III. / Carinatae (Psittaciformes-Passeriformes). By Eugene W. Oates assisted by Capt. Savile G. Reid. 1903. [a]4b8B-Z8A8B24; 200 ll. Pp. [i-ix]x-xxiii[xxiv][1]2-349(3, blank)[12]22-242. I, Half-title; ii, printer designation; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, introduction by Reid; viii, blank; ix, systematic index; 1, systematic accounts, Nestor notabilis-Spizixus cinericapillus, comprising 907 species and 8,474 eggs; 325, alphabetical index; 343, explanation of plateas; 12, list of current publications. Contains plates I-X depicting 194 eggs.
Volume IV. / Carinatae (Passeriformes continued). By Eugene W. Oates assisted by Capt. Savile G. Reid. 1905. [a]4b6(-b6)B-X8Y8(+1, Y9)Z8A8B26(-B26); 199 ll. Pp. [i-ix]x-xviii[1]2-326, 326a(1, blank)327-353[12]22-252[262]. i, Half-title; ii, printer designation; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, introduction by Reid; viii, blank; ix, systematic index; 1, systematic accounts, Orthonyx temmincki-Climacteris scandens, comprising 620 species and 14,917 eggs; 326a, addenda; 327, alphabetical index; 343, explanation of plates; 12, list of current publications; 262, printer designation. Contains plates I-XIV depicting 285 eggs.
Volume V. / Carinatae(Passeriformes completed). By W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. 1912. [a]4b8B-2M82N2A4B28[C2]4; 302 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xxxiii(1)[1]2-547(1)[12]22-302[312-322]. i, Half-title; ii, printer designation; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface by Sidney F. Harmer, Keeper of Zoology; vi, blank; vii, author's preface; ix, systematic index; 1, systematic accounts, Zosterops japonica-Strepera fuliginosa, comprising 1,117 species and 19,283 eggs; 511, alphabetical index; 533, explanation of plates; 12, list of current publications; 322, printer designation. Contains plates I-XXII depicting 451 eggs.
This remarkable publication lists close to 70,000 egg specimens belonging to nearly 3,900 species. Of these, about 1,164 are depicted by Henrik Grönvold on 79 colored plates printed by chromolithography. Most of these are here illustrated for the first time. The authors present synonymy with references for every species as well as a description of its eggs with measurements. They also list every egg separately including the locality where it was collected and the donor from whom it was obtained.
Wood, p. 260; Zimmer, p. 98-99. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Keith Brockie's / wildlife sketchbook 25.8 x 19.7 cm. Pp. (25[i-xxv])notebook pp. 1-1-37(2-xxvi-xxvii])notebook pp. 38-89(2[xxviii-xxix])notebook pp. 90-130(1). Publisher's olive clothe with gilt lettering to flat spine. Ochre endpapers; Pictorial dust jacket. New York, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1981.
[i], Half-title; [ii], blank; [iii], title with colored sketches; [iv], copyright 1981; First American Edition, 1981; ISBN 0-02-516450-3; printed in Italy by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan; [v], contents; [vii], preface by Prince Philip; [viii], blank; [ix]-[xxv], introduction; notebook pages 1-37; [xxvi-xxvii], printed text: forests, lochs and rivers; notebook pages 38-89; [xxviii-xxix], printed text: mountains and moorland; notebook pages 90-130. Contains illustrated title page, three unnumbered colored photographs (one full-page) and a full-page colored sketch map in the introduction, and numerous colored and uncolored sketches and paintings in the notebook including five double-paged colored paintings.
This publication marked the debut of a talented Scottish wildlife artist. A second book by him, One man's island, was published in 1984 by Dent in London, and Mill Pond Press has issued several of his pictures as limited edition prints. The notebook reproduced in this book contains artwork in various stages of development and the sketches exhibit much spontaneity. There are also numerous anatomical studies that remind me of Tunnicliffe's notebook. Although birds are the major subject, animals and scenery are also represented.
This book is difficult to describe bibliographically. In the citation below, the Cornell librarian simply noted "130 p."! The book was published simultaneously in London by J. M. Dent.
Listed by Cornell. Not listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
One man’s island / a naturalist’s year 27.0 x 20.6 cm. Pp. 96 leaves (enumerated below) of which only those of his sketchbook (75 ll, pp. 1-150) are paginated. Publisher’s gray textured cloth, gilt lettering to spine. Ochre endpapers. New York, Harper & Row, 1984.
First leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; Second: r, title; v, first published 1984; copyright by Brockie; printed by Arnoldo Mondadori, Milan; ISBN 0-06-015360-1; 3r-4r, contents (of sketchbook); 4v, aerial photo of Isle of May; 5r, map of Isle of May; 5v, painting of lighthouse on Isle of May; 6r-10r, introduction; 10v-43r, breeding birds; 43v-55r, other wildlife; 55v-75r, migration; 75v-96r, grey seals. Contains color half-tone and uncolored sketches from author’s sketchbook and one final oil as well as several colored text photographs.
This book is a pictorial record of a year on this tiny island at the mouth of the Firth of Forth in Scotland. At the time of publication, 255 species of birds had been recorded on the 140 acre island. There is much interesting information in this book but its most important feature is the presentation of Brockie’s extraordinary artwork. His birds are alive! I happened to be perusing this book on the same day that I examined Basil Ede’s Birds of town and village (1965). The two artists are complete opposites. Ede’s paintings are much more decorative, so much so that the birds are not alive. Brockie’s pictures have no pretense of decorative appeal but his birds live. His work reminds me of that of Tunnicliffe but lacks that artist’s the intellectual quality.
The work was published simultaneously in England with a slightly different title by J. M. Dent.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, not listed by Trinity and Yale.
(A New and Accurate System of Natural History) Vol. II. The / Natural History / of Birds: / with the Method of / Bringing Up and Managing / those of the / Singing Kind 16.7 x 10.5 cm. Laid paper, 12o. a10B-U12X10[$1-5 signed]; 248 ll. Pp. [i-ii]iii-xx[1]2-460[i]ii-xvi. Contemporary restored half calf and marbled boards, spine with gilt title and five raised ridges. London, printed for J. Newberry, 1763.
i, Title; ii, blank; iii, contents; vii, table of plates; xi, introduction, of birds in general;1, systematic text comprising chapters I-XLVII; 399, classes of birds according to Linnaeus comprising chapters I-VI; i2-xvi2, index. Contains 28 uncolored, metal-engraved plates numbered only with respect to the intended adjacent page. Lacks a plate called for adjacent to page 313.
This is the ornithological section of a six-volume treatise on natural history. It is a remarkable work that deserves to be much better known. It attempts to describe and classify all known birds with the information is carefully culled from the works of many antecedent authors, particularly Ray and Edwards. Myths such as the lack of feet in birds of paradise and the hibernation of swallows are analyzed and discarded. Considerable attention and detail are devoted to anatomy as discerned from dissection by antecedent scientists. The interesting description of the dodo, classified with ostriches as a bird "unable to fly", does not recognize its extinction which occurred in the preceding century.
The last section is an English translation, probably the first, of the ornithological part of the recently (1758) published 10th edition of Linnaeus. From the perspective of ornithology, this is the most important edition since it establishes a classification that introduces the binomial basis of ornithological nomenclature. In rendering the original Latin into English, Brookes brings this important overall classification to the attention of the general public although, in omitting most of the Latin, he fails to focus on the binomial aspect of the system.
The engraved plates are mostly copied from the nearly contemporary works of George Edwards.
This book represents a very early and well done synthesis of ornithology.
Absent from Mengel, Trinity, Wood, Ripley-Scribner and Zimmer. BM(NH), p. 257; Freeman, #505; present in on-line catalogs of AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity (later edition) and Yale. Absent from Library of Congress, Smithsonian.
Elementary Course / of / Natural History, / Being an Introduction to / Zoology: / Intended for / The College and the Parlor. / Elements of Ornithology 18.4 x 11.8 cm. [1]62-276[$1, 3 signed]; 162 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[v]vu-viii[ix]x-xxxv[36-37]38-324. Contemporary sheep-backed marbled boards. Boston, James Monroe & Co., New York, C. S. Francis & Co., 1847.
i, title; iii, contents; v, catalogue of plates; ix, preface; 37, text; 321, postscript. Contains text figures 1-100 (several repeated twice or more with appropriately sequential numbers) and 25 unnumbered engraved plates depicting species 1-315 and identical to those appearing in the “Brewer” edition (1840) of Wilson’s Ornithology.
This overlooked and little-known book is one of the first American textbooks of general ornithology. The author got the idea of writing a general textbook of zoology from a contemporary French work by Milne-Edwards with whom he corresponded. He tells us that Milne-Edwards supplied him with “metal copies of his plates” which he used for the text illustrations of the present work (presumably by having woodcuts copied from them). I recognize several of these as having been drawn by Edouard Traviès and having originally appeared in one of my editions of Buffon. Brooks took much of his inspiration and information for this work from Linnaeus, Buffon and Cuvier, all of whom he clearly admired. After completing this volume on birds, he was prevented from continuing the anticipated zoology series by eyestrain. The first American book of this genre was apparently a much less substantial work by William S. W. Ruschenberger entitled Ornithology: the natural history of birds. Third-book of natural history, Philadelphia and New York, 1842.
The work deals with ornithology in general although the plates are from Wilson and thus necessarily of American birds. The plate containing the Passenger Pigeon is quite amusing because this species and the Pine Warbler have been engraved at a right angle to all the other species on the page. The text contains sections on anatomy, physiology, forms, habits and classification including an overview of the six orders recognized at the time and of all the families comprised within them. This text is thus not limited to American birds since specific examples from most families are discussed in some detail. Although mixed with many religious thoughts, the ornithological information in this work is representative of the leading ornithologists of the era. I was astonished not to find this work in Coues’s bibliography of American ornithology.
