Soffer Ornithology Collection Notes (alphabetical by author)

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S

Saemundsson, Bjarna Islensk Dyr III. Fuglarnir (Aves Islandiae)

Safford, R., Hawkins, F.  The birds of Africa Volume VIII, the Malagasay region

Sage, John Hall (1847-1925), Bishop, Louis Bennett (1865-) (assisted by Walter Parks Bliss). The birds of Connecticut.

Salomonsen, Finn (1908-1983[?]) (plates by Gitz-Johansen). Grønlands fugle the birds of Greenland.

Salvadori, Tommaso (1835-1923).  Catalago sistematico degli / Uccelli di Borneo.

Salvesen, K. The Delphi Club guide to the birds of Abaco

Salvin, O. (1835-1898), Godman, F. D. (1834-1919). Biologia Centrali-Americana Aves.

Salvin, Osbert (1835-1898). On the avifauna of the Galapagos Archipelago.

Salvin, Henry Francis (1817-1904) and Brodrick, William. Falconry in the British Isles.

Salvin, Osbert (1835-1898). Central and S. American birds.

Sauer, Gordon, C. (1921-  ). John Gould the bird man: associates and subscribers.

Sauer, Gordon, C. (1921-   ). John Gould the bird man: bibliography

Sauer, Gordon C(henowith) (1921-). John Gould the bird man A chronology and bibliography.

Savi, Paolo (1798-1871). Ornitologia Toscana ossia descrizione e storia degli uccelli.

Savigny, Jules-César (1771-1851). Histoire naturelle et mythologique de l’ibis.

(Savigny, Jules-César[1771-1851]). Description de l'Éypte, ou recueil....

Schinz, Dr. Hans Rufolf(1777-1861)  Naturgeschichte der Vögel 

Schlegel, H(ermann) (1808-1884), and François P. L. Pollen (1842-1886). Recherches sur la faune de Madagascar

Schlegel, H(ermann) (1804-1884). Naturlijke historie van Nederland. De dieren van Nederland. Gewervelde dieren.

Schlegel, H. (1804-1884). De vogels van Nederlandsch Indië, beschreven en afgebeeld.

Schlegel, H. Kritische Übersicht der Europäischen Vögel  Revue critique des oiseaux d’Europe.

Schlegel, H(ermann) (1804-1884). De vogels van Nederland.

 Schmid, Karl. Naturhistorische Beschreibung der Vögel...

Schodde, Richard (1936-) (illustrated by Weatherly, Richard [1947-]). The fairy-wrens a monograph of the Maluridae.

Schodde, Richard (1936-) (illustrated by Weatherly, Richard [1947-]) The fairy-wrens  a monograph of the Maluridae de luxe edition

Schouteden, H(enri)(1881-) Faune du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi.

Schubert, Gotthilf Heinrich von (1780-1860).  Naturgeschichte ...Vögel.

Schulze-Hagen, Karl and Geus, Armin (editors). Joseph Wolf (1820-1899) Tiermaler  animal painter.

Schuster, Wilhelm. Unsere einheimischen Vögel....

Sclater, P.(hilip) L.(utley)(1829-1913) (Hudson, W.[illiam]H.[enry]{1841-1922}). Argentine ornithology.

Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913). Catalogue of a collection of American birds.

Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913) (Thomson. Sir C(harles) Wyville [1830-1882]). Report of the scientific results of the voyage of H. M. S. Challenger...report on the birds.

Sclater, P(hilip) L(utley)(1829-1913). On the curassows now or lately living in the society's gardens.

Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913). A monograph of the birds forming the tanagrine genus Calliste....

Sclater, P(hilip) (Lutley) (1829-1913). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London.  Collection of three extracts.

Sclater, P(hilip) L(utley) (1829-1913). A monograph of the jacamers and puff-birds.

Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913). Nitsch’s pterylography.

Sclater, William Lutley (1863-1944) A history of the birds of Colorado

Scott, William Earl Dodge (1852-1910), et al  Reports of the Princeton University expeditions to Patagonia 1896-1899 Volume II.  1  Ornithology

Scott, William Earl Dodge (1852-1910), et al. Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896-1899  Volume II-Ornithology / Part V, / Psittacidae-Icteridae.

Seba, Albertus (1665-1736) (modern text by Irmgard Müsch, Rainer Willmann, Jes Rust). Cabinet of natural curiosities.

Seebohm, Henry (1832-1895). The geographical distribution of the family Charadriidae or the plovers, sandpipers, snipes, and their allies...

Seebohm, Henry (1832-1895). A monograph of the Turdidae or family of thrushes.

Selby, Prideaux John (1788-1867)  Illustrations  of  British ornithology Vol. II. Water birds

Selby, Prideaux J(ohn)(1788-1867). The natural  history of parrots.

Selby, Prideaux (John) (1788-1867) (Jardine, Sir William [1800-1874]). Series title:  Naturgeschichtliches Cabinet des Thierreiches  von Sir William Jardine / VII. / Ornithologie. / IV Theil: / Die Tauben ....

Selby, Prideaux John (1788-1867). The natural history of pigeons.

(Selby, Prideaux John [1788-1867]). Plate XLVI from plates to Selby's Illustrations of British ornithology.

Selous, E. (1858-1934). Bird watching.

Setha, Tan, Poole, C. A field guide to the birds of Cambodia

Seth-Smith, D. (1875-?). Parakeets.  A handbook to the imported species.

Sewertzow, N. A. (Severtsov, Nicolai Alekseevich[1827-1885), (Menzbier, M.)[Menzbir, Mikhail Aleksandrovich {1855-1935}]. Oeuvres posthumes de Mr. le Dr. N. A. Sewerezow.

Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909), Wyatt, Claude W.(ilmott)(1842-1900). A monograph of the Hirundinidae.

Sharpe, R(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909). A chapter on birds rare British visitors.

Sharpe, R(ichard) B(owdler)(1847-1909). A monograph of the Alcedinidae.

Sharpe, R. B.  The birds of the globe

Sharpe, R(ichard) Bowdler(1847-1909). Scientific results of The second Yarkand mission.

Sharpe, R(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909). Sketch-book of British birds.

Sharpe, R(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909). On the birds collected by Professor J. B. Steere in the Philippines.

Sharpe, R(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909) An  analytical index  to the works of the late  John Gould, F. R. S with a biographical memoir and portrait 

Shaw, Tsen-Hwang  The birds of Hopei Province 

Shaw, Tsen-Hwang  The avifauna of Tsingtao and neighboring districts

Shaw, George (1751-1813) (figures by James Sowerby; introductions by Valmai Hanekl and Ed McAlister). Zoology of New Holland.

Shelley, G. E. (1840-1910). The birds of Africa, comprising all the species....

Shelley, G.(eorge) E.(rnest)(1840-1910). A handbook to the birds of Egypt.

Shelley, G.(eorge)E.(rnest), Captain(1840-1910). A monograph of The Nectariniidae or family of sun-birds.

Shirihai, Hadoram (author) (editors Ehud Dovrat and David A. Christie; illustrator, Alan Harris)The birds of Israel

Short, Ernest H., Lattin, Frank H.(aak)(1861-1937)  Checking list of North American birds  A complete list of the birds of  North America arranged according to the AOU check list

Short, Lester L.(eroy)(1933-) (color plates by George Sandström). Woodpeckers of the world.

Shortt, (Angus Henry [1908-]), Cartwright, (B. M.). Sports afield collection of know your ducks and geese.

Shortt, Terrence Michael  (1911-). Two silkscreen prints, 

Shortt, Terry (Terrence Michael [1911-]). Not as the crow flies.

Sibley, Charles G., Monroe, Burt L. Jr. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world.

Sibley, David Allen (1961-). The Sibley guide to birds.

Sick, Helmut (1910-1991). Birds in Brazil.  A natural history.

de Siebold, Ph(ilipp) Fr(anz)  (1796-1866). Fauna Japonica.  Aves.  1934 edition

Silva, Tony (1960-) A monograph on macaws and conures

Simon, Hilda  The amazing book of birds

Simon, Hilda  Wonders of hummingbirds

Sinclair, Ian and Langrand, Olivier  Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands 

Sitwell, S., Buchanan, H., Fisher, J. Fine bird books  1700-1900  1953

Sitwell, Sachaverell (1897-1988), Buchanan, Handasyde, and Fisher, James (1912-). Fine bird books / 1700-1900 1990

Sjöstedt, Yngve (1866-1948). Zur Ornithologie Kameruns nebst einigen Angaben über die Säugtiere des Landes 

Skead, C.(uthbert)J.(ohn). The canaries, seedeaters and buntings of Southern Africa 

Skead, C.(uthbert)J.(ohn). The sunbirds of Southern Africa  also  the sugarbirds, the white-eyes and the spotted creeper 

Skelding, Susie Barstow (editor), Bridges, Fidelia ([1834-1923] illustrator). Birds and blossoms and what the poets sing of them 

Skinner, M. P. A guide to the winter birds of the North Carolina sandhills  

Skipwith, Peyton (1939-). The great bird illustrators and their art

Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-). Life of the flycatcher 

Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-). The life  of the hummingbird 

Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-). Life of the pigeon 

Skutch, Alexander. F.(rank) (1904-). Life of the tanager  

Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-). Life of the woodpecker 

Slater, Peter (1932-). Rare and vanishing Australian birds

Slater, Peter (1932-). Masterpieces of Australian bird photography 

Slud, Paul (Bentley)(1918-). The birds of Costa Rica distribution and ecology

Small, Arnold (1926-2000). The birds of California 

Smee, Walter. Some account of the maneless lion of Guzerat 

Smith, Andrew (1797-1872). Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa…

Smith, Carol Sinclair Ray Harris-Ching journey of an artist  masters of the wild (series) 

Smith, Frances Mary Isabella (1812-1903 or later) British birds  from nature The Tresco collection of early Victorian paintings and observations

Smithe, Frank B. (1892-1989) The birds of Tikal 

Smithe, Frank B. (1892-1989) Naturalist's color guide

Smithwick, J. W. P. Ornithology of North Carolina  A list of the birds of North Carolina with notes of each species

Smythies, Bertram E.(velyn)(1912-1999). The birds of Borneo 1960

Smythies, Bertram E.(velyn)(1912-1999). The birds of Burma 1953

Smythies, Bertram E.(velyn)(1912-1999). The birds of Borneo 1982

Snelleman, Joh. F. Bijdragen tot de kennis der fauna / van / Midden-Sumatra 

Snethlage, Emilia (1868-1929)  Catalago das Aves Amazonicas contendo todas as especies descriptas e mencionadas ate 1913

Snouckaert van Schauburg, R.(ené)C.(harles)E.(douard)G.(eorges)J.(ean) Baron (1857-1936). Avifauna Neerlandica lijst der tot dusverre in Nederland in wilden staat waargenomen vogelsoorten 

Snow, F(rancis)H(arrington)(1840-1908). A catalogue of the birds of Kansas contributed to the Kansas Academy of Science 

Snow, David (colour plates by Martin Woodcock[1935-]). The cotingas bellbirds, umbrella birds and other species 

Sociedad Antioqueña de OrnitologÍa SAO (Editores: Laura Agudelo, Tomós Cuadros, Walter H. Weber)  Aves del Valle de Aburra

Society for promoting Christian knowledge  Birds of the sea shore

Society for promoting Christian knowledge  Wonders of the animal kingdom Birds

Society for the protection of birds (Dresser, H. E., editor) Educational leaflets

Soderberg, P.(ercy) M.(easday)(1901-). Foreign birds for cage and aviary 

Sotheby’s (Catalogue). Bibliothèque Marcel Jeanson.  Première partei.  Chasse. 

Sotheby’s (auction catalogue). Watercolours and paintings of birds 

Southgate, Frank (1872-1916)  Wildfowl & waders  nature & sport in the coastlands 

Spaulding, Edward S(elden)(1891-).  The quails 

SPCK (Society for promoting Christian knowledge) Wonders of the animal kingdon Birds

Spix, J(ohannes) B(aptist) de (1781-1826). Avium species novae, quas in itinere per Brasiliam annis MDCCXVII-MDCCXX jusso et auspiciis Maxmiliani Joseph I Bavariae Regis suscepto collegit et descripsit

Spratt, Mrs. G.(eorge)  The  language of birds  comprising  poetic and prose illustrations  of the  most favourite cage birds

Sprunt, Alexander, Jr. (1898-1973), Chamberlain, E.(dward) Burnhamm. South Carolina bird life 

(Stecher) Hodgman, Carolyn Stecher (author), Stecher, W. F. (illustrator)  Bird jingles

Stejneger, Leonhard (Hess)(1851-1943). Results of ornithological explorations in the Commander Islands and in Kamtschatka 

Stone, Witmer (1866-1939). The Birds of New Jersey 

Stout, Gardner D. (editor and sponsor[1931-]). The shorebirds of North America

Stresemann, Erwin (1889-1972). Ornitholgy from Aristotle to the present 

Stresemann, Erwin (1889-1972). Die Vögel von Celebes 

Stroud, Patricia Tyson  The  emperor of  nature Charles-Lucien Bonaparte and his world 

Sturgis, Bertha Bement  Field book of birds  of the Panama Canal zone  A description of all the species of the  birds of the Panama Canal zone, with  notes on their habits, call notes  and songs, for the purpose of identifiying  them.