Gallatin, p. 28; Harvard; New York Public Library; Thayer, p. 31; Wood, p. 263. Not in Coues, Mengel, Trinity, Yale, Zimmer , AMNH, BM(NH), Cornell.
Nouvelles / Illustrations / De / Zoologie, / Contenant / Cinquante Planches Enluminées / D’Oiseaux Curieux, / Et qui non etés jamais Descrits, / et Quelques de Quadrupeds, / De Reptiles et d’Insectes, / Avec de Courtes Descriptions Systematiques New / Illustrations / Of / Zoology, / Containing / Fifty Colored Plates / Of New, Curious and / Non-descript Birds, / With a Few Quadrupeds, / Reptiles and Insects, / Together with / A Short and Scientific Description of the Same 4o on laid paper. 29.5 x 23.5 cm. [A]4B-S4[$1, 2 signed]; 72 ll. Pp.(8) 1-136. Contemporary polished calf with gilt filet, heavily gilt spine in six compartments, five decorated with ornithological design, the other with red morocco labeling piece. Marbled endpapers. London, Benjamin White, 1776.
A1r, French title; A1v, blank; A2r, English tittle; A2v, blank; A3r, French dedication; A3v, English dedication; A4r, French preface; A4v, English preface; 1, species accounts; 135, table des planches; list of plates. Contains 50 hand-colored etched plates by Brown as follows: I,2, III-VIII, 9-11, XII, 13, XIV-XV, 16, XVII-XXI, 22, XXIII, 24, XXV-XXVI, 27, XXVII-XXX, 31-33, XXXIV, 35-38, XXXIX-XLI, 42, XLIII, 44-46, XLVII, 48-50.
Peter Brown was an artist who painted flowers and animals and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1770 and 1791. This work was done very much in the style of that by George Edwards of which it is sometimes regarded as a sort of continuation or supplement. As in some editions of that work, the text is presented in both French and English, the former on the recto, the latter on the verso of the various leaves.
Although Brown was a better artist than Edwards, he was not remotely comparable as a scholar and the descriptions in this book are so brief as to be without merit. Brown obtained his material from, among others, Marmaduke Turnstall, Gideon Loten, Joseph Banks and Thomas Pennant. The latter thought poorly of Brown who, he claimed, acknowledged him too lightly in this book and actually owed him his career. There may be considerable truth to this since the present work was issued by Gilbert White’s brother Benjamin who was a friend and publisher of Pennant’s and a major force in natural history publishing. Without Pennant’s influence, Brown himself would probably have had little credibility with White as the creator of a book dealing with natural history.
Of the plates in this book, 42 depict birds, usually one, occasionally two species per plate. Some of the pictures are extremely handsome, particularly those of parrots. Several Australian birds are depicted for the first time and the superb depiction of the Rainbow Lorikeet is deservedly particularly well known.
Wood, p. 264; Yale, p. 43; Zimmer, p. 101. Not listed in Trinity catalog.
Brown, Leslie (1917-1980) and Amadon, Dean (1912-2003)
Eagles, hawks / and falcons / of the world Two volumes. 28.1 x 21.7 cm. Publisher's scarlet cloth with design of crowned eagle on lower right of upper cover, black lettering to spine. Lemon endpapers. Publisher's pictorial slipcase. Sponsored by National Audubon Society. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968.
Volume 1 Pp. [1-8]9-414[415-434]. 1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright 1968; first published 1968 in Great Britain by Country Life Books; first published 1968 in U. S. A. by McGraw-Hill; printed in Great Britain by Balding and Mansell Limited, Wistech, Cambs.; 5, contents (for volume 1 only, as regards pagination); 7, illustrations (for volume 1); 9, introduction; section title leaf, part I, introductory chapters; 17, classification and distribution; 26, physical attributes and senses; 32, plumage and moult; 44, daily cycle; 52, flight; 63, migration; 69, hunting methods and speed; 76, food consumption and predatory role; 83, territory; 90 display; 103, nests; 108, eggs and incubation; 112, development of young; 118, care of young; 122, post-fledging period; 126, breeding success; 133, longevity, enemies; 143, hawks and man; 151, section title leaf, part II, the genera and species; 153, field identification; 159, nomenclature and taxonomy; 163, systematic list with pagination for accounts and enumeration for plates; 173, section title leaf for specific accounts; 175-414, specific accounts, Cathartes aura-Melierax gabar, comprising about 92 species; 415, section title leaf for under--wing plates; 417-431(1), under-wing plates; 433-434, blank.
Contains: plates 1-56 (45 colored), so enumerated in legend on facing text page; printed in half-tone with consecutive text on obverse and included in pagination; uncolored under-wing plates 1-15, so enumerated on plates, printed on both sides of eight leaves and (apparently) included in pagination; text figures 1-33 (one colored, a photographic plate of eggs printed on recto only with both sides included in pagination).
Volume 2 Pp. [435-444]445-945(1). 435, Half-title; 436, blank; 437, title; 438, copyright etc.; 439, contents (for volume 1 only, as regards pagination [sic]); 441, illustrations (for volume 1 [sic]); 443, section title leaf for Accipitridae; 445, species accounts, Megatriorchis Doriae-Falco peregrinus, comprising about 195 species; 857-926, distribution maps 1-94; 927, supplementary bibliography (more than 300 entries); 933, index part 1: 938, index part 2, Latin and English bird names.
This is a meticulously complete monograph with a large introductory section devoted to the general biology of diurnal raptors and then specific accounts of almost 300 species. These accounts include: range with a map; description of all plumages with measurements; field characters; voice; general habits; food; breeding habits.
The illustrations are a major asset of the work. The species are depicted in 165 plates (126 colored) by the following artists: Guy Coheleach (7); Don R. Eckelberry (28); Albert E. Gilbert (21); John G. Harrison; (70); David M. Henry (10); Roger Tory Peterson (10); Lloyd Sanford (3); and Chloe E. Talbot Kelly (16). In addition, there are 15 flight silhouette plates.
The pagination does not lend itself to easy description and the preliminaries are the same for both volumes and seem to exclude the second.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Browne, D.(aniel) J.(ay)(1804-)
The / American bird fancier; / considered with / reference to the breeding, rearing,, feeding, / management, and peculiarities / of cage and house birds; with remarks on their / diseases and remedies; / drawn from authentic sources and personal observation 18.9 x 11.7 cm. All printed matter enclosed within black-ruled frames (15.0 x 9.0 cm) with corner ornaments. [1]122-512[$1, 5 signed]; 60 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-107(1)(12, advertisements for implements and books). Original publisher's purple cloth with blind panel and corner ornaments enclosing central bird and cage vignette in gilt on upper, blind on lower cover. Spine with blind decorations, gilt lettering. Lemon endpapers. New York, C. M. Saxton, 1850.
1, title with vignette; 2, registration, 1850; printer designation: Turney & Bro's stereotype, New York; 3, index; list of illustrations; 4, "advertisement" (note from publisher); 5, introduction (general considerations about rearing and maintenance of cage birds; 25, canary bird; 41, goldfinch (eurasian); 46, linnet; 51, american goldfinch; 54, american robin; 57, song thrush; 60, mocking bird; 65, brown thrush (thrasher); 70, european blackbird; 73, rice bunting; 77, raven; 81, pigeons; 104, european quail; Contains: uncolored etched (?) frontispiece; title wood-engraved vignette; about five headpieces (some repeats), 15, tail pieces (some repeats) and 26 unnumbered text wood-engravings.
A book about keeping cage birds in captivity. The printing and illustrations are of poor quality. The author also wrote on agricultural subjects. The book was reprinted many times including 1851, 1856, 1860, 1866, 1867. A new edition was published as late as 1918.
Wood, p. 264 (1851 printing). This original printing listed by Harvard, Yale. Cornell and Trinity list later reprints. Not listed by AMNH.
Bruner, Lawrence (1856-1937), Wolcott, Robert H.(enry), Swenk, Myron H(armon)
A / preliminary review / of the / birds of Nebraska / with synopses 21.3 x 14.5 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-116[117-125(1). Publisher's (?) maroon cloth with gilt title blocked on upper cover. Omaha, printed by Knoop & Bartlett, (1904).
1, title; 2, printer designation: Knoop & Bartlett; 3, introduction; 5, birds in relation to agriculture and horticulture; 12, topography of a bird; 14, blank; 15, synopses and annotated list of about 400 species, Aechmophorus occidentalis-Sialia arctica; 117, index of common and generic names. Contains nine unnumbered text line drawings of bird topography and an ornamental tail-piece following text.
This is an early list of Nebraska birds, expanding on Bruner's Some notes on Nebraska birds published in 1896. The synopses (keys to identification) are arranged for families in systematic sequence and there is a brief statement concerning the status of each species. According to Zimmer, the work was published in the Annual Report, Nebraska State Board of Agriculture for the Year1903 (1904) and issued as (here) a separate with "some differences."
Bruner was a Professor of Entomology at the University of Nebraska and did considerable original research on Neotropical entomology.
Mengel, 400; Wood, p. 265; Zimmer, p. 103. Listed by Cornell, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity.
Brynildson, Inga and Hagge, Woody
Birds in Art / The Masters 24.0 x 31.0 cm, oblong. Pp. [1-3]4-127[128]. Original white cloth, silver ornithological decoration on upper cover, silver labeling on spine. Blue dust jacket with white lettering. Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau Wisconsin, 1990.
1, title; 2, publication data; 3, contents; 4, foreword; 5, preface; 6, birds in art-taking flight; 8, flight of the painted bird; 12, the masters; 124, references. Contains 84 pages with single representative colored paintings or sculptures.
The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum opened as a museum for ornithological art in 1976. Each year it organized an exhibition of paintings by living ornithological artists. Amongst those whose paintings were accepted, a single master was chosen. This volume is devoted to the 14 masters selected in the first 14 years of the museum's existence. Exhibiting there has become a critical credential on the CV of the bird painter.
This volume has a section on the history of the museum and a superficial introductory overview of the history of ornithological art. It features 12 ornithological painters (Owen Gromme, George Sutton, Roger Peterson, Don Eckelberry, Peter Scott, Arthur Singer, Robert Bateman, Guy Coheleach, J. Fenwick Lansdowne, Keith Shackleton, Lars Jonsson and Maynard Reece) an ornithological woodcarver (Charles G. Chase) and an ornithological metal sculptor (Kent Ullberg). Each artist writes a section on his perception of ornithological art and six representative samples of his work are shown on separate pages combined with a text relevant to that particular piece of work. The book presents the popular view of ornithological art in the late 20th century.
Nature / into / art / a treasury of great natural history books 30.4 x 22.1 cm. Pp. [1-8]9-220. Publisher's emerald green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Tan endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket with price of $25.00 on upper flap. New York, Mayflower Press, (1979).
1, Half-title; 2, uncolored frontispiece; 3, title; 4, copyright 1979; originally published in Great Britain by George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd; manufactured in Great Britain; first American edition; ISBN 0-8317-6337-x; 5, contents; 6, acknowledgments; 7, foreword; 8, introduction; 13, flowers and fruits; 77, birds; 133, animals and fish; 177, insects; 189, shells; 193, printing techniques with a note on size and watermarks; 199, a 1934 catalogue; 209, bibliography (11 entries); 71, list of illustrations with their sources; 217, index. Contains: 58 unnumbered colored plates (two double-page); 56 unnumbered uncolored plates (12 double-page); 12 uncolored illustrations in text. The illustrations are all printed in half-tone with running text or a plate on obverse and included in pagination.
The author was a bookseller specializing in natural history, particularly botany, and has written a rambling narrative expressing his opinions and observations concerning various rare and beautiful natural history books. He has reprinted a catalogue with prices of such books for sale from him in 1934 that is most entertaining. The main virtue of the work is the large number of pictures reproduced from exquisite books, many of them little-known. For example, it is here that I first learned about Clara Maria Pope's hors de pareil prints for Samuel Curtis's The beauties of flora (1806-1820) and A monograph of the genus Camellia (1819).
Buchanan, one of the authors of Fine bird books (1953, 1990), has made a curious error in attributing a plate of woodpeckers (page 95) from Thomas Brown's Illustrations of American Ornithology (1835) to Alexander Wilson's American Ornithology (1808-1814). Brown was inspired by Wilson's pictures and often combined several of them in intricate compositions, of which this is a good example that should have been recognized by an expert on natural history illustration.
Listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale. Not listed by Cornell.
Buffon, George-Louis Leclerc, compte de (1707-1788) (Daubenton, Edmé Louis [1732-1785], Martinet, François Nicolas [1731-?])
(Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. Planches Enluminées) Tome V. 29.5 x 20.0 cm. 4o (laid paper). Near contemporary half-calf and marbled boards with blue calf lettering piece on spine labeled “Oiseaux / par / Buffon / Planches”. Lower down the spine lettered in gilt “Tom. V” and lower still, “C. Raben”. Endpapers and flyleaves folio sheets of laid paper watermarked C. &. I. Honig. Blue speckled edges. (Paris, l’Imprimerie Royale, 1778). Contains, without accompanying text, 93 (of 98) hand-colored plates within yellow borders, drawn and engraved by Martinet.
The “Planches Enluminées”, the pictures of which these are a fraction, were issued, beginning in 1765, by the firm of Panckouke in 42 cahiers of 24 plates each. Birds constituted 973 of the 1008 plates, the others representing insects. They were drawn and engraved by Martinet under the supervision of Daubenton and were intended to illustrate the ornithological volumes, the preparation of which was then in progress, of Buffon’s great general natural history. However, it was not feasible to prepare sufficient color plates for the print run of 3000 copies so a separate uncolored suite of 262 bird plates by de Sève was used for this purpose. The colored plates were employed instead to illustrate a separately published work, Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, issued in 10 volumes (1770-1786), both in quarto and on large paper. The text, by Buffon, P. Gueneau de Montbeillard and the Abbé Bexon, was the same as that used for the nine-volume ornithological section of the general natural history containing de Sève’s 262 uncolored plates. Sometimes, the text and plates of the Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux were bound separately, as was evidently the case for the present volume. This fifth volume was published in 1778 and contained many colorful Passerines including Tanagers, Cotingas and Manakins to name a few. The only non-Passeres in the volume are Swifts and Caprimulgids. This is an extraordinarily clean, fresh and beautifully colored copy. At the base of each plate, in old manuscript, is a binomial Latin designation conceivably taken from Pieter Boddaert’s Table des Planches Enluminées de M. D’Aubenton, originally published in 1783, and reissued by the Willoughby Society some 100 years later.
The Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux was the most ambitious ornithological work ever undertaken since it attempted to describe in depth and to illustrate at the highest artistic level, every known species of bird. It was certainly in a class by itself in the 18th century and a strong case can be made for deeming it the most impressive of all ornithological publications.
Ronsil, 413; Trinity, p. 48; Wood, p. 267; Yale, p. 47; Zimmer, 104.
Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, Compte de (1707-1788)
Histoire / Naturelle, / Générale / et Particuliere / Oiseax Volumes II-XVIII (of 18, lacking volume I, which, however, was later added[vide infra])). 16.6 x 10.1 cm. 12o. Laid paper. Alternating signatures of 8/4 leaves [$1, 2, 3, 4 / 1, 2 signed]. Contemporary mottled calf. Marbled endpapers. (Paris), Aux Deux-Ponts, Chez Sanson & Compagnie, 1785-1787 (volumes II-VI, 1785; VII-VIII, 1786; IX-XVI, 1787). Contains 102 hand-colored engraved plates (vide infra), the artists and engravers for which have not been designated. These volumes bear the bookplate of Henry Charles, Duke of Norfolk.
Vol. II Pp. 1-204. Plates 1-11.
III. 1-303[304] I-VI
IV. 1-299[300] I-III4-8
V. i-ix[x]11-372 1-7
VI. 1-199[200],i-cxlix150-154 4-1 (renumbered 1-4)
VII. 1-336 1-3
VIII. 1-339[340],i-li[lii],1-7[8] 1-5
IX. 1-377[378],1-5[6] 1-6
X. 1-246,i-xlvi,1-4 (xlv and xlvi 1-3
misnumbered xlix and xlx)
XI. 1-400,1-8 1-6
XII. 1-391[392],1-6 1-4
XIII. 1-370,1-6 1-6
XIV 1-299[300],i-xviii,1-6 1-5
XV. 1-349[350],1-6 1-7
XVI. 1-258, 1-3[4] 1-7
XVII. 1-385,1-3 1-10
XVIII. 1-110,i-cli[clii](2) (cxlvii, cxlviii 1-2III-IV
cxlix and cl misnumbered as
cxlv, cxlvi, cxlvii and cxlviii)
The first arabic numeral pagination refers to the text proper. The roman numeral pagination refers to the “Tables des Matières” which are alphabetically arranged indexes that cover all the species described in that volume and antecedent volumes going back to the last “Table”. These indexes list not only the volume and page number on which the species is to be found in the text, but also provide a brief summary of important information about the species. They are a kind of alphabetically arranged synopsis of the text. In contrast, the terminal arabic numeral pagination designates the “Table” for the given volume. This “Table” is an index that goes by page number, first to last, and identifies the species described on each page. No ancillary information about the species is given in this index. This index also specifies the author, Buffon or his friend, G. de Montbeillard, responsible for the various species. Buffon tells us in an avertissement in volume V that, due to his own illness, he has delegated part of the ornithological material to Montbeillard.
This edition totaled 54 volumes and was published 1785-1791. It was the first edition to be published following those issued by the Imprimerie Royale and its text is said to be identical to those. The ornithology section was 18 volumes and was the last ornithological section to be published during Buffon’s lifetime. The entire Histoire Naturelle, 44 quarto volumes published 1749-1804, is by far the most influential general work on natural history that has ever been published and various revisions and “suites” to it continued to appear for another 100 years. It appeared in numerous editions and formats many of which have their own special charms. The present set is very appealing for its small format, its many attractive wood-engraved tail-pieces and its fine hand-colored, copper-engraved plates with miniature bird portraits.
Mengel, 413; Wood, p. 265; Zimmer, p. 106. Absent from Trinity and Yale lists.
Subsequently purchased Oiseaux, Tome I as follows:
Laid paper. 12o. [a]8b-c4d2A-X8/4Y2(-Y2); [$1, 2 3, 4/1, 2 signed]147 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xxxiv(2, Avis)[1-3]4-258.19th Century green pebbled cloth-backed green boards. (Paris), Aux Deux Ponts, chez Sanson & Compagnie, 1785. i, Half-title; ii, subscription address; iii, title; iv, blank; v, plan of the work; 1, on the nature of birds; 61, the birds of prey; 256, contents. Contains hand-colored, engraved plates 1-12 and 22 uncolored, minor vignettes, mostly tail pieces. Artists not identified.
The volume contains a general overview and systematic discussion (in French, of course) of 26 species of diurnal raptors.
(Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, Compte de [1707-1788])
Oeuvres / complètes / de Buffon, / avec des extraits de Daubenton / et la classification de Cuvier Two volumes. 26.0 x 16.5 cm. Later quarter blind-rolled blue calf and marbled boards. Spine with four blind-ruled raised bands, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments, blind fleur de lys in other three. Paris, au Bureau des Publications Illustrées.
Tome Cinquième. / Oiseaux 1844. π21-408418(-418)[$1, 2 signed]; 329 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-653(1). π1r, Series half-title; π1v, printer designation: H. Fournier et Cie; π2r, title with wood-engraved eagle; π2v, blank; 1, plan of the ornithological section; 6, on the nature of birds; 23, accounts of families and species, birds of prey through tits; 644, contents of this volume. Contains 43 leaves of hand-colored engraved plates, 38 with two plates, five with one full-page, so 81 plates printed on 43 leaves. The plates were drawn by E. Traviès and "publié par Furne, Paris". Most of the engravings are done by Fournier, Pardinel and Annadouche with a few by Oudet and Manceau.