(Susemihl, J. C. [1767-1837], Susemihl, E. E., Schlegel, H.). (Abbildungen der Vögel Europas…

Suthard J(ames), Allen, George A. Jr. The junglefowl, spurfowl & peafowl of the world 

Sutter, Ernst, (1914-) Linsenmaier, Walter (plates). Pariadiesvögel und Kolobris Bilder aus den Leben der Tropenvögel 

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982)  Birds in the wilderness adventures of an ornithologist illustrated by the author, with pencil drawings and field-sketches in color made from living or freshly killed birds 
Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982). At a bend in a Mexican river 

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1980). An introduction to the birds of Pennsylvania 

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982). Mexican birds first impressions …  

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982) Portraits of mexican birds Fifty selected paintings

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982). High Arctic / An Expedition to the Unspoiled North

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1988). Oklahoma birds their ecology and distribution… 

Swainson, William (1789-1855) and Richardson, Sir John (1787-1865). Fauna Boreali-Americana; or the zoology of the northern parts of British America…Aves

Swainson, William (1789-1855). (Zoological Illustrations.  Series 1.  Birds) 

Swainson, William (1789-1855). The ornithological drawings of William Swainson  The birds of Brazil 

Swainson, William (1789-1855) On the natural history and classification of birds

Swainson, William (1789-1855) Animals in menageries

Swann, Harry Kirk (1879-1926) A dictionary of English and folk-names .....

Swann, Harry Kirk (1879-1926). A synopsis of the Accipitres (diurnal birds of prey) comprising species andsubspecies described up to 1920, with their characters and distribution  

Swann, H.(arry)Kirke (1871-1926) (edited by Wetmore, Alexander [1886-1978]). A monograph of the birds of prey / (order Acciptres)

Swaysland, W.(alter, d. 1888[?]). Familiar wild birds 

Sweet, Paul  Natural histories. Extraordinary birds. Rare book selections from the American Museum of Natural History library

Sweet, R. (1783-1835). The British warblers.


Saemundsson, Bjarna (1867-1940) (usually cataloged under "Bjarni Saemundsson")

Islensk Dyr III. / Fuglarnir / (Aves Islandiae).  21.7 x 14.1 cm.  π81-448[$1, 2 signed]; 360 ll.  Pp.  (2, blank)[I-III)IV-XIV[1]2-699(1)(4, blank).  Half faux green leather and marbled boards with gilt rules and lettering on spine.  Gray endpapers of laid paper.  Sprinkled edges.  Original printed brown card wrappers retained.  Inscribed by author on recto of initial blank leaf.  Reykjavik, Bokaverslun Sigfusar Eymundssonar, 1936. 

I, title; II, Férlagsprentsmidjan (printer designation); III, formáli (preface); 1, I, Allsherjarlysing (section on general ornithology); 104, II, Islenskir fuglar (Icelandic birds), introduction; 121, systematic accounts, Turdus iliacus-Podiceips griseigena, comprising about 170 species; 697, corrections; 686, index of Icelandic names; 688, index of Latin names; 691, bibliography (about 130 entries); 698, contents.  Contains uncolored half-tone or line text figures 1-252 including illustrations of almost every species.  Most of the are half-tones reproduced from Hørring, R., Fugle I, I, III, Danmarks Fauna Køvenhavn (Copenhagen), 1919, 1926, 1936.

This work is volume III of a series by the author on the fauna of Iceland.  It is a comprehensive handbook of Icelandic ornithology with a substantial section (pp. 1-104) devoted to basic characteristics of birds including anatomy, physiology and an overview of all families including those not represented in Iceland.  An example of each is illustrated as are all Icelandic species.  The illustrations are poorly printed and mostly reproduced from antecedent publications although a few were drawn by the author himself or copied by him.

The author published numerous works on natural history, particularly fish, and is well represented in major libraries, but this volume seems uncommon.

Listed by Cornell, Ucal.  Not listed by AMNH, BMNH, Harvard, LOC, Oxford, Smithsonian, Trinity and Yale.


 

Safford, Roger and Hawkins, Frank (Plumage descriptions by David J. Pearson, colour plates by John Gale and Brian Small

 The birds of Africal / Volume VIII / the Malagasy region 30.4 x 23.4 cm.  Pp.  [1-7]8-1024.  Original publisher’s Brown cloth with gilt printing on upper cover and spine.  Color pictorial dust jacket. Pink endpapers.  London, Christopher Helm (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing), 2013, first printing.

 1, Half-title; 2, dedication; 3, title; 4, text and illustrations separately copyright, 2013;  ISBN 9780-7136-6532-1; printed in China by C&C  Offset Printing Co Ltd; 5, contents; 8, plate lsit; 9, authorship; 11, acknowledgements; 13, the Malagasy region;  15, physical geography, climate and vegetation; 35, bird species across the region; 52, organization of the book; 58, colour plates (plates 1-48); 107, systematic text; 917, vagrant color plates (plates 49-63; 932, references of original scientific descriptions (about 350); 940, bibliography (more than 2500 references);  1004, scientific index; 1016, English index.  Contains plates 1-63 printed in color half-tone on both sides of the leaves and included in pagination. Also, text maps 1-8 as well as distribution maps for all species.  There are a few unnumbered diagrammatic text line drawings as well.

 This monumental work covers 487 species of which 135 are considered “vagrants”.

 

 

 

 

Sage, John Hall (1847-1925), Bishop, Louis Bennett (1865-) (assisted by Walter Parks Bliss).

The birds of Connecticut   State geological and natural / history survey / Bulletin No. 20 / State of Connecticut / public document No. 47. 22.6 x 14.6 cm.  22.6 x 14.6 cm.  Pp.  (8)[1-7]8-370.  Original gray printed wrappers.  Hartford, printed for the State Geological and Natural History Survey, 1913. 

First preliminary leaf: recto-verso, list of Bulletins; second-fourth leaves, printed recto only, catalogue slips; 1, series title (State geological…); 2, printer designation: The Case , Lockwood and Brainard Co., Hartford; 3, volume title; 4, blank; 5, contents; 6, blank; 7, introduction; 13, catalogue of the birds, Colymbus holboelli-sialia sialis, comprising 334 species (including five introduced); 183, introduced and doubtful species; 190, statistical summary; 196, list of observers; 200, bibliography (more than 800 entries); 259, economic ornithology by Louis Bennett Bishop; 361, index of common and scientific names.

This report on the status of Connecticut's birds follows those by James Linsley in 1843 (A catalogue of the birds of Connecticut…, Am. Journ. Sci. and Arts, xliv, 2, pp. 249-274) and C. Hart Merriam (A review of the birds of Connecticut…[1877]).  It includes dates of arrival and departure for migrants and breeding birds and nesting dates for the latter.  The extensive section by Bennett on the economic value (diet, importance as game) of birds exemplifies the interest and importance attached to this aspect of ornithology during the early 20th century.

Wood, p. 547; Zimmer, p. 537.  Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.


Salomonsen, Finn (1908-1983[?]) (plates by Gitz-Johansen)

Grønlands / Fugle / the birds of Greenland  33.2 x 23.0 cm.  [1]42-144152(-152)164152(-151)16-644[$1, 2 signed]; 254 ll (of text).  Pp.  [1-4]5-607[608-609(1)(2, blank)(including 52 plate leaves).  Parallel texts in Danish and English. Later mottled brown calf-backed marbled boards by James Macdonald Co.  Ejnar Munksgaard, København (Copenhagen), (1950-1951, from colophon).

1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title partly printed in red; 4, copyright 1950; published with the support of the Danish Government; printer designation: F. R. Bording, Copenhagen; 5, Preface by Hans Hedtoft, Danish Prime Misnister; 7, introduction; 13,systematic accounts 68 breeding birds and regular visitors, Colymbus stellatus- Corvus corax; 561, systematic list of all Greenland birds, species 1-224; 577, bibliography (about 540 entries); 595, index of Danish, English and scientific names; 605, contents; 607, list of "planches"; 609, colophon: designed by Børge Christensen and Gitz-Johansen; plates printed "by offset in six colours" by Bernh. Middelboes Reproduktionsanstalt, Copenhagen.  Contains 52 plates printed on one side only in multicolor half-tone with both sides of leaves included in pagination.  Also contains about 77 line vignettes, some tail pieces, most head-piece designs for species accounts.  Lacks designated folding map.

This book was written in first in English and then in Danish by Salomensen who tells us that the parallel presentations are not direct translations.  It was published in three parts, 1950-1951.  The artist, Gitz-Johansen, traveled in Greenland for 17 years and the plates are dated 1933-1948.  Salomonsen was a prolific and scholarly ornithological author.  His library was auctioned by Sotheby's London in 1984 and my copy in original printed boards of Rüppell's Systematische Uebersicht der Vögel Nord-Ost Afrikas comes from it.

Although there is usually a brief commentary concerning identification, the text is primarily concerned with the status and life history in Greenland of breeding birds and regular visitors.  The pictures, which are very well printed, present extraordinarily effective tableaux that are very evocative and full of an obviously special ambiance.  The birds are not drawn in minute detail but they have been very well observed and their visual essences are beautifully expressed. 

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Salvadori, Tommaso (1835-1923)

Volume title: Catalago sistematico / degli / Uccelli di Borneo / di / Tommaso Salvadori / con note ed osservazioni / di / G. Doria ed O. Beccari / intorno alle specie da essi raccolte nel Ragioto di Sarawak   Serial title: Annali / del / Museo Civico di Storia Natural / de Genova / / / Volume V / Agosto 1874 / Genova / Tipografia del R. Instuto Sordo-Muti / 1874 25.7 x 17.4 cm.  [I]8II8III4*61-24825-304[$1 signed]; 242 ll.  Pp. [I-VII]VII-LII[1]2-429[430-432](393 mislabeled 339).  Original gray wrappers, uncut, unopened.  Genoa, 1874.

  I, Series half-title; III, series title; V, volume title; VIII, introduction; VIII, history of Bornean ornithology; XII, species recorded by various naturalists in Borneo; XIV, physical geography of Borneo; XXII, character, geographical distribution and origins of Bornean birds; 1, annotated systematic list; 379, appendix (addition to list); 381, index (Latin names); 431, contents.  Contains six hand-colored lithographs (frontispiece and Tav. I-V) drawn and lithographed by L. Cantu, printed by F.lli Doyen of Torino.  Also contains hand-colored engraved map by and after L. Cantu.

Tommaso Salvadori was amongst the most highly regarded of the “museum” ornithologist of the 19th century, so called because they often worked up specimens collected by “field” ornithologists.  Other noted museum ornithologists of the 19th century included Sharpe, Taczanowski, Oustalet, Temminck, Schlegel, Cabanis and Cassin, to name just a few.

This great and very rare book is the basis of Bornean ornithology.  Salvadori not only worked up the huge collection assembled by Beccari and Doria but also reviewed all antecedent material including that from Motley and Dillwyn.  Here is what Smythies has to say of this work in his Birds of Borneo (1960): p. 540, “the first systematic list of the birds of Borneo”; p. 518, “…fine volume.. recording 392 Bornean species, besides indicating 54 more.. he thought..eventually be found….most..have since been recorded.”

For each species, Salvadori supplies synonymy, general distribution, dates and localities of Bornean specimens, description, measurements and a brief discussion.  The plates, particularly the striking frontispiece of the Bristlehead, are very good.

BM(NH), p. 1794; Cat. Zool. Soc. (1902), p. 574.  Absent from Ayer, McGill, Trinity and Yale catalogs although McGill and Yale list the journal under “Genoa”.


Salvin, O. (1835-1898), and F.D. Godman (1834-1919)

Biologia Centrali-Americana Aves   Four volumes.  32 x 24 cm.  Late 20th century half-blue morocco with buckram sides, spines in six compartments with gilt designs and gilt red morocco lettering piece for title.  TEG.  Printed by Taylor and Francis as indicated on the last page of Vol. III.  (London, presumably published privately by the authors).  All signatures of the text are dated.  Private library stamp partially removed from front endpaper of each volume.

Vol. I.  Text.  1879-1904.  a-e4f2  1-644 [$1, 2 signed]; 278 ll.  Pp.  [i-v]vi-xxxviii[xxxix]xl-xli[xlii-xliii]xliv[1]2-512.  [i], title; [iii], contents; [v], introduction; [xxxix], list of plates; [xliii], errata; 1-512, text.

Vol. II. Text.  1888-1904.  π2 1-744754 (-754)[$1, 2 signed]; 301 ll.  Pp. [i-iv][1]2-598.  [i], title; [iii], contents; [iv], errata; 1-598, text.

Vol. III.Text.  1897-1904.  π2 1-614 626 63-642 652 (-652)[$1, 2 signed]; 257 ll.  Pp.  [i-iii]iv[1]2-459[460-461]462-510.  [i], title; [iii], contents; [iv], errata; 1-459, text; 461-510, index.

Vol. IV.Plates.1879-1904.  a4[$2 signed]; 4 ll.  Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii].  [i], title; [iii], contents; [v], list of plates.  Contains 84 (1-79, 15a, 54a, 58a, 58b, 59a) hand-colored lithographic plates printed by Hanhart (82) and Mintern Bros. and drawn by Keulemans (82) and Neale (2).  Keulemans almost always did his own lithography when he worked in conjunction with Hanhart so most of his plates in this work are autolithographs.

This is almost certainly the most voluminous work on the natural history of a relatively small area that has ever been produced.  The complete set of about 60 volumes covers the flora and fauna of Central America and comprised 257 parts of which 74 deal with birds. 1413 Species are described and 149 are illustrated in the 84 beatiful hand-colored lithographs.  For each species, there is presented synonymy, a description, distribution and a discursive section that covers what is known concerning habits, nesting, eggs and other sundry matters.  Salvin died in 1898 and, according to Zimmer, the wrappers for the ornithological parts after page 184 of Volume III. contain only Godman’s name.  Salvin, particularly, was an expert on neotropical ornithology and had significant field experience in Central and South America.  This is the single most important work that has ever been published on the ornithology of Central America.

Trinity, p. 208; Wood, pps. 360, 549; Yale, p.251; Zimmer, p. 541.