Tome Sixième. / Oiseaux II 1841. π21-458464472(-472); 367 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-730. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title with wood-engraved vignette of turtle dove; π2v, blank; 1, text, flycatchers through penguins; 616, uncertain or unknown species; 623, systematic classification of mammals; 669, systematic classification of birds; 719, contents of this volume; 726, alphabetical index of French names of mammals and birds with volume and page at which colored illustration of that species occurs. Contains 30 leaves of colored plates, 27 with two plates, three with one full-page, so 57 plates on 30 leaves.
The original "Buffon" with 44 quarto volumes was published 1749-1804 and is one of the great landmarks in the history of natural history. The ornithological volumes (nine, between 1770 and 1783) were written by Buffon, P. Gueneau de Montbeillard and the Abbé Bexon. However the 973 colored plates for the luxury editions illustrating all the birds known at the time were prepared under the direction of Daubenton, the Younger. That is the only reason I can imagine for the presence in the title here of "extraits de Daubenton" although perhaps there was some notion that he did part of the text attributed to Buffon.
The present volumes are later issues of from the "Nouvelle edition ornée de 400 sujets… " first published in six volumes,1837-1839. The text is mainly taken directly from the original 18th century edition with annotations by an unidentified editor. At the end of the second volume, the later classification scheme of Cuvier for mammals and birds is outlined. The order in that classification is different from the presentation in the main body of the work.
This edition is listed on page 413 of Ronsil's Bibliographie with Furne as publisher (so designated here on colored plates but not on title page). It's always difficult with Buffon to be certain of which edition is which, but this one is not rare, nor is it as finely produced as some of the others. It has the virtue, however, of being one of several containing illustrations by Traviès
Buffon (George Louis Leclerc, Compte de [1707-1788]), (Flourens [Marie Jean Pierre{194-1867}])
Oeuvres Complètes / de Buffon / avec la Nomenclature Linnéenne et la Classification de Cuvier / Revues sur l'Édition in-4o de l'Imprimerie royale / et annotées / par M. Flourens // Nouvelle Édition Twelve volumes (1-12) containing 144 unnumbered hand-colored steel engraved plates printed by Imp. Lamoureaux, four unnumbered hand-colored engraved maps and two uncolored engraved frontispieces, Paris, Garnier Frères, (1853-1857) with Oeuvres / de / Cuvier et Lacépède / contenant / le Complément de Buffon a l'Histoire des Mammifères / et des Oiseaux / l'Histoired des Cétaces, Batraciens / Serpents et Poissons // Supplément aux Oeuvres Complètes de Buffon / annotées par M. Flourens Four volumes (1-4) containing 49 hand-colored and one uncolored unnumbered engraved plates. Paris, Garnier Frères, (1857-1858[?]). The 16 volumes all bound in later red pebbled cloth. Bradley Martin copy.
Tome Premier / Théorie de lat Terre- Histoire Générale des Animaux π21-428438(-438)[$1, 5 signed]; 345 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-686. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation: Paris, Imprimerie de A. Quantin; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 683, contents. Contains uncolored engraved frontispiece of Buffon by Dellanoy after Racinet, printed by Imp. Mageon, two colored engraved maps, three colored engraved plates of sperm all undesignated and printed by Imp. Lamoureaux.
Tome Deuxième / L'Homme, -Les Quadrupèdes π2a8b101-418426[$1 signed];354 ll. Pp. (4)[i]ii-xxxvi[1]2-667[668]. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; i-xxxiii, notice sur Buffon dated 1 Octobre, 1855; xxxiv, blank; xxxv, chronological list of Buffon's original texts; 1, text; 665, contents; Contains uncolored frontispiece of Adam and Eve by Dellanoy after G. Staal, 22 colored engraved plates, most engraved by Paquien after Henry Gobin.
Tome Troisième / Les Quadrupèdes π21-378384(-384)[$1, 5 signed]; 301 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-597[598]. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 595, contents. Contains 19 colored plates including 13 after Gobin and six after Traviès.
Tome Quatrième / Les Singes.-Additions aux Quadrupèdes π21-428434[$1, 5 signed]; 342 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-680. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, singes; 243, additions aux quadrupèdes; 674, contents. Contains 12 colored plates including seven after Traviès, four after Gobin, and one undesignated.
Tome Cinquième / Les Oiseaux π21-378384(-384)[$1, 5 signed]; 301 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-597[598]. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 593, contents. Contains 23 colored plates after Traviès engraved by Paquien (14), Fournier (8) and Pardinel (1).
Tome Sixième / Les Oiseaux π21-368376(-376)[$1 signed]; 295 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-586. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 575, contents. Contains 20 colored plates after Traviès engraved by Fournier (8), Pardinel (5), Paquien (4) and Oudet (3).
Tome Septième / Les Oiseaux π21-398[$1, 5 signed, lacks signature on 391]; 314 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-624. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 613, contents. Contains 21 colored plates after Traviès engraved by Fournier (9), Pardinel (9) and Paquien (3).
Tome Huitième / Les Oiseaux π21-398404[$1 signed]; 318 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-631[632]. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 623, contents. Contains 20 colored plates after Traviès engraved by Fournier (8), Paquien (6), Nargeot fils (2), Desjardins (2) and Pardinel (2).
Tome Neuvième / Introduction aux Minereaux.-Époques de la Nature π21-418428(-428)[$1 signed]; 337 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-670. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, minereaux; 348, supplément a la théorie de la terre; 455, des époques de la nature; 669, contents. Contains two colored engraved maps, four colored plates printed by Lamoureaux, artist undesignated.
Tome Dixième / Les Minereaux π21-358366(-366)[$1 signed]; 287 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-568[569-570]. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 569, contents.
Tome Onzième / Les Minereaux π21-388392(-392)[$1 signed]; 307 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-609[610]. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 607, contents.
Tome Douzième / Expériences sur les Végétaux, Arithmétique moral / et / Tables analytiques et raisonnres (sic) des Matières contenus dans l'Ouvrage entier π21-518524534-534)[$1 signed]; 417 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-824[12]22-62. π1r, Half-title; π1v, printer designation; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, des végétaux; 141, la méthode des fluxions; 154, d'arithmétique moral; 357, index to first four volumes; 519, index to ornithological volumes; 694, index to last four volumes; 823, contents of twelfth volume; 12-62, placement of plates.
Tome Premier π31-834842[$1 signed];337 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-668. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, blank; π3r, "Cuvier"; π3v, blank; 1, mammifères; 236, oiseaux; 465, "Lacépède"; Cétacés; 663, contents; 668, printer designation: A. Quantin. Contains three colored plates of animals (two after Traviès, one after Gobin), five of birds (including frontispiece) after Traviès and one uncolored plate of a whale after Gobin, engraved by Fournier (4), Annedouche (2), Guyard (1), Giraud (1) and Dujardin (1) printed by Imp. Taneur and Imp. Sarazin.
Tome Deuxième / Quadrupèdes Ovipares-Serpents-Poissons π21-834842[$1 signed]; 336 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-668. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, avertissement ,1788; 3, extrait des registres de l'academie royale des sciences, 1787;7, quadrupèdes ovipares; 283, serpents; 547, poissons; 665, contents; 668, printer designation. Contains 11 colored plates including two of turtles, five of lizards, crocodilia and amphibia, and four of snakes, most, where indicated, drawn by Klein, engraved by Victor, and printed by Imp. Taneur.
Tome Troisième / Poissons π21-428436[$1 signed]; 344 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-684. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, text; 679, contents; 684, printer designation. Contains 17 colored plates after Acarie Baron (15), Oudart (2) engraved by Schmelz, Legrand, Teillard, Visto, printed by Imp. Tanneur.
Tome Quatrième / Poissons.-Table Générale Alphabétque. / Classement des Gravures π21-428432(-432)[$1 signed]; 339 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-674. π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, poissons; 636, troisième vue de la nature (1802); 645, alphabetical index for all four volumes; 667, placement of plates in all four volumes; 669, contents of fourth volume. Contains 12 colored plates of fish, one undesignated, nine after Acarie Baron, one after Acarie David, one after Oudart, engraved by H. Legrand, Schmelz, Daverne, Annadouche, Vista and printed by Imp. Ch. Chardon, Imp. Sarazin and Imp. Taneur.
This is a very well produced edition of Buffon, notable particularly for its very fine hand-colored steel engravings. Particularly impressive are the 87 plates of birds after Traviès and the 29 superb plates of fish, many embellished with gold or silver. Wood refers to this as "..one of the best editions….albeit among the rarest". Ronsil, in his Bibliographie (#423, p. 80) writes that it appeared in 400 livraisons between 1852 and 1854 but Wood gives the dates 1853-1857 and these seem more likely to me since there is a notice in the second volume that is dated October, 1855.
This set is the only one of which I have heard that contains the supplement of four volumes in addition to original twelve.
Curiously, Ronsil, in L'Art Français.. (p. 106) lists another Flourens edition of Buffon published virtually simultaneously by the same firm, Garnier Frères, that seems to differ from this one mainly or only by the fact that the ornithological illustrations are all by Victor Adam. I have seen these illustrations and they are much inferior to those by Traviès.
BM(NH), p. 282; Ronsil, L'Art Français …p.106; Wood, p. 269.
(Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, compt de [1709-1788])
(Oeuvres Complètes Paris, Pillot, 1829; and Supplément à l'histoire naturelle générale et particulière de Buffon…par F. Cuvier Paris, Pillot, 1832) Ornithological atlas only. 22.0 x 15.0 cm. Three unnumbered initial and three unnumbered final blank binder's leaves. Old, incorrect upper wrapper "Iconographie / du Règne Animal / de / Mr. Le Bon. Cuvier /////par M. F. E. Guérin // Paris / Chez l'Auteur //" no date. 80 colored, engraved plates as described below. Twentieth century half-blue morocco with four raised bands on spine, gilt "Bon Cuvier / Iconographie / du regne animal in second compartment "Oiseaux" in fourth compartment. Marbled boards and endpapers. (Paris, Pillot, 1829-1832).
This is an extremely interesting item, the ornithological atlas from a rare Buffon with its supplement, that was apparently incorrectly identified when it was bound, and was supplied at that time with an old wrapper for another work, namely Guérin's Iconographie du Règne Animale de Cuvier, which I also possess and which is illustrated by Traviès and by Guérin, himself.
The present work contains 68 hand-colored plates designated simply "Pauquet, Sculp" at the lower left outside of the frame. These are numbered113-234 on the upper left, and tome 19-26 on the upper right so they are from eight volumes. According to Ronsil, there were eight ornithology volumes each containing 8-9 plates in the original Oeuvres Complètes so this is probably complete. The plates each contain 2-3 carefully produced and beautifully colored figures some of which (nicobar pigeon, peafowl, a sunbird and three hummingbirds) are embellished with gold.
The other 12 plates are on slightly different paper. They are all from "tom. 2" as indicated on the upper left and their numbers on the upper right range from 1 to 28. They are all designated Mme Pillot on the lower left and the engraver designated on the lower right is: Massard (4); Rousseau, Fils (3); A. Davesne (3); Pauquet (1); Lacerf (1).
Ronsil lists Mme Pillot as artist and precisely these engravers for the supplement. That work is said to contain a total of 30 plates covering all subjects so the 12 here are probably the complete ornithological total. These plates have both color printing and hand-coloring.
This is an uncommon and attractive atlas. The Pauquet brothers were well known artists and engravers of the era but the only other ornithological works they illustrated were Lemaire's Oiseaux d'Europe (1837)and Oiseaux Exotiques (1836)
Ronsil, Bibliographie, #413; Ronsil, L'Art Français…pp. 105-105.
Die Naturgeschichte in vertreuen Abbildungen und mit ausführlicher Beschreibung derselben. Vögel 26.0 x 16.5 cm. Two volumes. Contemporary brown calf-backed marbled boards with red leather lettering piece on spine. All edges speckled red. Leipzig, Eisenach, 1835.
Text volume: 1-454 (45 presumably including the final leaf of text, the two index leaves and the title leaf)[$1 signed]; 180 ll. Pp. (1, title)[1]2-354(4, index). Text in double columns.
Plate volume: 184 ll of uncolored engraved(?) plates as follows: Illustrated title (=1), 2-84, 67(=86), 68(=87), 85, 88, 71(=89), 90, 73(=91), 92, 75(=93), 94-132, 133(=143), 133-135, 140, 136-139, 141-142, 144-155, 156b, 156a, 158, 157, 159-162, 165-166, 163-164, 167-183.
This very scarce ornithological work was issued in 27 parts between 1832 and 1835 as part of a general natural history that was published from 1829-1845. It was also available with the plates colored. The text is an authoritative survey of the birds of the world with detailed description and discussion of most European species and of at least one example of all other genera. The author was a well regarded ornithologist who was co-author, with J. F. Naumann, of a work on eggs of European birds. The plates are interesting. Most depict several species and none are attributed save the decorative title leaf which bears the name J. Klaus. Engelmann and Nissen describe these as lithographs but I think they may be engravings, though I can’t tell whether on wood or metal. Anker, who is reliably authoritative on such matters carefully avoids a stand on the procedure used for reproduction but is rather dismissive of the “small figures”. They have obviously been taken from various sources and include, for example, Peale’s memorable Turkey from Bonaparte’s work. Most interesting to me was plate 12, a young male Golden Eagle (Steinadler) with rabbit prey. This picture is plate 39 of the centennial edition of Naumann where it is also undesignated. I’m quite certain that it first appeared in the original Naumann folio and I think that many of the plates depicting European species have been taken from that work and from the Naumann octavo. I consider most of them to be good and I would imagine that a clean, well colored and uncropped copy of this work would be very attractive. The images of a few plates in this copy are a bit cropped and it is rather foxed. The number of plates listed by bibliographers for this work varies from 183 to 185. Both Anker and Zimmer mention a plate 119 bis that is not present in this example.
The work is ordinarily catalogued under Buhle whose name does not appear as author but who was specified as such by Engelmann.
Anker, 82; Engelmann, p. 111; Wood, p. 269; Yale, p. 48; Zimmer, p. 114.
Bull, John and Bull, Edith (illustrated by Coe, James)
Birds / of / North America / western region / a quick identification guide / for all bird-watchers 19.2 x 12.0 cm. Pp. [i-viii]1-144[145[1](1). Original decorated card wrappers. endpaper maps. New York, Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., (1989). Printed illustrated card with manuscript note signed by artist and exhibition brochure of his paintings laid in loosely.
i, list of Macmillan Field Guide Series, this the last of nine titles; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright 1989; ISBN 0-02-062580-4; first printing; v, contents including designation of acknowledgments as p. vii; vi, blank; vii, acknowledgments; viii, blank; 1, how to use this book; 4, plate descriptions; 9, key to plate abbreviations; 10-117, plates 1-54 and text comprising reddish birds-small gulls and terns; 118, further comments on plates; 129, attracting birds; 135, optical equipment; 136, glossary; 137, index of common and scientific names; 145, about the authors and artist. Contains color half-tone plates 1-54 printed on recto with facing accounts on verso of antecedent plate. Also contains three unnumbered, uncolored half-tone plates of heads, feet and tails. All plates, included in pagination.
This guide for beginners groups together birds that can be confused with one-another. The very brief accounts give size, important field marks, habitat and range. I have a number of personal connections to the book. The artist is the son-in-law of a long-time professional colleague of mine. In addition, I have known the authors casually since I was a child. On one occasion when I was about 12, I showed John Bull a Razor-billed Auk at the silverpoint jetty of Atlantic Beach in exchange for which he gave me a ride to a neighboring area where there was a Eurasian Teal. That was how bird-watching children managed transportation in those days.
This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell. Not listed by Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Birds of the New York area 20.8 x 14.2 cm. Pp. [i-viii]ix-xiv[1-2]3-540[541-545(1). Publisher's red cloth with impressed raptor vignette on upper cover, white lettering to spine. Endpaper maps. Pictorial dust jacket with price of $8.95 printed on upper flap. New York, Harper & Row, (1964).
i, Half-title; ii-iii, cover with vignettes; iv, copyright 1964; drawings by Cornelius J. Ward; first edition; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, foreword by Roger Tory Peterson; 1, part one, section title; 3, introduction; 12, historical; 18, birding areas; 23, changes in bird life since 1942; 26, breeding birds; 31, migration; 38, qualitative data-records; 47, quantitative data-population dynamics; 54, hurricanes hit Long Island; 63, subspecies; 67, part two, species accounts; 71, regular list, Gavia immer-Plectrophenax nivalis, comprising 404 species; 468, escapes (12); 475, hypothetical (19); 484, fossil birds; 485, appendixes; 487, glossary; 488, bibliography (more than 300 entries); 505, gazetteer; 523, index of common and scientific names; 541-544, pages designated for "notes"; 545, credits: printed by The Murray Printing Company; bound by the Haddon Craftsmen. Contains 22 unnumbered line drawings, mostly head-pieces and 20 unnumbered line maps, one double-page, the others full page.
This meticulous work is the successor to those by Griscom (1923) and Cruikshank (1942) in describing the status of each species from perhaps the most carefully scrutinized area in North America. The historical base for these books is Giraud's Birds of Long Island (1844). The changes in bird distribution are profound and complex, presumably reflecting the effects of urbanization and of atmospheric warming.
A Dover edition of this book was published in 1975.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Buller, Walter Lawry (1838-1906)
A History / of the / Birds of New Zealand 31.5 x 25.0 cm. [a]4b-c4B-S4T2U-2O42P22Q-3A43B23C43D-3F2X3;[$1, 2 signed, 3C2 misprinted 2C3]; 207 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-xxiii(1)[1]2-384(6). Contemporary gilt-ruled blue morocco with blue sides patterned with black. Spine with five gilt-ruled and paneled raised bands, gilt lettering in second compartment, gilt floral design in others. Marbled endpapers. TEG. London, John Van Voorst, (1872-)1873.
i, Title; ii, blank; iii, prospectus; v, list of subscribers (outside of New Zealand, 192, accounting for 209 copies); viii, subscribers in New Zealand (196 accounting for 251 copies); xi, preface; xiii, introduction; 1-372, systematic accounts of 145 species; 373, index; 384, printed engraved printer designation for Taylor and Francis of London; X1r-X2v, extracts from reviews; X3r, request by eminent ornithologists that Buller issue an additional series of colored plates; X3v, blank. Contains uncolored frontispiece drawn and lithographed by G. H. Ford and printed by Mintern Bros, copied from a photograph by A. Baker showing an aborigine with a skeleton of a moa. Also contains 35 unnumbered colored plates drawn by J. G. Keulemans, almost certainly printed and colored by P. W. M. Trap although neither lithographer nor printer are specified.
According to Zimmer, this work was published in five parts from March, 1872-April, 1873. This is the first and most important book on the ornithology of New Zealand and ultimately earned its barrister author a knighthood. However, Buller had already published most of his scientific discoveries in various journals including The Ibis so they did not appear here for the first time. Modern ornithological studies for New Zealand began with the voyage of the Erebus and Terror, the ornithological specimens of which were worked up by G. R. Gray. In 1862, Gray published, in The Ibis, a list of 122 birds for New Zealand and its islands and Buller added another 25 prior to the publication of this book which treats 145 species (some from the old list were deleted). Each species receives the copious kind of treatment typical of these Victorian monographs including synonymy/bibliography; native name; highly detailed descriptions in Latin and English with measurements; distribution; and description of habits, food, nest and eggs for those species for which such information was available. Much of the information is first-hand, unusual for a book of this type. Surprisingly, this work lacks a contents page or a list of plates, as well as an extensive bibliography even though Buller spent much time in England supervising its publication. Buller claims to treat 145 species on page xiii, but, in the second edition, p. xiii, alters that figure in retrospect to 147.