 

 

 

Salvesen, Keith

 

The Delphi Club guide to  / the birds of Abaco  26.0 x  27.4 cm.  Pp. [1-8]9-270(2, blank).    Original publisher’s blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine.  Patterned beige endpapers. Color pictorial dust jacket.  West Brabourne, Kent, Delphi Club Publications, (2014).  Signed on title page by Elwood D. Bracey, Anthony W. White and Bruce Hallett with personal inscriptions “to Richard” from Bracey and White.

 

 1, Half-title with colored photograph of Bananaquit; 2, colored photograph of Black-necked Stilts; 3, title; 4, copyright, 2014; ISBN 978-0-9927933-0-2; printed in Italy by Conti Tipocolor SpA; 5, colored map of Abaco; 6, contents; 9, publisher’s foreword by Peter Mantle; 10,

 

colored photograph of Snowy Egret; 11, acknowledgements; 12, introduction; 15, the birds of Abaco comprising at least two colored photographs, many full-page, and a brief note of text for 115 numbered species; 254, supplement containing small single colored photographs of species 116-163 with very brief notes for a few of them; 264, checklist of the birds of Abaco by Tony White and Woody Bracey including 273 species and nine “exotics” with brief notes of abundance and seasonal status; 269, bibliography with 12 references; 270, index.  Contains, as noted above, numerous unnumbered colored photographs by several individuals including Bruce Hallett and Woody Bracey.

 

 This work is a labor of love with many attractive photographs taken by local residents.  The checklist by my friends Elwood (Woody) Bracey and Tony White is by far the most complete extant listing of the island’s birds and contains much useful information on their present status.

 

 

 


Salvin, Osbert (1835-1898)

On the Avifauna of the Galapagos Archipelago (from first page of article) in Transactions / of / The  Zoological Society / of London / Vol. IX.-Part 9 (from wrapper).  32.6 x 26.8 cm.  3P-3Y4[$1, 2 signed]; 32 ll.  Pp.  447.-510.  Later half blue buckram and marbled boards with gilt paneled brown labeling piece on upper cover.  Uncut.  Original blue printed upper wrapper retained.  London, printed for the Society, 1876. 

447, introduction including history with references to early works and Dr. Habel's account of his visit; 461, short account of recent literature; 463, list (57 species) of birds; 466, summary of birds in each island; 469, variation of species in certain genera and difficulty in setting specific limits; 471, systematic accounts of species; 509, concluding remarks; 510, description of plates.  Contains as frontispiece, plate LXXXIV, a hand-colored engraved (?) map by Edward Weller showing Hubel's route and plates LXXXV-LXXXIX, hand-colored lithographs of birds drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans and printed by M. & N. Hanhart, imp.  Also contains unnumbered fine text woodcuts of specific anatomic features of 24 species or island forms.

Upper wrapper: recto; contains journal title page, year, and cost (32s), but not title or subject of article; verso, cost of available volumes and parts from the Zoological Society.

This is a separate  of an important article that expands and elaborates on one that Salvin had written with P. L. Sclater in the Proceeding of the Zoological Society, 1870, pp. 322-327, describing briefly a collection of birds obtained in the Galapagos by a Dr Habel during a trip in 1868.  The present work describes in detail 57 species, providing for each synonymy; a description in Latin with measurements; distribution; and notes, often extensive, with numerous references to antecedent publications, particularly Gould/Darwin, as well as to Dr. Habel.  The relationships amongst the various forms themselves and between these forms and allied species and genera on the mainland are discussed.

Listed as a separate by Cornell, Trinity, Yale but not by AMNH, Harvard, Wood or Zimmer.


Salvin, Henry Francis (1817-1904) and Brodrick, William

Falconry / in / The British Isles  28.5 x 18.7.  [A]B-T4U2[$1, 2 signed]; 78 ll.  Pp.  [i-v]vi[vii-viii][1]2-147(1).  Later quarter brown mottled calf with marbled boards by J. Macdonald Co.  Flat spine divided by five gilt double rules with gilt lettering in second, fourth and sixth compartment.  London, John Van Voorst, 1855. 

I, title; ii, printer designation; Taylor and Francis; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, contents; vi, errata; vii, list of plates; viii, blank; 1, the eyess or nestling peregrine; 29, training; 43, daily management of hawks; 49, field management of peregrines; 67, capture and training of passage hawks; 79, merlin- and hobby-lark hunting; 87, jer or gyr falcons; 95, other formerly used species; 103, short-winged hawks, goshawk; 111, sparrow hawk; 119, diseases of hawks and treatment; 133, glossary of falconry terms; 137, index; 147, printer designation. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-XXIV protected by thin blank paper guards,  drawn and lithographed by Brodrick and printed by Ford & West, Imp.

This is a classic manual on how to catch, train and use falcons with much personal lore and anecdotal information.  The colored plates are quite good.  A second edition with more and different plates was published in 1873 and the artist, Brodrick, published a set of six large and superbly done hand-colored lithographs entitled Falconers' Favorites

When I bought this copy, it was lacking plate I.  I subsequently acquired what I thought was a trimmed plate I of the second edition and had it bound in.  However, I found, by examining the reproduction in Christine Jackson's Dictionary of Bird Artists (1999), that the inserted plate was actually from the first edition and that the labels pasted onto it designating the artist, subject and printer had been taken mistakenly from the second edition.

This edition seems scarcer than the second.  It is listed by Cornell, Yale and Zimmer (p. 541) but not by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Wood.


Salvin, Osbert (1835-1898)

Central and S. American Birds  3 Volumes.  21.7 x 15.2 cm.  79 Off prints and 15 extracts comprising 582 text leaves with various pagination.  Early 20th century (?) red binder's cloth with black morocco labelling piece on spine containing gilt lettered title as above.  London, various publishers, 1861-1896.  Contains 60 colored lithographic plates by Hanhart after J. Smit (39), J. G. Keulemans (20) and J. Wolf (1).

(Volume 1) 1861-1870.  35 Off prints from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London comprising 201 leaves of text.  Contains 19 colored plates after Smit of which 17 are hand-colored and two are chromolithographs.  Also contains a double-page engraved map and 21 text figures.  The various articles are separated by single unlettered blue wrappers which were presumably those of the unbound off prints.  The off prints are doubly paginated for both the journal volume and, at the bottom in parentheses, for the individual article.  There is a separate recto title page for those off prints where the initial page in the journal is the verso of a leaf. There are three initial blank, lined leaves.

(Volume 2) 1871-1883.  23 Off prints from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London as above comprising 200 leaves of text and 22 hand-colored lithographic plates after Smit (20) and Keulemans (2).  Also contains 13 text figures and a lithographed map as well as three initial blank, lined leaves.

(Volume 3) 1867-1896.  20 Off prints and 15 extracts from The Ibis and one off print from the Annals and Magazine of Natural History comprising 181 leaves of text and 19 hand-colored lithographs after Wolf (1) and Keulemans (18).  Also contains three initial blank, lined leaves.  The various articles are separated by single unlettered ochre leaves that were the wrappers for off prints of The Ibis.  The off prints for The Ibis from 1867-1874 are designated "from The Ibis…" at the top of their first pages and have separate title pages in those instances when the article begins on the verso of a leaf in the journal but do not have separate pagination.  The Ibis off prints from 1889-1897 have separate pagination as well.  The articles from 1875-1888 are all present as extracts and it is possible that off prints were not produced during these years.

Osbert Salvin was a leading English authority on neotropical ornithology during the late 19th century and was the coauthor  with P. L. Sclater of Exotic Ornithology (1866-1869) and with F. D. Godman  of Biologia- Centrali-Americana…Aves (1879-1904) the two most important English books on the subject.  Unlike his coauthors, Salvin was a field ornithologist as much as a museum authority.  The present remarkable collection represents a major fraction of the primary English descriptive material for the species of neotropical birds.  

It is possible, and perhaps even likely that this collection was assembled by Salvin himself since none of the off prints is signed.  If an individual sought, and was given an off print, also known as an author's separate, by the author, the individual usually sought an autograph.  And any individual other than the author who was sufficiently interested in the author to amass as many articles as these, would almost certainly have also sought the author's signature.  Although this collection appears unique, Casey Wood lists one (p. 549), also in three volumes, 1861-1896, that sounds identical.  Indeed, I can't help but believe that this may be the same set which, somehow, escaped from McGill, perhaps foolishly deaccessioned.

How much of Salvin's total original journal oeuvre this collection represents is not clear but presumably it is most, or all of the articles that appeared in the two most respected journals for ornithological contributions, namely the Proceedings and The Ibis.  The few articles over 30 pages in this group were in the Proceedings.  They included Notes on a Collection of Birds from the Isthmus of Panama with P. L. Sclater (1864); On some Collections of Birds from Veragua (1867); List of Birds Collected by Mr. Wallace on the lower Amazons and the Rio Negre with P. L. Sclater (1867); Synopsis of the American Rails (Rallidae) with P. L. Sclater (1868); On some Collections of Birds from Veragua, Part II (1870); Synopsis of the Cracidae with P. L. Sclater (1870); On the Birds of Eastern Peru with P. L. Sclater and E. Bartlett (1873); A Revision of the Neotropical Anatidae with P. L. Sclater (1876); On the Birds Collected by the late Mr. T. K. Salmon in the State of Antioquia, United States of Colombia with P. L. Sclater (1879); On the Birds Collected in Bolivia by Mr. C. Buckley with P. L. Sclater (1879); and On a Collection of Birds from the Yucatan with A. Boucard (1883)


Sauer, Gordon, C. (1921-  )

John Gould the Bird Man: Associates and Subscribers  26.0 x 18.2 cm.  Pp. (2, half-title, recto; portrait, verso)[1-6]7-190(2, signed limitation leaf, 217/300).  Original publisher’s green cloth.  Mansfield, CT, Martino, 1995. 

Title, 1; preface, 3; acknowledgments, 4; introduction, 5; text, 7-190.  Contains half-tone portrait on a photographically reproduced carte de visite.

Dr. Sauer, a dermatologist from Kansas City, spent a life-time tracking down and assembling ephemera concerning the life of Gould.  In this volume, he attempts to list, and provide a limited biography for, anyone with whom Gould had contact, either in person or by correspondence.  The list includes subscribers to his works.

Martino, the publisher, has specialized in reproducing important bibliographical references in limited editions.  Some examples that concern birds are the catalogs of the Ayer, Yale and McGill libraries, Coues’s first three installments, the British Museum (Natural History) catalog and Richard Bowdler Sharpe’s index to Gould’s folios.  There are many others that do not concern birds.  As far as I know, these books by Sauer are the first original works that Martino has published.  Each was issued in a signed, numbered edition of 300 copies.


Sauer, Gordon, C. (1921-   )

John Gould the Bird Man: Bibliography 2  26.0 x 18.4 cm.  Pp.  (4, half-title, title)[i]ii-iii[iv]1-252(6, including two blank leaves and a signed limitation leaf, 154/300).  Original publisher’s red cloth.  Staten Island, Martino, 1996. 

i, Preface,  iii, acknowledgments, iv; portrait of Gould,;1-252, text.  Contains half-tone photographic portraits of Gould and Darwin.

This is a continuation of Sauer’s meticulous attempt, started in his 1982 biography,  to list and discuss every reference to Gould or his works that has appeared in the literature.  Sauer’s addiction to Gould is incredible, but then, so were Gould’s accomplishments which, in my view, come close to meriting such adulation.


Sauer, Gordon C(henowith) (1921-)

John Gould / the / bird man / A chronology and bibliography  27.1 x 17.5 cm.  Pp.  [i-v]v-xxiv[1-2]3-416. Original publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Original prospectus laid in loosely.  London, Henry Sotheran Limited, 1982.

  i, Half-title; ii, uncolored full-page frontispiece; iii, title; iv, "first published 1982 by Landsdowne Editions, Melbourne and Henry Sotheran, London"; credits: designed by David Deakin, Wandiligong; typeset, Savage & Co., Brisbane; printed by the Craftsman Press Pty Ltd, Victoria; Apollo Library Binding, Victoria; v, contents; vi, list of figures and plates; x, list of abbreviations; xiii, preface; xv, introduction; xix, acknowledgements; 1, part one: genealogy of John Gould and Elizabeth Coxen Gould; 11, part two: John Gould's major published works; 87, part three: chronology of the life and works of John Gould; 157, part four: bibliography of John Gould, his family and associates; 394, postscript; 395, index.  Contains: plates 1-36 printed in color half-tone on both sides of 16 leaves, not included in pagination (29 full-page plates, two pages with two plates, one with three); Uncolored half-tone frontispiece and text figures 1-80 of personages, pictures and books.

This is a remarkable work of meticulous scholarship.  Each published work is described in great detail.  The bibliography, which cites most references made to Gould, includes many contemporary reviews and letters as well as a historically oriented explanatory text by Sauer.  It is difficult to imagine a more comprehensive and carefully documented dissection of the life and works of this great ornithologist.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Savi, Paolo (1798-1871)

Ornitologia / Toscana / ossia / Descrizione e Storia degli Uccelli / che Trovansi nella Toscana / con l'Aggiunta / delle Descrizioni de tutti gli Altri / proprj al Rimanente d'Italia  Three volumes.  19.5 x 12.5.  Laid paper, 80.  Contemporary half-vellum, marbled boards with gilt-decorated spine containing black morocco labeling piece.  Pisa, Dalla Tipografia Nistri.

Tomo Primo: MDCCCXXVII.  [*]82*83*61-188198(-198)[$1 signed]; 173 ll.  Pp. [I-III]IV-XLIV1-302.  I, Title; II, quotation; III, introduction; 1, accipitres; 85,  passeres.  Contains anatomical text figures I-IV and 14 unnumbered text ornithological portraits.

Tomo Secondo: MDCCCXXIX.  π21-248; 194 ll.  Pp. (4)1-383[384].  π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r-P2v, author's notice; 1, passeres; 167, gallinae; 211, grallae; 384, errata.  Contains 12 unnumbered text ornithological portraits.

Tomo Terzo: MDCCCXXXI.  π31-148156a-c4d2e-h416817-284292(-292); 208 ll.  Pp. (6)1-296[1-6]7-113(1).  π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r, blank; π2v, publisher's note; π3r-π3v, preface; 1, anseres; 183, appendixes including: 185, appendix to first volume; 212, appendix to second volume; 239, index to Latin names; 263, Italian names; 273, French names; 278, English names; 282, German names; 286, general index; 291, errata; 297, synoptic tables.  Contains five unnumbered text ornithological portraits.

This work is an early learned manual on Italian birds much influenced by Temminck's nearly contemporary manual on European birds, to which it often refers.  The synoptic tables are sometimes considered a separate volume but this is incorrect since their signatures are consecutive with those of the descriptive text and are accompanied by the notation "tomo III".

A detailed overview is given of the characters defining and distinguishing the various orders, tribes (families) and genera.  The species accounts are quite copious and include synonymy, Latin, Italian, French, English and German names, measurements, descriptions in Latin and Italian, range, abundance and habits often including nesting details and diet. 

The portraits are mostly reversed images copied from Bewick.  The execution of the wood engravings is much inferior to that of the originals.

Wood, p. 551; Yale, p. 252; Zimmer, p. 548.  Not listed by Trinity.


Savigny, Jules-César (1771-1851)

Histoire Naturelle et Mythologique de l’Ibis  19.4 x 12.5 cm.  8o.   Printed on laid paper. π8 (-π8[blank])1-148; 119 ll.  Pp.  [i-v]vi-xiii[xiv]1-224.  Near contemporary green calf-backed marbled boards with red calf lettering piece on spine.  Green speckled edges.  Paris, Allais, 1805. 

Half-title, i; title, iii; extrait des questions proposées..v; table des sommaires, xii; errata, xiv; text, 1-123; explication des planches, 224.  Contains six (I-VI) uncolored engraved plates (two folding) by Bouquet after Barraband and H. J. Redouté.  Signed by Savigny on half-title.

Savigny was one of the “savants” who was went to Egypt with Napoleon’s forces.  He was responsible for the ornithological and invertebrate section of the Description de l’Égypte although his relationship to Audoin in writing the ornithological text has never been entirely clear to me.  The present work is rather uncommon and concerns the biology and the role in Egyptian mythology of the Sacred Ibis and the Glossy Ibis.  According to Ronsil, plates II and III, which are anatomical, were drawn and signed by Barraband and the unsigned plates I and IV of the two species were done by P. J. Redouté’s brother, Henri.  The other two plates illustrate hieroglyphics.  The attributions to Barraband on plates II and III have apparently been cropped in this copy which is a bit trimmed.  Some copies, including that of Wood, were issued with the plates (presumably only I and  IV) colored.

Trinity, p. 210; Wood, p. 552.  Absent from Yale and Ayer catalogues.


(Savigny, Jules-César[1771-1851])

Description / de l'Éypte, / ou / recueil / des observations et des recherches / qui ont été faites en Égypte / pendant l'expedition de l'armée Française / publié / par les ordres de sa  majesté l'empereur / Napoléon le Grand. / histoire naturelle, planches / tome premier  Broadsheets.  Laid paper watermarked "Égypte ancienne et moderne" 71.0 x 52.8 cm.  34 leaves, including 31 plates (four colored) as described below.  Later calf-backed henna boards by Jaques Desmonts of James Macdonald Co.  Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1809(-1830[?]).

First leaf: recto, half-title; verso blank.

Second leaf: recto, title; verso, blank.

Third leaf: recto-verso, noms des auteurs qui ont fournis les dessins (Savigny here cited for all 14 ornithological plates.)

Fourth through seventh leaves: mammifères, uncolored engraved plates 1, 3, 4, 5.

Eighth leaf: mammifères, supplément. Uncolored engraved plate 1.

Ninth through 12th  leaves: oiseaux, color-printed hand-finished engraved plates 6, 9, 13, 14 designated Savigny at upper left (as responsible for section).

13th  through 18th leaf: reptiles, uncolored engraved plates 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

19th through 21st leaves: reptiles, supplément, uncolored engraved plates 2,4, 5.

22nd through 34th leaves: poissons du Nil, uncolored engraved plates 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 16, 17, 25, 26, 27.

All plates printed on recto only.

The entire Description comprises nine volumes of text and 10 atlas volumes with an additional text volume for the atlas section.  Some of the atlas volumes are as large as 108 x 67 cm.  The complete set is found bound in as many as 35 volumes.  The work, created by "savants" whom Napoleon sent with his army to Egypt, is the most magnificent of its type that has ever been published.  There were two issues of which that published by the Imprimerie Nationale was the first. The complete publication required almost 30 years of work.

The entire natural history section comprises two volumes of text and two atlas volumes in three containing 244 engraved plates.  Of these, 14 depict birds, 13 after Barraband (with a few figures by H. J. Redouté, though not amongst the four plates here) and the last, plate 14, after Prêtre according to Anker (#418).  Ronsil, in his L'Art Français, p. 50, writes "Les 14 planches d'oiseaux…..les plus grandes qui aient jamais paru en France, sont vraiment superbes, finement gravées sur métal et soigneusement imprimées en coleurs pour certains exemplares déstinés a la Cour."  These few copies containing colored plates were all from the first issue and are exceedingly rare

The text for these plates was to be done by Savigny who is designated as the responsible author in the initial list and on the plates.  For this reason, these plates are often listed under his name.  However, the scant text that was published concerning the plates in 1826 was written by Jean Victor Audouin (1797-1841) and covered only plates 1, 2, 3, 11, and 12.  It was rarely, if ever, available as a separate and was reprinted by the Willughby Society in 1883.  According to Zimmer (p. 549), there was an earlier text  (1809) by Savigny concerning classification of Egyptian and Syrian birds of prey which he could not continue because of failure of his eyesight.

The 14 ornithological plates in the complete work depicted 44 species.  The four here show 18 species.  Plates 6 and 9 are designated "del Barraband", whereas there is no artist designation for 13 and 14. Louis Bouquet, the engraver responsible for many of P. J. Redouté's flowers, is designated on all four of these plates.  Barraband and Bouquet were  collaborators on Levaillant's ornithological books as well.  Bouquet is also the designated engraver for nine of the 13 plates of fish in this collection.

The artist is not designated for most of the other plates in this collection, all uncolored as always.  However, H. J. Redouté, the brother of P. J. Redouté, is specifically credited with eight of the fish plates.

It is not clear whether the 14 ornithological plates were also issued separately from the entire work although the copy of Savigny's text described by Zimmer was accompanied by a suite of the uncolored, unbound ornithological plates.  The complete set of colored plates at the auction of Bradley Martin's library (lot 187) was also loose and without wrappers.  It contained the same watermark as these plates.

It is usually not possible to tell from a description of the complete Description whether it is one of the few examples with the plates of birds colored.  High-end auction houses pay more attention to this detail than do institutional libraries which are often unaware that such copies exist.  Most major libraries do carry part of the large work.

Anker, 438 (colored); Martin, lot 187 (colored); Wood, p. 552 (colored); Zimmer, p. 549, uncolored.


Schinz, Dr. Hans Rufolf(1777-1861)

Naturgeschichte / der Vögel  32.4 x 22.4 cm. π21-7212-7228-19220-414422(- 422)[$1 signed]; 143 ll.  Pp.  (4)[I]II-XXVII(1)[1]2-253(1).  Later half-brown oasis goatskin and tan buckram by Potomac Binding. Spine with five gilt-enclosed raised ridges, gilt lettering in second, third and sixth compartments, gilt designs in fourth and fifth.  Zweite umgearbeitete und sehr vermehrter Auflage.  Zürich, Verlag von Franz Hanke, 1853

Π1r, title; Π1v, blank; Π2r, Vorwort; Π2v. Register; I-XXVII, Einleitung; 1-253, systematic coverage with texts for all pictured species.  Contains lithographed Taf. A-F, 1-85, 95-96, 97-120, all save A, B, 100, colored (by hand).  Lacks 86-94, 97.

This work provides a general overview of ornithology using the Linnaean nomenclature and the classification scheme of Temminck.  Representative species are considered within orders and families but there are no generic distinctions i. e. all woodpeckers are Picus species.  For those species selected for illustration, Schinz provides a careful description, length measurement, distribution, and whatever he knows concerning life history.  Some, but not all the figures are  taken from antecedent works.  The artist and lithographer are not identified.

The first edition (1830) contained 144 hand-colored lithographic plates drawn and lithographed by J. Brodtmann.  Many of the pictures here are copied from those on new lithographic stones. 

Wood, p. 353; Zimmer, 552.  This edition also listed by Cornell, Yale, Trinity.  Although all refer to the present edition, all save Wood give the date as 1854 instead of 1853.  Zimmer writes that the last of the 21 Lieferungen appeared in 1853 but that the title was dated 1854, not the case with the present volume.

 


 

Schlegel, H(ermann) (1808-1884), and François P. L. Pollen (1842-1886) 

Recherches / sur la / Faune de Madagascar / et de / ses Dependances, / D'Apres les Decouvertes / de / François P. L. Pollen et D. C. Van Dam / 2ème Partie (from series title page) Mammifères et Oiseaux  (from volume title page)  29.7 x 21.6 cm.  [a]4b4c21-22423-242252(-252)[$1, 2 signed]; 103 ll.  Pp.  [I-X]XI-XIX(1)[1]2-186.  Contemporary French red half morocco, marbled sides.  Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments, gilt Lilford Crest in sixth.  Marbled endpapers with bookplate of Colonel PH. Milon on upper pastedown.  TEG.  Leyde(n), J. K. Steenhoff, (1867-)1868. The Lilford / Milon copy.

  I, Series title page; II, printer designation; Leyde, E. J. Brill; III-IV, dedication to Guillaume III; V, volume title page; VI, blank; VII, list of subscribers (45 accounting for 57 copies); IX, introduction; X, commentary on Hartlaub's 1861 Synopsis of the Birds of Madagascar; 1, mammiferès; 30, oiseaux, systematic text; 152, birds introduced into Mascarenes; 156, list and island distribution of all birds (237 species); 162, established introduced birds; 163, list of extinct birds; 164, list of Madagascar mammals at Musée des Pays-Bas; list of Madagascar birds at Musée des Pays-Bas; 167, table of local vernacular names of birds and mammals; 172, list of birds and mammals collected by Van Dam in 1867; 173, description ov Vanga polleni, Schlegel; 175, explanation of plates; 177, alphabetical index of all names; 185, index of Latin names in systematic order. Contains lithographed plates 1-40 by P. W. M. Trap after Schlegel (lithographed by Keulemans).  Plates 1-10 (eight colored, two anatomical) of mammals, 11-40, colored, of birds.

The four volumes in this important series on the natural history of Madagascar were published (1868-1876.  There were to be five parts but part III was never issued.  On the verso of the upper endpaper of this volume are some notes in pencil by Colonel Milon concerning the history of publication of the series.  Milon, a Frenchman, was an authority on Madagascar and published a book on its birds as volume 35 of the series Faune de Madagascar, in 1973.  He was also a bibliophile with a major collection of books on Madagascar and on natural history.

The present volume was issued in four parts, the first three in 1867, the last in 1868.  According to Zimmer, "numerous new species are described, but some of these were previously described in other places."  The descriptions of birds include synonymy, color of soft parts, status, and a variable, at times extensive discussion of life history.  At the time this book was written, the only significant previous publication on the birds of Madagascar was the pioneering report by Hartlaub.  However, the present contribution was shortly succeeded by that of Grandidier and Milne-Edwards as the authoritative reference to this extraordinary avifauna.

The illustrations in this volume are of special interest to me because they represent the first major commission for my favorite ornithological artist, J. G. Keulemans, who had just been "discovered" by Schlegel who, as quite a successful artist in his own right, had a discerning eye for artistic talent in depicting birds.  The ambition of the young Keulemans is evident from the fact that many of these plates bear, within their images, the lithographed initials "JGK", sometimes followed by a "lith" sometimes not.  Schlegel's name does not appear at all on these plates and Keulemans role was strictly that of lithographer. 

This book can be found listed under Schlegel and/or Pollen. Although present in most major libraries, it is now difficult to find.

Wood, p. 522; Zimmer, p. 494.  Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard and Yale but unlisted by Trinity.


Schlegel, H(ermann) (1804-1884).

Naturlijke Histoie / van / Nederland. / De Dieren van Nederland. / Gewervelde Dieren  22.2 x 13.3 cm.  Text section: π41-485412-168χ4[$1, 2 signed]; 172 ll.   Pp. (6)[i]ii[i2]ii2-lxxi(1)[1-3]4-263(1).  Later quarter brown blind roll-ruled calf, marbled boards.  Spine with four raised bands demarcated by blind roll rule designs.  Gilt lettering in second and third compartments, blind design in other three.  Marbled edges.  Haarlem, A. C. Kruseman, 1860.