A second edition of this work containing 48 new chromolithographs by Keulemans was issued in 1888 and a supplement to that work was published in 1905 containing 12 lithographs that were hand-colored by the daughters of Richard Bowdler Sharpe. The coloring in the present book has occasionally been mistakenly attributed to them as they were children when it was published.
According to Buller in the second, 1888 edition (p. ix), 500 copies only, of this, the first edition were printed, and were entirely privately subscribed.
Wood, p. 269; Zimmer, p. 114. This edition is also listed by AMNH, Harvard and Yale, but not by Cornell and Trinity.
Buller, Sir Walter Lawry (1838-1906)
A History / of the / Birds of New Zealand //// Second Edition Two volumes. 35.7 x 27.0 cm. Later quarter brown mottled calf-backed marbled boards by J. Desmonts of J. Macdonald Co. Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments. Marbled edges. London, by the author, (1887-)1888. The complete work contains 48 chromolithographs drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans, printed by Judd & Co. Ltd and two uncolored lithographs of Dinornis bones drawn by P. J. Smit, lithographed by E. Wilson, and printed by Judd.
Volume I. π[a]4b-k4i2B-2F42G22H-2K42L2[$1, 2 signed];171 ll. Pp. (2)[i-iii]iv-lxxxiv[1]2250(6, 2K4r-2L2v). π1r, Title; π1v, printed engraved printer designation: Taylor and Francis; i, dedication; ii, blank; iii, contents and list of plates I-XXIV, so numbered here only; v, original prospectus; vii, preface to the first edition; ix, notice of the new edition; xi, preface; xiii, introduction, general; xviii, ancient avifauna; xxxvi, existing avifauna; xlviii, origin of New Zealand avifauna; lviii, contents of volume I, discussion; 1-236, systematic accounts of 55 species of which 47 endemic; Blue-wattled Crow-Carpophaga Novae Zealandiae; 237, supplementary notes; 2K4r-2L2v, extracts from reviews of the first and of this (sic) edition. Contains colored plates I-XXIV, so numbered only in list of plates, depicting 41 species and approximately 73 separate text illustrations. The number is open to question since it depends on what is meant by a separate text illustration which, in my view, can contain several components.
Volume II. πb2(-b2)c4d2(-d2)B-2U42X22Y-2Z43A2; 187 ll. Pp. [i-ii][v]vi-xv(1)[1]2-359(1) i, Title; ii, printer designation; [iii-iv, here absent, according to Mengel, #428, are contents and plates of volume I apparently repeated]; v, contents and plate list of volume II; vii, list of subscribers accounting for entire stipulated edition of 1,000 copies; 1-332, systematic accounts of 131 species, Charadrius obscurus-Apteryx haasi; 333-340, supplementary notes; 341, index; 359, printer designation; Contains colored plates XXV-XLVIII, so numbered only in list, depicting 41 species. Also contains uncolored plates XLIX-L showing bones of Dinornis.
This work was issued in 13 parts from July, 1887-December, 1888. The parts were priced at one Guinea each and the entire set could be bought for 12 Guineas. The entire edition of 1,000 copies was entirely subscribed at the time of publication. In his introduction to the present edition, Buller tells us that he described 147 species in the first edition of 1873 and that 29 more were added in his Manual of the Birds of New Zealand, published in 1882. In this edition, he describes about 186 species, many of which are oceanic. Volume I contains the Passeres, almost all of which are endemic. The present edition expands somewhat on the original, incorporates the numerous species that have been added in the elapsed fifteen years, and provides an interesting introduction with a treatise on Moas and a discussion of the origin of the New Zealand avifauna. The plates for this edition were entirely new and printed by chromolithography rather than as hand-colored lithographs.
A point of interest to me is an acknowledgement by Buller in the Preface to "the talented artist, Mr. J. G. Keulemans, and to his able assistant, Mr. F. van Iterson…." This is the first time that I have heard of such an "assistant" and I wonder what he did, for how long he did it, and what became of him.
This work is not uncommon and I once examined an absolutely stunning set, along with its much rarer Supplement of 1905 in their original wrappers.
Wood, p. 269; Zimmer, p. 115. Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale but not by Cornell.
Buller, Sir Walter Lawry (1838-1906)
Supplement / to the / Birds of New Zealand Two volumes. 35.7 x 27.2 cm. Contemporary gilt-ruled half-blue green (faded) calf and blue pebbled cloth. Spine with five gilt-decorated raised bands, gilt red and gilt brown labeling pieces in second and fourth compartments, respectively. Marbled endpapers, marbled edges. London, for the author, 1905(-1906). Bradley Martin copy with bookplate probably prepared and affixed by Sotheby's when they auctioned his library.
Volume I. [a]4b-f4g2(-g2)1-254[$1 signed]; 125 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-l[1]2-200. i, Title; ii, blank; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, list of illustrations; vi, typographical corrections; vii, preface; ix, introduction, general; xxvii, vanishing forms of bird life; xxxiv, passing of forests; xxxvii, value of state protection; xlii, "the old order changeth" (introduced birds and plants); 1-200, systematic text, Apteryx lawryi-Botaurus poecileptilus, covering about 149 species. Frontispiece is a mounted portrait of Buller engraved by W. A. Cox from a photograph by Elliot & Fry. Contains colored plates I-V, drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans, colored by three daughters of Richard Bowdler Sharpe and by "Mr. Edwards" and printed by John Bale, Sons & Danilsson, Ltd. These plates are protected by blank, full-paper guards. Also contains approximately 32 separate unnumbered, uncolored text illustrations including many from photographs.
Volume II. π21-224232; 92 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-178[179](1). π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r, list of illustrations; π2v, blank; 1-167(1), systematic text, Dendrocygna eytoni-Glaucopis wilsoni, approximately 102 species; 169, index; 179, printer designation: London, John Bale, Sons & Danielsson, Ltd. Contains colored plates VI-XII and 14 text illustrations.
Although both title pages are dated 1905, there is evidence, summarized by Mengel (#433) that the second volume did not appear until well into 1906. I have a memory of having seen individual parts for this work in the same lot at William Doyle's Auction gallery, 12/04/92, as individual parts of the second edition, but perhaps what I saw was the separate volumes in an original paper binding.
The differences in this work from its antecedents are: the order of presentation is reversed so that passerines appear last rather than first; species accounts refer back to the second addition for basic material and here contain only new observations and thoughts; although more species, around 250, are considered, the added ones are ocean birds and vagrants and generally are treated rather briefly; numerous photographs of scenery add a new dimension to the work;
This book was printed by John Bale, Sons & Danielsson and is of better quality than the first two editions. The plates are especially impressive with particularly fine coloring by the Sharpe daughters, probably under direct and close supervision by Keulemans who had always been their mentor in this area.
This work is much rarer than the first two editions and I have read in a bookseller's catalog that the entire edition comprised 250 copies.
Wood, p. 269. Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale but not by Cornell and Zimmer.
Buller, Sir Walter Lawry (1838-1906)(edited and revised by Turbott, E.(van)G.(raham).
Buller's / birds of New Zealand / a history of the birds of New Zealand by Sir Walter Lawry Buller / edited and revised by E. G. Turbott / with colour reproductions of the stone-plate lithographs by J. G. Keulemans from the second edition, 1888. 36.3 x 25.5 cm. Pp. [i-iv]v-xviii[1-2]3-261[262]. Publisher's blue faux leather-backed blue violet clote with gilt pigeon design on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Striking feather patterned blue, black and white endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $25.00 on upper flap. Honolulu, East-West Center Press, 1967.
i, Half-title; ii, uncolored frontispiece of feather design; iii, title; iv, copyright 1967 by Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd, (Christchurch), New Zealand; v, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations; 1, half-title; 3, text; 255, bibliography (of Buller's writings[six entries] and others [59] added by Turbott); 257, index of common and scientific names including those used by Buller and later; 262, colophon: produced by John Weatherhill, Tokyo; designed by Meredith Weatherhill; colour plates engraved and printed by Kinmei, Tokyo; text printed by Kenkyusha, Tokyo; bound at Makoto Binderies, Tokyo. Contains mounted plates (26 x 20 cm) 1-50, printed in color half-tone with running text on obverse and included in pagination. Also contains facsimile title page from second edition and five text figures reproduced from those by Keulemans in the second edition.
This interesting and handsome book combines the "popular history" section for each species from the second edition (1888) of Buller's History of New Zealand Birds with an update by Turbott. Buller made predictions concerning the fate of various New Zealand birds so the juxtaposition is especially interesting. The plates, originally drawn by Keulemans, are reproduced from the chromolithographs of that second edition and, save for a very few instances, are remarkably faithful in their color representation. The entire work was produced in Japan.
This book appeared over several imprints and has been reprinted one or more times.
The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Burgess, Thornton W.(aldo) (1874-1964) (with illustrations in color by Louis Agassiz Fuertes [1874-1927]).
The Burgess bird book / for children 19.5 x 13.5 cm. Pp. [I-vi]vii-xvi(2)1-353(1)(2, advertisements for other Burgess title). Original publisher's blue cloth with double gilt-ruled frame on upper cover containing mounted colored plate of meadowlark. Gilt lettering, green floral design to upper cover and spine. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1922.
I, Half-title; ii, list of books by Burgess; iii, title; iv, copyright 1919; printed in USA; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, preface; ix, contents; xiv, blank; xv, list of illustrations; upaginated leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; 1, text; 343, section title leaf: index; 345, index of English names. Contains 32 unnumbered colored plates throughout including frontispiece, depicting 56 species, each printed in half-tone on one side only, the leaves not included in pagination.