  π1r, Series half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, series title; π2v, blank; π3r, volume title (omits Naturlijke Historie van Nederland); π3v, blank; [i]-ii, contents; i2-lxxi, introduction, including various seasonal lists; 1, title leaf for systematic section; 3, systematic overview of families and species.  Plate section: title leaf "Vogels", verso blank,  followed by 53 plates, each with an accompanying leaf of explanatory letter-press.  The first 18 plates are numbered I-XVIII on the sheet of letter-press, but 1-18 on the plates.  They comprise habitat scenes with small figures of birds placed in appropriate spots. Of these 18 habitat plates, 16 are chromolithographs, the other two are tinted lithographs.  These are followed by 35 hand-colored lithographed plates depicting heads of all the species of the Netherlands.  They are numbered 1-35 on both the leaves of letter-press and the plates.  The printer of the plates is not designated.

This is the ornithological section of a series on the natural history of The Netherlands.  The accounts of birds are discursive and written at a popular level.  Schlegel, the successor to Temminck as the doyen of Dutch ornithology,  had previously (1854-1858) written and illustrated a more complete work on Dutch birds, De Vogels van Nederland beschreven en afgebeeld,  with 362 colored plates.

Schlegel was an excellent artist, and the heads are very well hand-colored in this original edition making the portraits amongst the best of this genre of that I have seen.  The habitat plates, on the other hand, are poorly produced. There was a second edition published in 1868 and I have an edition from 1878 in which the heads are colored by chromolithography and are much less impressive.  These plates were also used by James Harting to illustrate the second (1901) edition of his Handbook of British Birds.

Wood, p. 554; Zimmer, p. 556.  Listed by AMNH, Cornell (with date 1861-1862), Harvard (with date 1862) and Trinity.  Unlisted by Yale.


Schlegel, H. (1804-1884)

De Vogels van Nederlandsch Indië, Beschreven en Afgebeeld     Les Oiseaux des Indes Nederlandaises, Décrits et Figurés  32 x 24 cm.  Three parts in one volume. π (general title) 1-54 1-104x2  1-8492 (+93 )[$1 signed]; 98 ll.  Pp. [1]2-38[39, index, 40]; [1]2-79[80][81-84, index]; [1]2-68[69-70, index].  Original pebbled green decorated cloth with gilt title on upper cover.  Rebacked with original gilt lettered spine laid down.  Leiden, E. J. Brill and Amsterdam, G. L. Funke (1863-1866). 

Contains 50 hand-colored lithographed plates by P. W. M. Trap (pittas, 1-6; diurnal birds of prey, 1-28; kingfishers, 1-16.)  Among the plates, 19 of those depicting hawks are signed by J. Smit.  The remaining 31 were presumably drawn by Schlegel himself.  Private library stamp partially removed from front endpaper.

According to Zimmer, this work appeared in three parts in 1863, 1864 and 1866.  These three parts deal respectively with pittas, diurnal birds of prey and kingfishers.  Each is presented in both Dutch and French.  Schlegel was a highly regarded German-born ornithologist who was a protégé of Conrad Temminck and succeeded him as director of the Rijksmuseum (the Museum des Pays Bas.)  He and Temminck sent many young ornithologists to collect in the Indies but did not undertake this perilous task themselves.  The text provides exhaustive museum-based descriptions as well as distributions.  The plates each depict several individuals of two or three species.  The figures are thus rather small but they are well drawn, for the most part by Schlegel, an excellent draughtsman who never signed his drawings.  Joseph Smit seems to have drawn some of the hawks.

Trinity, p. 212; Wood, p. 554; Yale, p. 254; Zimmer, p. 556.


Schlegel, H.

Kritische Übersicht der Europäischen Vögel  Revue Critique des Oiseaux d’Europe 23 x 15 cm.  Two parts in one volume.  Preliminaries and text with parallel columns in both German and French. Contemporary half-calf, marbled boards and end papers.  Leiden, A. Arnz, 1844

First part;π5 1-8894  [1 signed]; 73 ll.  Pp. (10)[I]II-CXXXV(1).  π1r, half-title in both languages; π1v, German title page; π2r, French title; π2v, German dedication to Temminck; π3r, French dedication; π3v, blank; π4r-π4v, foreword in both languages; π5r, subtitle in both languages;

Second part; π 1-7882  [$1 signed]; 59 ll.  Pp. (2)[1]2-116. πr, subtitle (zweite Abtheilung. / seconde partei) in both languages; π1v, blank; 1, text.

In the forward to this work, Schlegel explains that Temminck, to whom he has dedicated it, has delegated to him the job of supplying the text for Süsemihl’s Abbildungen. He states further that he intends to take the opportunity to provide a catalogue raisonné for all the birds of Europe.  However, the text here is clearly not that for Süsemihl's Abbildungen since  that text ends in midsentence and contains 116 pages (coincidentally the same number as here in part II) devoted exclusively to diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey (not the case here). 

The first part of this work is a list of European birds with their names in Latin, German and French, their distributions, and original citations to them, as well as references to any published illustrations.   The second part elaborates extensively on various geographical forms.  This work makes reference to certain subspecies by using trinomial designations (eg Circus cinareaceus pallidus, Larus ridibundus minor, Hirundo rustica orintalis).  According to Zimmer, it and Schlegel’s ornithological section of "Fauna Japonica", published simultaneously, were the first to use trinomial nomenclature for geographical subspecies.

Trinity, p. 211; Wood, p. 554; Yale, p. 254; Zimmer, p. 554.


Schlegel, H(ermann) (1804-1884)

De vogels/ van / Nederland /// Tweede herziene druk. Two volumes in one.  22.0 x 14.8 cm.  Publisher's blue-green cloth with ornate black and blind decorative frame and central gilt design of swan on upper cover.  Rebacked, original spine laid down containing gilt lettering, black-ruled panels, gilt lettering and designs.  Lime-colored endpapers with blue reticular pattern.  Amsterdam, G. L. Funke, 1878.

Erste Deel  π31-485412-8894[$1 signed]; 107 ll.  Pp.  (4)[I]II[I2]II2-LXXI(1)[1-3]4-135(1).  π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, blank; π3r-π3v, contents; I2, introduction; 1, systematic account of wild birds, raptors through finches.  Contains chromolithographic plates 1-17 of heads, each with overlying thin leaf of identifying letter-press all not included in pagination.  Artist and printer not specified.

Tweede Deel  π31-88χ8; 75 ll.  Pp.  (4)[I]II[1]2-136, 129-136, in duplicate by printer's error.  π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, blank; π3r-π3v, contents; 1, systematic accounts of wild birds, gallinules through terns; 113, domesticated birds; 129, Dutch and Latin names.  Contains chromolithographic plates of heads 18-35 and lithographed habitat plates I-XVIII of which 16 in chromolithography, the other two tinted.  All plates with overlying thin sheet of letter-press.  Plates and letter-press not included in pagination.

The original edition of this work was part of a series on Dutch natural history and was published by A. C. Kruseman in 1860.  That edition had beautiful hand-colored plates of heads.  The first edition published by Funke appeared in 1868 and this appears to be a second printing of that edition.  The artist and printer are not specified.  According to Anker (445), Schlegel was the artist (certainly for the heads) and P. W. M. Trap was the printer for the original (1860) edition.  The heads here are not nearly so well colored as in that work.  The series of habitat groups was done by poor chromlithography in both editions.  The heads were used again by James Harting to illustrate the second edition (1901) of his Handbook of British Birds.

This book is targeted to a popular audience and gives rather superficial overviews of the various families of birds and the species they comprise that are found in the Netherlands. A section on domesticated birds is certainly unusual.  Schlegel had previously written a much more complete account of Dutch birds, De vogels van Nederland beschreven en afgebeeld with 362 colored plates (1854-1858).

Wood, (p. 554) calls this edition " A second, enlarged edition of this well-known treatise on the birds of the Netherlands".  However, this edition seems textually very similar or identical to the 1860 edition which was issued as a single volume with consecutive pagination. 

Wood, p. 554.  This edition not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.


Schmid, Karl

Naturhistorische / Beschreibung / der / Vögel / nach den neuesten Hilfsquellen systematisch bearbeitet, und zum gemeinnützigen / Gebrauche entworfen  26.5 x 20.8 cm.  1-208212(-211)[$1, 2 signed]; 81 ll.  Pp.  [1-5]6-160, 163-164 (lacking 161/162).  Contemporary brown textured paper-covered boards backed and tipped with brown leather.  Lighter leather faded gilt lettering piece on spine.  Marbled endpapers.  München, , Verlag der lithographischen Kunst-Anstalt, 1818. Bradley Martin copy with bookplate affixed by Sotheby's for sale of his library.

1, Title; 2, blank; 3, foreword dated 26, February, 1817; 5, introduction; 10, systematic annotated list of Ordnungen, Gattungen, Hauptfamilien and representative species, ostrich through penguins.  Contains additional lithographed title leaf and 141 uncolored lithographed plates numbered I-XXI, XXI*,  XXII-CV, CVII-CXIV, CVI, CXV-CXL.

This work is commonly referred to as an incunable of lithography for ornithological books.  James Forbes produced a few hand-colored lithographs including two pertaining to birds in his Oriental Memoirs (1813), however, the present volume is certainly the first substantial collection of lithographed plates depicting birds.  These were drawn by Michael Schmid (also known as Schmidt), the brother of the author.  He did the colored lithographs for Spix's Avium…(Munich, 1824-1825) as well.  The plates in the present work were largely copied from or inspired by those from antecedent works by Audubert, Buffon, Latham and Levaillant among others.  The text defines the various systematic categories and lists many representative species describing a few briefly.  The information  varies for the different species but always includes a description with length, distribution and, if possible, comments on nesting. 

Although the title page and the listing in the catalog of the BMNH call for 140 plates, this copy has 141, the extra plate being XXI*, an ani.  According to catalog 257 (1990) of Antiquariaat Junk in which a copy (with 141 plates) of this book is offered, it is discussed by Winkler on page 775 of "Die Frühzeit der deutschen Lithography"(sic).

This book is rare.

BM(NH), p. 1843; Trinity, p. 212.  Not listed by AMNH, Ucal, Cornell, Harvard, LOC, Oxford, NYPL, Smithsonian, Wood, Zimmer.


Schodde, Richard (1936-) (illustrated by Weatherly, Richard [1947-])

The / fairy-wrens / a monograph of the Maluridae  36.2 x 26.7 cm.  Pp.  [1-4]5-203(1).  Original publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettering to spine.  Blue endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Original publisher's prospectus laid in loosely.  Melbourne, Landsdowne Editions, 1982. 

1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title page with uncolored illustration; 4, "first published 1982"; ISBN 0 7018 1051 3; credits: designed by David Deakin, Wandiligong; typeset by B & D Monographic Pty Ltd, Adelaide; printed by the Craftsman Press, Victoria; bound by Apollo Binding Library, Victoria; 5, artist's note; 6, blank; 7, foreword by Lester Short, American Museum of Natural History; 8, blank; 9, contents; 10, acknowledgements; 11, introduction; 15, the family of fairy-wrens, general considerations; 24, systematic accounts of 26 species; 186, prospects for survival; 189, bibliography (about 600 entries); 198, glossary of technical terms; 203, diagram of a bird.  Contains: 36 unnumbered, full-page plates, printed in color half-tone and included as part of the paginated text; approximately 105 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text illustrations, four full-page, many depicting several birds; distribution maps for every species and three additional maps.

The fairy-wrens, restricted to New Guinea and Australia and quite secretive,  are amongst the most attractive and least appreciated of birds of the world.  They deserve an outstanding monograph and this is it.  The work is beautifully illustrated with superb colored plates depicting each species in its typical habitat and with numerous original sketches of the birds engaged in dynamic activities with characteristic postures, and of plants and some animals as well.  The text could not be more complete.  For each species sections are devoted to: history of discovery; plumages of all stages; distribution; group behavior and routines; food; voice; display; breeding; variation and subspecies.  The taxonomic of the family is also extensively discussed.

The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.

 


 

Schodde, Richard (1936-) (illustrated by Weatherly, Richard [1947-])

The / fairy-wrens / a monograph of the Maluridae  36.2 x 26.7 cm.  Pp.  [1-4]5-203(1).  Original publisher's full blue morocco with gilt design of fairy wren on upper cover and gilt lettering to spine.  Blue endpapers. Melbourne, Landsdowne Editions, 1982. 

1,  Limitation leaf, 264/500, signed by both author and illustrator; 2, mounted color frontispiece of Campbell’s Fairy Wren penciled 264/500; 3, title page with uncolored illustration; 4, "first published 1982"; ISBN 0 7018 1050 5 (limited edition); credits: designed by David Deakin, Wandiligong; typeset by B & D Monographic Pty Ltd, Adelaide; printed by the Craftsman Press, Victoria; bound by Apollo Binding Library, Victoria; 5, artist's note; 6, blank; 7, foreword by Lester Short, American Museum of Natural History; 8, blank; 9, contents; 10, acknowledgements; 11, introduction; 15, the family of fairy-wrens, general considerations; 24, systematic accounts of 26 species; 186, prospects for survival; 189, bibliography (about 600 entries); 198, glossary of technical terms; 203, diagram of a bird.  Contains: colored frontispiece 264/500 and 36 unnumbered, full-page plates, printed in color half-tone and included as part of the paginated text; approximately 105 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text illustrations, four full-page, many depicting several birds; distribution maps for every species and three additional maps.

The fairy-wrens, restricted to New Guinea and Australia and quite secretive, are amongst the most attractive and least appreciated birds of the world.  They deserve an outstanding monograph and this is it.  The work is beautifully illustrated with superb colored plates depicting each species in its typical habitat and with numerous original sketches of the birds engaged in dynamic activities with characteristic postures, and of plants and some animals as well.  The text could not be more complete.  For each species sections are devoted to: history of discovery; plumages of all stages; distribution; group behavior and routines; food; voice; display; breeding; variation and subspecies.  The taxonomy of the family is also extensively discussed.

The present limited de luxe issue differs from the trade edition only in the binding and that the limitation leaf with the limitation statement on recto and mounted frontispiece on verso replaces the half-title sheet.

The trade edition of the work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Schouteden, H.(enri)(1881-)

Faune du Congo Belge / et du / Ruanda-Urundi  Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Tervuren (Belgique) / Série in 8Sciences Zoologiques.  Three ornithological volumes, complete.  27.9 x 18.9 cm.  Original printed gray wrappers.  Tervuren.

III. (of Faune…series)-Oiseaux non passereaux  1954. Volume 29 of Sciences Zoologiques.  Pp.  [I-VI]VII-XXIV1-434.  I-II, blank; III, series and volume half-title; IV, blank; V, series and volume title; VI, blank; VII, introduction; 1, key for determination of orders; 5, systematic text including family, generic and specific keys; Struthioformes-Piciformes; Struthio camelus-Thripias xantholophus; 415, complementary notes; 417, alphabetical index of latin generic, specific and race (subspecific) names; 431, table of contents.  Contains uncolored text figures 1-209 including map, photographs of habitats and specimens, line drawings and half-tone drawings, most of the latter by V.(ictor) G.(arner) L.(ogan) Van Someran (1886-), most undated, a few dated early 20th century.

IV.-Oiseaux passereaux (1).  1957. Volume 57 of Sciences Zoologiques.  Pp.  [I-VI]VII-VIII1-314[315](1).  I-II, blank; III, series and volume title; IV, blank; V, series and volume title; VI, blank; VII, avant-propos; 1, systematic text, Eurylaimidae-Pseudochelidonidae, Smithornis capensis-Pseudochelidon eurystomina; 299, list of French and Flemish names referenced to Latin names; 313, alphabetical index of Latin names for this volume; 313, contents; 315, "sorti de presse en décembre 1957".  Contains text figures 1-161, almost all uncolored half-tones after Van Someran.

V.-Oiseaux passereaux (2)  1960.  Volume 89 of Sciences Zoologiques.  Pp.  [1-6]7-328.  1-2, blank; 3, series and volume half-title; 4, blank; 5, series and volume title; 9, systematic text, Dicruridae-Fringillidae, Dicrurus assimilis-Fringillaria tahapisi; 309, list of French names referenced to Latin; 313, addenda to volumes I and II (sic, he means volumes III and IV which are, in effect volumes I and II of birds); 315, index to volume III (sic); 323, conclusion; 337, contents.  Laid in loosely is a slip explaining that the date of issue of this volume was 30 June, 1960, the same as that of Congo independence and that new geographical names have not been used in the volume.  Contains text figures 1-197, virtually all after Van Someran.

In 1948 the author began a series, De Vogels van Belgisch Congo en van Ruanda-Urundi, that eventually (1960) ran to about 1500 large-format pages in 10 parts (four volumes) published in the Annales du Musée…Série in 4o  Sciences Zoologiques.  That work was published in Flemish.  He describes the present work as a French resumé, shortened by omission of detailed material and of range maps. 

For every species in this most bird-rich section of Africa, he provides the following: description with measurements; habitat; distribution; and subspecies.  Unfortunately, the illustrations are uncolored.  Most of the information is based on the superb collection of skins at the Musée Royal du Congo Belge, which, by 1960, numbered more than 100,000 specimens.

Schouteden made many contributions to various aspects of central African zoology and this work on the relatively undocumented but very rich avifauna is an important one that has been often overlooked because it followed the well known four-volume series in English by Chapin.

Listed by Yale.  Cornell and Trinity list the large-format Flemish set but not this one.  AMNH and Harvard list neither.


Schubert, Gotthilf Heinrich von (1780-1860)

Series title: Naturgeschichte / des / Thier-, Pflanzen- und Mineralreichs / in colorierten Bildern nebst erläuteren Text / Erste Abtheilung / Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs / in drei Theilen / mit 696 Abbildungen  auf 90 Tafeln / II. Theil: / Vögel  Volume title: Naturgeschichte der Vögel / mit 195 colorierten Abbildungen afu 30 Tafeln / zum / Anschauungs-Unterricht für die Jugend / in / Schulen and Familien / mit einer Vorrede / von Dr. Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert Pp.  No signatures.  (6)[1]2-11[12][I]II.  All text and plates mounted on guards.  Half-black, unlettered morocco and marbled boards with original pictorial cover title mounted on upper cover. Sechste Auflage.  Esslingen, J. F. Schreiber, 1871.

First preliminary leaf: recto, volume half-title; verso, series title; second leaf: recto, volume title; verso, rights statement; notice of wall-chart edition for world-wide distribution; printer designation: J. F. Schreiber, Esslingen; third leaf: recto, preface by Schubert to first edition; verso, preface by Schubert to second and subsequent editions, these prefaces written in Munich and undated; 1-11, explanatory text for plates; 12, advertisements for Schreiber's other volumes with colored plates; printer designation; I-II, index of German names for the three volumes (I, mammals; II, birds; III, amphibia) of Schubert's Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs; printer designation.  Contains double-page, framed colored plates (about 26.5 x 36.0 cm) I-XXX printed in chromolithography with some hand-coloring on one side only and displaying about 195 species.

Nissen (No. 836) implies that the first edition of this ornithological volume for children was  published in 1861 but that seems unlikely since Schubert wrote the prefaces for the first and second editions and, according to both Nissen and Wood, died in 1860.  The bird volume was only one of a large series illustrating the natural history of the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms.  The plates in these volumes were produced by the same firm that did those for Adam White's contemporary The instructive picture book…  but the artists were different and there was much more hand-coloring in White's book (or at least in my edition of it) than here which is mainly chromolithography.  Some of these plates are designated C. Votteler, lith; Ch. Votteler lith; and A. Rapp, lith.

Schubert has been characterized as a "romantic philosopher" and was a prolific author on an extraordinary variety of subjects, including, for example, the symbolism of dreams.  Cornell lists 40 entries under his name.  Many of his works were reissued in the late 20th century.  Yale describes an American (Boston, S. R. Urbino, 1869), translated edition of his Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs.  Although the present volume is certainly not rare, no edition of it is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity or Yale.

Nissen, No. 836; Wood, p. 555(ninth edition, undated).


Schulze-Hagen, Karl and Geus, Armin (editors) 

Joseph Wolf (1820-1899) / Tiermaler . Animal Painter 29.0x 24.0 cm. Pp. [104]5-361[362](10, advertisements); 186 ll. Original publisher's pictorial boards with white gyrfalcon on upper cover, portrait of Wolf on lower cover, white lettered printing on upper cover, lower cover, spine. Marburg, Basilisken-Presse, 2000.

1, Colored vignette; 2, exhibition sites and dates; 3, title; 4, copyright, publication and production data; 5, contents; 6, lenders; 7, prefaces by editors and institutional officials; 17, Joseph Wolf-a turning point in the history of animal art by Christine Jackson. Contains text Ills. 1-13 (12 colored); 33, from fascination to mastery-the development of an animal artist by Karl Schulze-Hagen. Contains Ills. 1-15 (five colored); 47, foundation of an artistic career; Joseph Wolf's training as a lithographer in Koblenz 1836-1839 by Hans-Peter Kleber. Ills. 1-14 (three colored); 69, Joseph Wolf in Darmstadt (1841-1847)-the significance of his early work by Heidrun Ludwig. Ills. 1-19(15 colored); 115, Joseph Wolf and the Traité de Fauconnerie by Piet Tuijn. Ills 1-14(12 colored); 143, natural history illustrations by Joseph Wolf by David M. Lank. Ills. 1-10(six colored); 173, Joseph Wolf and John Gould by Maureen Lambourne. Ills. 1-13(10 colored); 189, Zoological Society of London…importance for Joseph Wolf by Karl Schulze-Hagen. Ills. 1-20(12 colored); 209, Daniel Giraud Elliot and Joseph Wolf by Nina Root. Ills. 1-3(two colored); 219, art versus science by Karl Schulze-Hagen. Ills. 107(five colored); 231, Alfred Herbert Palmer (1853-1931), author of Wolf's biography by Lionel Lambourne; 235, living in London by Maureen Lambourne. Ills. 1-5(four colored); 247, catalog of items 1-213 of which 150 illustrated, most in color and 21 full-page; 355, bibliography; 359, books illustrated by Joseph Wolf (until 1905).

This bilingual (parallel columns, German-English) work was produced to accompany an exhibition of Wolf's work that was held at the Biohistoricum of Neuberg, the Hessiches Landesmuseum of Darmstadt, the Natuurhistorisch Museum of Leiden, and the Natural History Museum of London during 2001 and 2002. It contains an abundance of reproductions of works by Wolf that have not been previously published as well as much interesting information about the artist. The quality of production is high. I've read elsewhere that only 700 copies were "produced for sale".


Schuster, Wilhelm

Unsere einheimischen Vögel / nach ihrem wirtschaftlichen Wert (Nutzen und Schaden) 20.7 x 13.7 cm.  π61-144152[$1, 2 signed; 15 misprinted 14]; 64 ll.  Pp.  [I-VII]VIII-XII[1]2-116.  Original publisher's green cloth with white lettering and black block design on upper cover, black lettering on spine.  Gera-Reuss, Heimatverlag, (1909, from preface).

I, Half-title; II, blank; III, title; IV, printer imprint: Kunstanstalt Eugen Köhler, Gera-Untermhaus; V, foreword; VI, contents; VII, introduction by ornithologist-conservationist Paul Wemer; 1, species accounts, Falco tinnunculus-Tetrao Tetrix, comprising about 108 species; 73, birds and insects; 88, eulogy for Wilhelm Ludwing Schuster; 101, German code of bird protection issued May 30th, 1908; 115, index of all German birds with designation as to whether protected or not; 115, index of German names for birds treated in this book.  Contains: uncolored half-tones of the author's father as frontispiece and of the author in text; chromolithographic plates 1-32 printed by Köhler after Bruno Geissler displaying about 108 species.

This is yet another small early 20th century German bird book with very nice chromolithographs that was directed to a popular audience and is very difficult to find outside of German-speaking areas.  As usual with this genre, the emphasis is on the usefulness of birds to man and the need to protect them.  Almost 110 species are briefly but competently covered including rough dates of arrival and departure, and descriptions of nests and eggs.  An unusual feature is a "Nutzen zu Schaden" ratio, a way of grading each species from a human perspective.  The pictures are very good.  The artist, Bruno Geissler, was responsible for all of the colored plates in Meyer and Wiglesworth's  The birds of Celebes (1898),  and Reichenow's Die Vögel Afrikas (1900-1905) as well as many of those in the centenary edition of Naumann(1806-1905).

This work is unlisted by AMNH, BMNH, Ucal, Cornell, Harvard, LOC, Oxford, Trinity, Wood, Yale and Zimmer.  Wood does list other related titles by Schuster.


Sclater, P.(hilip) L.(utley)(1829-1913) (Hudson, W.[illiam]H.[enry]{1841-1922})

Argentine Ornithology. / A / Descriptive Catalogue / of the / Birds of the Argentine Republic // With Notes on their Habits / by / W. H. Hudson, C. M. Z. S.  Two volumes.  25,1 x 15.8 cm.  Later red blind-ruled quarter morocco, marbled boards by Starr Bookworks.  Spine with five raised bands delineated by double blind rules, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments, blind floral tool in other four.  London, R. H. Porter. Blind stamps of Zoological Society of London on title and plates.

Volume I. // 1888.  [a]8(+1 a1/a2)b4B-O8[$1, 2 signed]; 117 ll.  Pp.  [i](2)[ii-v]vi-xxiv[1]2-208.  i, title; ii, engraved printer designation: Taylor and Francis; inserted limitation leaf signed by both authors, this copy, No. 2 of 200; verso blank; iii, preface by Sclater explicitly defining responsible areas ("All the personal observations recorded in these pages are due to Mr. Hudson,  while  I am responsible for the arrangement, nomenclature, and scientific portions of the work"; iv, blank; v, contents of Vol. Il; xv, list of plates; xvii, introduction; 1, systematic text covering all Passeres (Turdidae-Pteroptochidae), species 1-229.  Contains wood engraved vignette of Cariama after J. Smit on title page; one uncolored text figure; and hand-colored lithographed plates I-X by and after J. G. Keulemans (initialed on images), printer not specified.

Volume II. // 1889.  A8(+1 A8)B-P8Q4R8S2; 135 ll.  Pp. [i-iii]iv-xv[xvi-xvii](1)[1]2-252[252]. I, Title; ii, engraved printer designation; iii, preface to second edition; v, contents of Vol. II; xvi, blank; xvii, list of plates in Vol. II; 1, systematic text covering Trochilidae-Rheidae, species 230-434; 221, appendix including bibliography, gazetteer; 233, index; 252, printed printer designation: Taylor and Francis. Contains wood engraved vignette of Burmeister's Cariama on title page; 11 unnumbered text wood engravings from antecedent publications; and colored plates XI-XX.

In addition to being a great writer, Hudson was a serious ornithologist who had published a number of articles on Argentine ornithology in the Proc. Zool. Soc., and The Ibis before this book was written.  He was also a prideful man and his hatred of Gould for a perceived slight was well known.  He must have been deeply rankled by the way his participation in this work was presented by Sclater with whom he had had a long and fruitful collaboration.  He got even in 1920 when he  issued Birds of La Plata, much of the text of which was taken directly from the present work.  He made one major alteration, however, which he describes in the Introduction, thus: "All this matter which he (the deceased Sclater) contributed…I have thrown out…"

The main significance of this book is that it represented the first major attempt at an Argentine national ornithology.  The number of species ascribed to that large nation was only  434 which must have seemed low even then.  For each of the species, the reader is provided with synonymy; a description with measurements; distribution; and an essay that is variable in length depending on Hudson's acquaintance with the species but can be very informative concerning its habits and life history, and is invariably well written and interesting.  Hudson, of course, had grown up in Argentina.