Thornton W. Burgess wrote more than 170 books for children concerning natural history subjects. When I was a child in the 1940s, I eagerly read his column on "the green forest" and/or "the green meadow" in the New York Herald Tribune. He was born and lived on Cape Cod and his books reflected the wildlife of that area. This book was first published in 1919 and was repeatedly reprinted for more than 40 years. It deals with the year of Peter Rabbit and his relationships with birds in the old orchard, the green forest, and the green meadow. Much like Mabel Osgood Wright's Citizen bird (1897), this work disguises the learning process for ornithology and makes it painless. It helped in both books that the illustrations were by an artist of the caliber of Fuertes.
This copy has a very unusual printing error, one I have not encountered elsewhere. The leaves between pp. 46 and 62 contain inappropriate rectos and versos. Page 47 has page 108 as its verso, followed by 109/50, 51/104, 105/54, 55/100, 101/58, 59/96, 97/62. Thus, pages 48, 49, 52, 53, 56, 57, and 60, 61 are lacking and pages 108, 109, 104, 105, 100, 101, 96 and 97 are represented twice. There is a rationale to this error, but it is elusive.
Virtually every North American library has some printing of this book.
Burleigh, Thomas D.(earborn)(1895-1973)(illustrated by Sutton, George Miksch [1898-1902])
Georgia birds 25.3 x 17.9 cm. Pp. [i-viii]ix-xxix(1)[1-2]3-746[747](1). Publisher's light blue cloth with darker blue lettering on spine. Endpapers with pictorial design printed in blue. Top edge dyed blue. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, (1958).
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title page with title printed in blue; iv, copyright 1958; designated "First Edition"; printer designation: University of Oklahoma Press; v, "Georgia Birds has been published in co-operation with the U. S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington D. C., the Georgia Ornithological Society, and the Garden Club of Georgia"; vi, blank; vii, dedication to Herbert L. Stoddard, Sr.; viii, blank; ix, preface; xiii, acknowledgments; xiv, note to subscribers; xv, about the color plates by Sutton; xx, blank; xxi, contents; xxiii, list of paintings; xxv, list of photographs; xxvi, blank; xxvii, list of tables and figures; xxviii, blank; xxix, list of distribution maps; 1, half-title; 3, history of Georgia ornithology by Robert A. Norris; 77, systematic accounts, Gavia immer-Plectrophenax nivalis, comprising around 450 species; 697, hypothetical list (27 species); 703, list of birds originally described from Georgia; 705, bibliography; 733, list of (45) subscribers; 735, general index including English and scientific bird names; 747, note about typography. Contains 35 unnumbered plates printed on one side only in color half-tone and not included in pagination. Facing letter-press for these plates is included in pagination and has printed text on obverse. Also contains six leaves of unnumbered, uncolored photographic plates printed on both sides, displaying a total of13 images, and not included in pagination. Text figures 1-3 including two maps and 12 unnumbered distribution maps are also present.
This is a definitive statement of the status of the birds of Georgia in the mid 20th century. For each entry, Burleigh includes general distribution, status, arrival, breeding and departure dates, and a section on habits and recognition. Burleigh worked most of his life for the Bureau of Biological Survey (Fish and Wildlife Service) and was the author as well of Birds of Newfoundland (1951) with Harold Peters, and of Birds of Idaho (1972). He was a particularly keen field ornithologist, interested in regional variation, and is said to have collected 20,000 specimens during his lifetime.
This work listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
The birds of Burma (Burma Pamphlets No. 11) 18.3 x 12.4 cm. π2[1]82-4852(-52)$1 signed]; 35 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-65. Original decorated card covers (uncolored). Front endpaper map. Calcutta (?), for the Burma Research Society, Longmans, Green & Co., December, 1947. Burma Pamphlets No. 11.
π1r, front endpaper map; p1v, list of 10 previously published Burma Pamphlets; π2vr, title; π2v, first published December, 1947; printed by P. C. Ray at Sri Gouranga Press, Calcutta; 1, birds found in Burma-a brief review; 31, birds in their haunts; 61, the hunting of the snark. Contains half-tone color plates I-VIII after Paul Jones, printed on one side only and not included in pagination.
This work briefly cites by taxonomic group and then by habitat, a high percentage of the birds of Burma. 50 Species are illustrated in poorly printed color plates. Despite the brevity of text, the unidentified author writes with authority. It should be noted that most of the 1,000 copies of Bertram Smythies’ first edition of Birds of Burma were lost during the second world war and the only relatively recent work on Burma’s birds was Herbert C. Smith’s Notes on the birds of Burma (1943), which was always notoriously rare . So the present pamphlet was the only modern available work that described Burma’s birds. And it is better than nothing!
By “snark”, the author means to denote either a bird he has heard and cannot identify or a bird that was recorded many years before and has not been seen since.
OCLC locates about 30 copies.
Burns, Frank L. (Franklin Lorenzo [1869-])
A bibliography of scarce or out of print / North American amateur and trade periodicals / devoted more or less to ornithology 23.0 x 15.1 cm. Pp. 1-32. Tan card wrappers with title printed in black on upper cover. Supplement to The Oologist, Vol. XXXII. No. 7. Albion, N. Y., July 15, 1915. Whole No. 336. A facsimile.
This is a bibliography of obscure late 19th and early 20th century North American ornithological periodicals. These are numbered 1-147 and the author provides numerous interesting details about each including his own judgement in no uncertain terms. Much of the information is bibliographical.
Burns published monographs on the american crow (1895), the flicker (1900) and the broad-winged hawk (1911) and wrote The ornithology of Chester County, Pennsylvania (1919).
The pamphlet was sold to me as a facsimile and the printing is occasionally shadowed, especially on page 17 so I imagine it was copied photomechanically. There is no printed evidence as to when, where, or how it was made.
The original is listed by Wood (p. 273), Trinity and Yale. AMNH and Harvard list what they describe as a "reprint 196-?".
Birds in Mallorca 20.8 x 25.9 cm (oblong). Pi-iv]v-viii1-120. Publisher’s gray buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Color pictorial, price-clipped dust jacket. London, Christopher Helm, (1988).
i, Half-title; ii, dedication; iii, title; iv, copyright 1988; ISBN 0-7470-208-0; typeset by OPUS, Oxford; printed and bound in Hong Kong; v, contents; vi, acknowledgments; vii, foreword by Pat Watkinson Bishop; viii, map; 1, introduction; 5, Cala d’Or; 15, back lanes; 25, marshes of Albufera and Albufereta; 47, Puerto Pollens and Boquer valley; 59, the Ternelles valley; 67, the northern Sierras; 81, Salinas of Levant; 89, Arta mountains; 93, Porto Colom; 101, Casa Veyas and Formentor; 118, list of birds illustrated with their scientific and Spanish names; 119, bibliography (15 entries). Contains approximately 67 and 58 color and uncolored, unnumbered text half-tone pictures, several full-page and many containing multiple figures.
Busby is one of the more cerebral British ornithological artists of the second half of the 20th century. He has said that he was most influenced by R. B. Talbot Kelly and by Eric Ennion and he has adopted their principles of painting what one sees in nature rather than minute details of static birds. Overall, the present work presents well and attractively, the ambiance of a Mediterranean and its bird life.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Yale, but not by Harvard, Trinity.
Butler, Arthur G.(ardiner)(1844-1925)
Birds / of / Great Britain and Ireland / Order Passeres, complete in two Volumes 29.0 x 23.2 cm. Two volumes. Contemporary buckram-backed blue boards, gilt lettering on spine. TEG, others uncut. Hull & London, Brumby & Clarke, Ltd., (1907-1908).
Volume I. π4A-F32[$1 signed]; 108 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-210. A1r, Title; A1v, blank; A2r, "This volume contains..; A2v, blank; A3r-A3v, contents; A4r-A4v, introduction; 3-210, systematic text; 210, printer designation: Brumby & Clarke Ltd., Hull & London. Contains chromolithographic plates of eggs, I-IV by Brumby & Clarke after F. W. Frowhawk (signed), chromolithographic plates of birds, 1-56, almost all signed H. Grönvold. Also contains one uncolored text illustration by Frowhawk.
Volume II. π[A]2B-I32[$1 signed]; 111 ll. Pp. (6)[1]2-216. πr, Title; πv, blank; A1r, "this volume contains…";A1v, blank; A2r-A2v, contents; 1, systematic text; 202, appendix (18 new species); 213, index of birds (Latin and English names); 216, index of egg plates. Contains chromolithographic plates V-VII, VIIa of eggs, chromolithographic plates 57-107 of birds. Also contains one uncolored text figure by Frowhawk.
Butler had written a complete work on British Birds in six volumes (1896-1898) illustrated by Frowhawk with colored pictures of eggs and uncolored pictures of birds. In the present volumes, he drew on the text dealing with Passeres from the antecedent work adding 26 new species, most in the appendix. The plates of eggs also were taken from the earlier work. However, the splendid series of 107 chromolithographic plates were almost all specifically commissioned from Henrik Grönvold for the present volumes. A few of these plates, the Nightingale (unsigned), Coal Tit (signed), Waxwing (signed), Swallow (signed) and Yellow Bunting (unsigned) were done by Frohawk and probably colored copies of the uncolored originals issued with the antecedent work. There may have been one or two others.
The species accounts are discursive but extraordinarily exhaustive including much first-hand information. Butler was an authority on caged birds and includes much material concerned with the keeping of the various species in captivity.
This is a very beautiful book which has been widely overlooked, perhaps because its text had been previously published in a more complete work by the same author. The beautiful artwork and chromatography deserve recognition in their own right.
Mengel, 450; Wood, p. 274; Zimmer, p. 120. Also present at AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Butler, Arthur G.(ardiner)(1844-1925)
Foreign Finches / in Captivity 31.2 x 25.0 cm. [A]4(-1)B-E4F2G-O4P2Q-T4U2V-X4Y2Z-2C42D22E-2O42P22Q-2R42S22T-2U42*U42V4[$1 signed; 25 letter alphabet omitting only J]; 173 ll. Pp. (6)[I]ii-viii[1]2-332. Contemporary brown half morocco, marbled boards. Spine with five gilt-ruled raised ridges with gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments; henna endpapers renewed; London, L. Reeve & Co., 1894. First edition.