This copy has an interesting association.  Sclater was the Executive Secretary of the Zoological Society whose stamp it bears.  The low number, 2, suggests that it was one of his copies and that he gave it to the Society.  That is not quite true.  When I bought this book, it was in a battered binding that fell apart.  On the upper paste downs of each volume was affixed a label of the Society attesting that  volumes I and II had been purchased by the Society on 30 January, 1888 and 3 April, 1889, respectively.  In other words, immediately that he received it after publication, Sclater sold his own Society, one of his personal copies of the volume.  Plus ça change…

Wood, p. 558.  Zimmer, p. 562.  Also listed for AMNH (two copies), Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Unlisted by Cornell.


Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913)

Catalogue / of / a Collection / of / American Birds  21.4 13.5 cm.  a8B-2A8[$1, 2 signed]; 192 ll   Pp.  [i-iii]iv-xiv[xv-xvi][1]2-368 (misnumbered 338).  Later quarter red morocco, marbled boards by Starr Bookworks.  Spine with five raised bands delineated by gilt roll designs.  Gilt lettering in second compartment and sixth compartments.  London, N. Trubner and Co., 1862. 

i, Title with Ibis logo; ii, printer designation: Taylor and Francis; iii, preface; vii, contents; xv, list of illustrations; xvi, errata et emendanda; 1, catalogue listing 2137 species; 358, supplement with 32 recently added species; 361, appendix, list of the author's publications, 1850-1861,  Contains hand-colored plates I-XX, drawn and lithographed by J. Jennens, printed by M. & N. Hanhart.

Sclater, although only about 32 years old at the time of this publication, lists 165 publications in the incongruous appendix to this book.  He had been a founding member of the BOU and was already editor of The Ibis and Executive Secretary of the Zoological Society which he is said to have ruled with an iron hand.  These positions enabled him to publish at will in the two most influential English journals dealing with ornithology, and more or less guaranteed him preeminence in any ornithological specialty that he selected.  He chose neotropical birds and geographical distribution of animals as his major interests although I doubt that he, unlike his friend, Osbert Salvin, ever did any field work in South or Central America. 

The present work lists about 4,100 specimens comprising 2,169 species belonging to three orders and 38 families and including 386 type-specimens.  The orders subsume what we might consider as "land birds" and exclude raptors, birds with webbed feet, shorebirds etc. The specimens are restricted to species of the western hemisphere.  Thus, the figure 2,170 is a very impressive one, the collection very nearly complete,  The descriptions include original citation, synonymy, sex, if determined, location whence collected, and the collector or collection from which the specimen was obtained.  The work was produced by the publisher of The Ibis and the artist Jennens did many of the illustrations for early issues of the journal.  The last 23 signatures are dated for the late months of 1861 and early ones of 1862.  According to Zimmer, an advertisement on the wrappers of the July and October 1862 issues of The Ibis states that "Only 100 copies of the perfect(i. e. complete with colored plates) work have been prepared"  This figure is undoubtedly too low.


Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913)(Thomson. Sir C.(harles)Wyville[1830-1882])

Report / of the / Scientific Results / of the / Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger / During the Years 1873-1876 / under the command of / Captain George S. Nares, R. N., F. R. S. / and / Captain Frank Turle Thomson, R. N. / Prepared under the Superintendence of / Sir C. Wyville Thomson, Knt., R. R. S., &c. // Zoology-Vol. II. / Part VIII.-Report on the Birds. 32.0 x 25.5 cm.  π2H1-H214H214(-H214);[$1 signed]; 85 ll.  Pp. (4)[1]2-166.  Binder's blue buckram, gilt lettering  to spine; (London), By Order of Her Majesty's Government, 1881.  Bradley Martin copy with bookplate affixed by Sotheby's for sale of his library.

π1r, Title; π1v, printer designation: Neill and Company, Edinburgh; π2r, note by Thomson; π2v, blank; 1, introduction; 4, contents; 5, text; 150 appendix; 159, index.  Contains five text woodcuts and hand-colored lithographic plates I-XXX drawn and lithographed by J. Smit and printed by Hanhart imp.

Birds had a minor role in the objectives of the Challenger Expedition.  Approximately 900 specimens were collected and described by various authors in reports that first appeared in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.  For the present work, Sclater edited these articles and made minor changes to bring them up to date. According to Zimmer, the only part of this work that is entirely new is Appendix I which contains a list of the eggs obtained on the expedition  Other articles in the book cover birds collected in the Philippines by the Marquis of Tweedale; in the Admiralty Islands by Sclater; the Fiji Islands, New Hebrides and Tahiti by O. Finsch; the Moluccas by Salvadori; Cape York and environs by W. A. Forbes; Sandwich  Islands by Sclater; Antarctic America by Sclater and Osbert Salvin; Atlantic and Kerguelen Islands by Sclater; Steganopodes and Impennes by Sclater; Laridae by Howard Saunders; and the Procellaridae by Salvin; and a "Note on the Gizzard and other Organs of Carpophaga latrans" by A. H. Garrod. It is not unusual that the final presentation of results for a British expedition should contain material that had already been published in various scientific journals.  Priority and rapid publication have always been important to scientists.  The entire report on the Challenger expedition comprised 40 volumes and was published 1880-1895.

The colored plates were prepared specifically for this publication and are its most compelling feature. 

Wood, p. 558; Zimmer, p. 633-634.  Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Trinity under Thomson.


Sclater, P.(hilip)L.(utley)(1829-1913

On the Curassows now or lately living in the Society's Gardens bound with Supplementary Notes on the Curassows now or lately living in the Society's Gardens   Two extracts from Transactions of the Zoological Society of London Vol. IX.-Part IV., July, 1875 (read June 17th, 1873) and Vol. X.-Part XIII. No. 1.-October 1st, 1879 (read June 18th, 1878).  Later green cloth backed marbled boards with gilt lettering on spine and gray endpapers.

On the Curassows…:  2P-2Q4[$1signed]; 8ll.  Pp.  273-288. 273, introduction; 274-286, accounts comprising four genera and 13 species; 286, description of plates.  Contains 14 hand-colored plates numbered XL-LIII, drawn and lithographed by J. Smit, printed by M. & N. Hanhart.

Supplementary Notes…  4G24H2(-H2)4I-4K4[$1, 2 signed]; 11 ll.  Pp.  543-563(1).  This article specifically contained only on pp.  543-547(1).  543, discussions of seven species in three genera; 546, description of plates; 547, list of papers contained in volume X; 549, index of species in volume X; 563, printer designation: Taylor and Francis.  Contains seven hand-colored lithographed plates by Smit and Hanhart.

These two articles were presented to the Society by Sclater, its Executive Secretary, five years apart.  They are often found bound together as here.  One can consider them either as easy steps to augment Sclater's huge bibliography or as the first monograph on Cracids.  In the first article, Sclater describes 13 species, providing us with synonymy; a description in Latin with measurements; and a discussion relating the species in question with those described by antecedent authors and quoting various authors and correspondents concerning their behavior, usually in captivity.  Also supplied is a list of individuals that were either living or had lived in the zoological gardens and an explanation of how or from whom they were obtained.

The second paper expands the discussions on five species and also describes and discusses two new species that had been discovered in the interim.  One of these had originally been described by Sclater and Salvin in 1877, the other by Reinhardt in 1879.  Neither of these, Crax Erythrognatha and Mitua salvini, lived in the gardens of the Society but they are pictured, I believe for the first time, in this article.  The second paper was the last in volume X and the last 16 bound pages here are the "postliminaries" of that volume.

The illustrations are important assets of these articles and are very well done.  It seems clear that they influenced Sutton and Gilbert  in their plates for Delacour and Amadon's Curassows and Related Birds (1973).  They are rather foxed in this copy which is often the case.

These articles are extracts not off prints or author's separates.  Most major ornithological libraries possess the Transactions of the Zoological Society, the journal from which they were removed.


Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913)

A / Monograph / of / the Birds Forming / the Tanagrine Genus Calliste; / Illustrated by / Coloured Plates of all the Known Species  22.0 x 15.4 cm.  [a]8b2(-b2)B-E8F10G8H2[$1, 2 signed]; 61 ll.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii-xvii[xviii][1]2-104.  Contemporary (?publisher's) maroon cloth with blind stamp filets and corner designs, gilt-stamped "Sclater's Tanagers" on upper cover and spine, and numbers stamped in gilt at base of spine.  Yellow endpapers.  London, Van Voorst, 1857(-1858). 

i, Title; ii, printer designation (Taylor and Francis); iii, preface; iv, blank; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, introduction; xvii, schema generum tanagrinorum; xviii, callistorum schema geographicum; 1-104, text of species.  Contains hand-colored map engraved by Stamford's Geographical Establishment and hand-colored lithographic plates I-XLIV, so numbered only on contents leaf, by the French firms of Becquet Frères (most), Lemercier and Geny-Gros after originals of Paul Louis Oudart.

Sclater was an archetypal Victorian ornithologist, perhaps the most prolific of all.  He served as Secretary of the Zoological Society for many years, was a founding member of the BOU, and was the first editor of The Ibis. This book was his first major book although he had published many smaller antecedent works.  A lawyer by training, he was strictly a museum type ornithologist and is best known for his descriptions of South American birds.

In the introduction to this work, he defines the Genus Calliste, containing the Paradise Tanagers, within the broader spectrum of tanagers which he feels extends from finches to American wood warblers.  For each of the 52 members of the genus, he provides synonymy, a description in Latin, and a discussion of whence the species has been obtained.  Almost all are illustrated.  According to Zimmer, the work was issued in four parts.

Oudart (b. 1796), who trained with van Spaendonck, was amongst the most highly skilled of the artists who was associated with the French museum tradition.  He was one of the first whose work was reproduced by Lithography and he was a favored illustrator of Vieillot.  He was also an ornithologist in his own right and started out as the author, to be succeeded by Vieillot, for the Galerie des Oiseaux for whose 358 plates he was completely responsible.  D. G. Elliot also solicited his work for the first edition of the Monograph of the Pittidae (1863), however, he died before he could complete that assignment so that Elliot was forced to provide some of his own, vastly inferior illustrations. 

The plates for the present work were produced in France and several of them exhibit a peculiar form of oxidation seen only in French hand-colored lithographs of this era.  The oxidation results in blackening of the uncolored paper that surrounds the figure.  This work and that by Mulsant on hummingbirds almost always contain some plates that are so affected.

Trinity, p. 213; Wood, p. 557; Yale, p. 257; Zimmer, p. 559.


Sclater, P(hilip) (Lutley) (1829-1913).

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London  1866  Collection of three articles (extracts) bound in later blue buckram.  London, 1866

1.      On a New American Cuckoo of the Genus Neomorphus  Pp.  59-60.  Pl. V., a hand-colored lithograph by and after J. Smit, printed by M. & N. Hanhart.

2.      Notes upon the American Caprimulgidae  Pp.  123-148.  Colored  Pls. 13, 14 (sic) as above .  Text Figs. 1-11.  A brief monograph of the American nightjars covering 11 genera and 42 species.

3.      Additional Notes on the Caprimulgidae  Pp.  581-590.  Colored Pls.  XLV-XLVI as above.  Text Figs. 1-4.  Adds about five species.

Sclater was the archetype Victorian ornithologist, a lawyer who served as editor of The Ibis, as a very long-term secretary  of the Zoological Society and as a founding member of the British Ornithologists' Union.  He was a prolific museum worker and author with limited field experience and with a major interest in neotropical ornithology.


Sclater, P.(hilip)L.(utley)(1829-1913)

A Monograph / of the / Jacamers and Puff-Birds, / or / Families Galbulidae and Bucconidae  31.8 x 25.7 cm.  [a]4b-f4g2h2(-h2)B-H4 I2K-X4Y2Z42A2[$1, 2 signed]; 113 ll.  Pp. [i-xi]xii-lii[liii](1)[1]2-171(1).  Later gilt-ruled red half morocco with red cloth sides.  Spine with five gilt-ruled and decorated raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments.  TEG, others uncut.  Gray printed wrappers for the seven original parts bound at end.  London, for the author by R. H. Porter, (1879-1882, from wrappers). 

i, Title with engraved vignette after J. Smit; ii, engraved and printed printer designation: Taylor and Francis, London; iii, dedication to the late Hugh Strickland; iv, blank; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, list of plates; viii, blank; ix, preface; x, blank; xi, introduction general remarks; xii, jacamar structure; xvi, history of jacamars; xix, jacamar classification; xxvi, jacamar habits and distribution; xxvii, puff-bird structure; xxxi, history of puff-birds; xxxiv, puff-bird classification; xlii, puff-bird habits and distribution; xlv, bibliography; liii, list of subscribers (48 for 48 copies); 1, sytematic text accounts of 55 species; 167, index of specific names; 171, printed printer's designation.  Contains, in addition to title page vignette, text figures 1-13 showing anatomical features, and hand-colored lithographic plates I-LV drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans, printed by Hanhart imp.

Wrappers:  Part I.  October 1879.  Upper recto contains part number, date, title (different setting than bound title page and without the vignette), contents and plates; verso, advertisements for Zoological Sketches and for Nomeclator Avium Neotropicalium; lower wrapper, recto, first list of subscribers, verso, prospectus for the present book.  Later wrappers, Parts II-VII, January, May, November, 1880, July, November, 1881, July, 1882, differ, aside from the upper recto,  as follows:  starting with part III, the "first" is omitted from the list of subscribers; the lower wrapper of the last part is entirely blank.