A1r, Title partly printed in red; A1v, blank; A2r, dedication; A2v, blank; A3r-A3v, contents; B1r-B4v, introduction; 1, tanagers; 16, typical finches; 48, buntings; 81, grosbeaks; 96, weaving finches; 103, astrilds or waxbills; 164, grass finches; 221, mannakins; 273, whydahs; 294, weavers; 318, typical weavers. Contains 60 unnumbered hand-colored lithographic plates.
The fact that the first gathering contains only three leaves suggested to me that there might be a half-title missing in this copy. However, the Ellis copy described by Mengel (#445) also begins with the title page and has the same number of leaves as this one. Interestingly, in that copy, the contents leaf follows the introduction whereas here it precedes it. Mengel did not describe the signatures in the Ellis copy. According to him, the work was published in 10 parts.
Butler was an authority on British birds and an aviculturalist with a special interest in passeres. In this work, he covers about 80 species. Each account includes a description and the distribution in the wild followed by a variable, often rambling section that usually touches upon some aspects of life history, including song, in the wild and/or in captivity. Butler quotes many correspondents and authors as well as supplying considerable personal lore. The colored plates by Frederick Frohawk, highly praised by some bibiographers, are not nearly so appealing to me as his pictures of British and Hawaiian birds in other publications. The book is probably more useful and of more interest to an avicuturalist than to an ornithologist.
A second edition in slightly smaller format with chromolithographs instead of hand-colored plates was published in 1899. This title is one of the few instances in which I have preferred the chromolithographic over the hand-colored version, at least of my copy, which is not a very good one.
According to Maggs Bros. Catalogue No. 1348 (2003), entry #38, the preface to the third (1904) edition of this work asserts that 350 copies of the first edition were printed and sold at five, and later, eight guineas per volume.
Mengel, #445; Wood, p. 274. This first edition also listed by AMNH, Trinity and Yale but not by Cornell and Harvard.
Butler, Arthur G.(ardiner)(1844-1925)
Foreign Finches / in Captivity Second edition. 27.4 x 19.4 cm. [A]4B4C-X8Y8(-Y8)($1signed)167 ll. Pp. (8=4PL)[i]ii-viii[1]2-317[318]. Original publisher’s (?) purple buckram-backed red cloth. TEG, others uncut. Hull and London, Brumby and Clarke, Limited, 1899. “second edition”.
Pl 1r, half-title; 1v, blank; 2r, title; 2v, blank; 3r, dedication; 3v, blank; 4r-v, contents; i, introduction; 1, tanagers; 15, typical finches; 45, buntings; 78, grosbeaks; 92, weaving finches; 97, whydah-like weavers; 98, astrilds or waxbills; 155, grass finches; 211, mannikins; 262, whydahs; 282, weavers; 303, typical weavers. Contains 60 unnumbered chromolithographs by Brumby & Clarke after F. W. Frohawk, not included in pagination. Contents fail to list plates facing 212 and 222 and lists one (“the weavers”)facing 282 that is not called for.
This work was first published with hand-colored lithographs in 1894. It is a monograph written almost entirely from the perspective of aviculture. The chromolithographs after Frohawk are nicely done.
This edition, Wood, p. 274; Zimmer, 120.
Butler, Amos W(illiam)(1860-1937)
The / Birds of Indiana / a descriptive catalogue of the birds that have / been observed within the state, with an / account of their habits 22.7 x 15.5 cm. [33-Geol]8(-33-Geol1)34-Geol-74-Geol875Geol2[$1 signed]; 337 ll. Pp. [515]516-1187(1). Contemporary very worn idiosyncratic unlettered binding of red cloth-backed black cloth with top and bottom blind-stamped roll devices. (Extracted from the Twenty-second Annual Report [for 1897] of the Department of Geology and Natural Resources of Indiana. Indianapolis, 1898).
515, Title, introduction; 532, bibliography; 549, explanation; 556, systematic list; 1166, hypothetical list; 1182, index. Contains uncolored plates XXI-XXV printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Three are signed J. L. R(idgway). Also contains 112 text figures taken from antecedent works. Pp. 511-514 of the preceding article, Fossils of Indiana, are also bound into this volume.
This is the first truly comprehensive account of the birds of Indiana and covers 321 species systematically. Another 81 species are included on the hypothetical list. Keys to the various groups have been adapted from Robert Ridgway's Manual.. and Coues's Key.. and the illustrations were supplied by C. Hart Merriam from woodcuts in the possession of the U. S. Department of Agriculture where he was a senior executive. The introduction provides an overview of the physiography of the state and a history of its birds including a superb bibliography. For each species, the author provides the AOU number as well as a sequential number for the present list. He gives various local synonyms; a careful description including measurements for both sexes and immatures; overall range; description of nest and eggs; and an extensive discussion of the specific status within the state. Much of the information is first-hand and the work is impressive.
Trinity, p. 50; Wood, p. 274; Yale, p. 49; Zimmer, p. 118.
Butterworth, Elizabeth (text by Low, Rosemary)
Amazon Parrots Stilted with cover size 46.4 x 37. 2 cm, page size 43.1 x 35.4. Pp. (4, blank)[1-8]9-178[179-180 (4, blank). Original publisher's unmarked silken red cloth with green textured endpapers. Housed within black cloth Solander box with white paper labeling piece on spine. London, Rodolphe d'Erlanger, the Basilisk Press, 1983.
1-2, blank; 3, half-title; 4, mounted colored frontispiece; 5, title; 6, copyright; 7, contents; 8, list of plates, frontispiece, I-XXVII; 10, acknowledgements; 11, introduction; 12, notes on classification, characteristics, origin, relationships; 15, topography of a parrot, full-page diagram; 16, distribution with text map; 17, natural history, conservation; 21, avicultural background; 25, species accounts, Amazon agilis-Amazon imperialis, species I-XXVII (misprinted XVII); 164, extinct amazon parrots; 168, glossary; 169, references cited; 176, general index including scientific and English names; 180, limitation leaf signed by Butterworth and Low, this copy, the standard edition and #103/500 for sale; credits: printing, color printing, silk screen frames by CTD Printers, Twickenham, Middlesex; binding by Smith and Settle, Bingley, Yorkshire; Basilisk Press imprint. Contains frontispiece and plates I-XXVII included in pagination and so numbered in list and heading descriptive text. The plates (29.1 x 23.2 cm) are mounted within white silk screen frames. They are printed in what seems a mixture of color half-tone and gravure. The leaves on which they are mounted are printed on the obverse.
This book was also issued in an "exemplary" edition numbered 1-5 containing an original gouache for the work; a "fine" edition numbered 6-30 containing an original watercolor preceding the gouache; and a "special" edition numbered 31-100 containing a hand-colored etching.
This is a an exceedingly beautiful book , lovingly produced by a group of parrot fanciers including author, artist and publisher. Although the monographic coverage includes the usual aspects of biology, distribution (with small maps for each species) and natural history, it is particularly strong in its avicultural perspective. There is a good bibliography. The illustrations are very interesting. They are well printed on matte paper in up to 10 colors and they depict each species in a characteristic posture on a bar or dowel, i. e., as an aviculturalist might imagine it. Various feathered parts that are particularly pertinent to the species in question (e. g., wings, tail, head etc) are shown in even greater detail on the same plate. These features are quite different than those that would pictured by a wildlife artist. The bird is presented as a living object that is unrelated to the natural world, a collection of beautiful colors and feathers that appears designed specifically for our visual enjoyment. This is not exactly my usual perspective about birds and, as might be expected, when I first examined these pictures, I was rather disappointed. Yet something about them fascinated me and made me peruse them repeatedly and the more I did so, the more I liked them. Perhaps this is why Elizabeth Butterworth, who paints a variety of subjects, is so highly regarded as an artist and as a print maker. Before this work, she had already done an unusual set of etchings of parrots, including cockatoos.
In 1993, Erlanger published a set of 12 aquatint engravings after her macaws that was colored à la poupée and finished by hand. The total edition comprised 68 copies of which 50 were for sale at £25,000! I examined one of these sets and I believe that the printing and coloring are at least as good as in the case of the ornithological books by Levaillant. Again, with those macaws, as with these amazons, the perspective is avicultural.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity. Not listed by Yale.
Buttikofer, J. (ohann)(1850-1927)
Zoological results of the Dutch scientific / expedition to central Borneo / the birds 22.8 x 14.7 cm. 10-178182[$1 signed] 66 ll. Pp. 145-276. Later binder’s blue buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Notes from the Leyden Museum, Vol. XXI, 1899.
145, introduction; 151, list of species (1-269, Microhierax fringillarius-Melanopelargus episcopus) Contains chromolithographs 13-15 by P. W. M. Trap impr. after Keulemans. The last page of the extract is dated Rotterdam, September, 1899. Of course, it was actually published in Leyden.
Buttikofer, a Swiss zoologist, was director of the zoological garden at Rotterdam. This publication contains a list of species collected by him and by various assistants and friends (Max Moret, A. W. Nieuwenhuis, L. Westenenk, Mr. Schådler) in a period covering 1894-1899. Altogether, 269 species were collected. Synonymy, color of fresh parts, short description number and location of specimens collected are given for each.
According to Buttikofer, the only surprise amongst the findings was the complete absence of any new species. Only two species were added to the Bornean list. Homogeneity of the Bornean avifauna is inferred since this particular area had never been investigated, yet all its birds had already been found in Borneo and nearby islands. The author lauds Whitehead, Everett, and Hose for the completeness of their antecedent investigations in other parts of Borneo.
OCLC locates only five copies of the extract but the journal is found in many museums and the publication is certainly not rare.
The Richard L. Soffer Ornithology Collection by Richard L. Soffer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.amherst.edu.