Sclater was a prolific writer, Secretary of the Zoological Society, the first editor of The Ibis, and very much a museum rather than a field ornithologist.  He shared a lifetime interest in neotropical ornithology with Osbert Salvin who personally collected much of the material about which they often wrote together.  The groups of birds described in this volume, particularly the puff-birds had always especially intrigued Sclater and one of his earliest significant articles concerned them.  This work is one of a group of great enduring family monographs that were written in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and illustrated, usually by Keulemans, with superb hand-colored plates.

One reads frequently in booksellers' catalogues that just 250 copies of this work were printed and that accords reasonably with the list of only 48 subscribers.

Wood, p. 558; Zimmer, p. 561.  Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by Cornell.


Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913) 

Nitsch’s Pterylography  38 x 27 cm.  [a]2b41-234[$1 signed]; 98 ll.  Pp. [i-v]vi[vii]viii-x[xi-xii]1-178[179]180-181[182](2, blank).  Later binder’s cloth.  London, Ray Society, 1867. 

i,Ray Society leaf; iii, title; v, preface of the English edition; vii, preface of the original (1840) edition; xi, contents; 1-155, text; 156-175, appendices; 176-178, explanation of plates; 179-181, index, . Contains 10 engraved anatomical plates by Sturm after Burmeister (I) and Nitsch(II-X).

Christian Ludwig Nitsch (1782-1837) held a chair at Halle where he was succeeded by Carl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (1807-1892).  Nitsch had three areas of interest, namely ornithological internal anatomy, ornithological parasites and pterylography, the arrangement of feathers relative to one another.  He was a reluctant author and published only a single 1833 article in an obscure vehicle (Typis Expressum Gebaueriis) on his unusual researches in pterylography.  Burmeister recognized the importance of this work and combined it with some of Nitsch’s unpublished research in an 1840 German monograph.  Sclater had this work translated by W. S. Dallas, added some thoughts of his own and a few relevant reprints, including one on the carotid artery in birds by Nitsch, in an appendix, and issued the whole as this publication of the Ray Society. 

Nitsch found that few orders of birds had uniformly distributed feathers (for example, kiwis and casuariformes) whereas in most families feathers were distributed in characteristic tracts.  In this work, which is highly regarded and clearly very original, he devotes a section each to general and specific pterylography. 

Trinity, p. 175; Wood, p. 493; Yale, p. 210 (Nitsch’s 1833 publication); Zimmer, p. 466 (Burmeister’s 1840 version).

 

 

Sclater, William Lutley(1863-1944)

A history of / the birds of Colorado  22.4 x 15.7 cm.  π4A-NN8[$1,2 signed]; 300 ll(24 ketter alphabet excluding only J and V);  Pp.  [i-xi]xii-xxiv[1]2-576.  Original publisher’s gray cloth with blind peripheral rules, red lettering to spine; TEG, others uncut.  Original gray dust jacket with peripheral brick red rules and lettering on spine.  London, Witherby &  Co., 1912.

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Witherby & Co.; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations; x, blank; xi, introduction; xxii, acknowledgments; 1, systematic accounts, Aechmophorus occidentalis-Sialia currucoides; 533, bibliography (more than 300 references); 553, gazetteer; 563, index of English, generic and specific names.  Contains signed photogravure frontispiece portrait of author; single sided, uncolored, half-tone photographic plates 1-16 containing 19 images printed on glossy paper and not included in pagination; and an uncolored contour map of Colorado.

William Lutley Sclater was the son of Philip Lutley Sclater and, in addition to the present work, was the author or coauthor of important works on African ornithology.  He was for some time the director of the Colorado College Museum and the present work is based largely on a collection of Colorado birds made by Charles E. Aiken that eventually found its way into the museum through the generosity of the dedicatee of the book, General William Jackson Palmer.

The work covers 392 species and is the very model of an English (sic) regional treatise.  It provides keys to orders, families, genera and species.  The AOU checklist number is given for each species as well as citations for its presence in Colorado, a description, its overall distribution, its status in Colorado, and something of its life history including its nesting habits and the appearance of its eggs.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


 

Scott, William Earl Dodge (1852-1910), Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1907), Stone, Witmer (1866-1939).

Reports of the / Princeton University expeditions to Patagonia / 1896-1899 / Volume II.  1 / Ornithology  Five parts in two continuously paginated volumes.  31.2 x 24.4 cm.  Half red morocco with maroon cloth sides.   Spines with five raised ridges, gilt printing in second and fourth compartments.  Patterned endpapers.  Princeton, N. J.. The University and Stuttgart, Schweizerbart’sche Verlagshandlung (E. Nagele) 1904-1928 (see below).

Volume II. 1.  Ornithology 1904-1915.  Pp. [i-v]vi-xii1-504. Comprising parts I-III.  Part I. Pp 1-112, Rheidae-Spheniscidae; issued August 3, 1904; Part II.  Pp.  113-344, Procellaridae-Charidriidae. ; March 11, 1910; Part III.  Pp. 345-504, Charidriidae-Anatidae; April 1, 1912.  Contains plate I, an uncolored lithograph after H. Gronvold by Werner & Winter, Frankfurt with accompanying unpaginated leaf of letter-press;  Also contains uncolored text figures (line drawings) 1-252 of which seven (134,135, 136, 157, 170, 172, 174) after H. Gronvold are full-page with the verso unprinted and the leaf unpaginated.  The other two full-page text figures, also after Gronvold, have continued printed text on their versos and are included in the pagination.  Of the remaining text figures, a few were done by Gronvold but most were the work of another whose initials may be ALM although it is difficult to decipher the monogram.  The gray upper wrappers for parts I and III are bound into this volume.

Volume II. 2  Ornithology 1915-1927 (sic).  Pp. Two PL; 505-884.  Comprises parts IV-V.  Part IV.  Pp.  505-718, Phalacrocoracidae-Tytonidae; July 8, 1915; Part IV.  Pp.  719-857, Psittacidae-Icteridae; February 15, 1928.  Contains chromolithographic plates II-XV by Werner and Winter after J. G. Keulemans, each with accompanying unpaginated leaf of letter-press; text figures 253-410.  The upper wrapper to Part 5 is bound at the end of this volume.  It is not clear when the index, pp. 859-884, was introduced into part 5 which is described on page xii as containing pp. 719-857.  I have another copy of part 5 only, in its original wrappers, that contains the index.

i, Zoology title page; ii, blank; iii, ornithology title page; iv, printer designation: Lancaster Press, Inc. Lancaster, Pa.; v, contents; xii, dates of publication of the parts of volume II(from which the above information on the individual parts is taken.  These dates are slightly different from those appearing on the wrappers.); 1-504, systematic text, Rheidae-Anatidae; first preliminary leaf, recto, zoology title page; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf, recto, ornithology title page; verso, printer designation; 505, systematic text, Phalacrocoracidae-Icteridae; 856, postscript; 859, generic index (with a few English names).  The complete work contains 15 lithographic plates of which 14 after Keulemans are colored and 410 text line drawings as indicated above.  Some of the best line drawings in this second volume contain the initials BI or BL.

This expedition, concerned primarily with earth and physical sciences, was under the overall direction of J. B. Hatcher and the general editor of the eight-volume work(1901-1932) describing its findings was William B. Scott.  Volume II was devoted to ornithology and was published in five parts.  Parts I-IV, issued 1904-1915 were written almost entirely by William E. D. Scott and Richard Bowdler Sharpe and the ornithological section of the work is usually cataloged under their names.  However, due to their early deaths, Witmer Stone wrote the section on owls and all of Part V, which comprised several orders including Passeriformes (pp. 742-857).

This is an extensive work that includes species not found by the expedition as well as those which it recorded.  In most cases, only Latin names are given.  A very complete synonymy is presented for most species as well as an extremely comprehensive description with measurements.  Life histories are also often described in some detail and there are numerous quotations from the works of antecedent authors.  The text is  copiously and accurately illustrated and the lithographed plates are all very well produced.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.

 

Scott, William E. D. (1852-1910), Sharpe, Richard B. (1847-1909), Stone, Witmer (1866-1939)

Reports of / The Princeton University Expeditions / to Patagonia, 1896-1899  Volume II-Ornithology / Part V. / Psittacidae-Icteridae   (taken from upper wrapper).  33.5  x 25.8 cm.  Pp. [i-v]vi-xii[xiii-xvi]719-857[858]859-884.  Original printed blue wrappers.  Uncut, unopened.  Princeton, The University and Stuttgart, Sweizerbartsche Verlagshandlung (E. Nägele), 1927 (issued Feb. 15, 1928).  Printed by Lancaster Press, Lancaster, Pa

i, Vol. II. 1. Zoology title page; iii, vol. II. 1. Ornithology title page, ; v, contents; xiii, vol. II. 2 Zoology title page, ; xv, vol. II. 2. Ornithology title page; 719, text; 859, index to vol. II. . Contains plates II-XV, chromolithographed by Werner & Winter, Frankfort, a. M. from drawings by J. G. Keulemans.  Plate XI of this copy in photo facsimile.  Each plate is associated with an unpaginated leaf of letter press.  Also contains text figures 369-410 by an artist whose initials are B. ?.

This expedition, concerned with earth and physical sciences, was under the overall direction of J. B. Hatcher and the general editor of the multivolume work describing its findings was William B. Scott.  Volume II was devoted to ornithology and was published in five parts.  Parts I-IV, published 1904-1915 and not present here, were written almost entirely by William E. D. Scott and Richard Bowdler Sharpe and the ornithological section of the work is usually catalogued under their names.  However, Witmer Stone wrote the section on owls in Part IV and all of Part V. i. e. the present section.  For each species, the work includes an original citation, entire geographical distribution and then a variable section that comprises historical and contemporary observations concerning abundance, habits and life histories.  The work seems very authoritative.  All of Keulemans’s fine colored plates for the work are in this Part and all, save one, depict ovenbirds.

Trinity, p. 215; Wood, p. 560; Yale, p. 258.


Seba, Albertus (1665-1736)(modern text by Irmgard Müsch, Rainer Willmann, Jes Rust)

Cabinet of Natural Curiosities / Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri / 1734-1765 / based on the copy in the / Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague  44.0 x 29.0.  Pp.  [1-5]6-588.  Printed pictorial white boards.  Orange, vertically lined endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Cologne, Taschen, (2001).

1, Half-title; 2, Colored portrait of Seba (from original); 3, title, partly printed in red; 4, contents with  four colored reduced plates from book; 6, quotation from Seba;  7, collection of specimens and its pictorial inventory (with figures 1-13, seven colored including "Industria" from original) by Irmgard Müsch; 27, zoology and botany in Seba's thesaurus by Rainer Willmann and Jes Rust with nine unnumbered colored text figures; 41, the facsimile, first volume, title page and colored plates 1-111;  two, 39 and 59, are reproduced in folding unpaginated duplicate at 4x; 177, second volume, title page and plates 1-114, 102 reproduced in folding duplicate; 310, third volume, title page and plates 1-116, 56 in folding duplicate; 437, fourth volume, title page and plates 1-108, 78 in folding duplicate; 543, identification of the species; explanatory notes on the plates with four reduced colored plates; 584, bibliography (about 56 entries); 586, list of advisory scientists and note on authors; 587, acknowledgements and photographic credits;  588, copyright 2001; credits: design, Claudia Frey, Cologne; production, UteWachendorff Cologne; printed in Italy; ISBN 3-8228-1600-0.

Seba was an "apothecary" associated with the Dutch East India company.  He assembled the largest collection of natural history specimens of the era and wrote a text concerning them with the aid of various scientists including H. Boerhaave, P. Artedi, P. Van Musschenbroek, P. Massuet and H. D. Graubius.  Before his death, he commissioned paintings and publication of the pictures as well as the text but the work was published posthumously and the venture was so expensive that the collection had to be disbursed to allay the costs of publication. 

The information in the book is far from reliable since some of its text and pictures is based on hearsay and not on bona fide specimens.  The pictures of the birds are dreadful, in part because of poor taxidermy.  I've never been able to identify many of them and I was curious as to how these experts would do in that regard.  In most cases, the best they could muster for identification is "bird".

That having been said, however, this work remains one of the most pictorially interesting, and certainly one of the most graphically dramatic of all natural history books.  There were 449 numbered hand-colored engraved plates, four illuminated title pages, a portrait of Seba and an allegorical plate, "Industria" and they are all reproduced here.  The size of the original was about 50 x 34 cm and some plates were double-page.  Here most are reproduced as full-page colored photocopies, approximately 40 x 25.  There are also some double-page reproductions as well as some pages that display two plates.  The plates in the original bear Roman numerals and are here given Arabic designations as well.  Each the plates here has some identifying letter-press in English, French and German at the base of the page outside of the image.  Five plates, in addition to being shown in full-page facsimile, are also displayed in a folding 4x format.

The text for the original was issued in Dutch, Latin and French.  Only a small portion of the original text is reproduced in this edition.  This edition was published with in three versions with the text in German, English and French.  The same plates were used for all three since the brief letter-press accompanying each plate is presented in all three languages.  Casey Wood mentions, and AMNH lists,  a French edition of the plates published by Guerin-Meneville,1827-1830.

The original work appeared in three states: most copies were uncolored; a small number were colored with the signature of the colorist; an even smaller number were issued with the plates in both states.  Only two of the latter are known, and I have had the pleasure of examining both of them including the Bradley Martin copy, which the Sotheby's cataloger described as "possibly unique".

Bradley Martin, No. 195 (double-state copy); Wood, p. 560( colored original). AMNH lists this edition, French edition of 1827 and original uncolored edition; Cornell lists the uncolored original; Harvard lists this edition and three copies of the uncolored original; Yale lists a colored copy of the original.  Trinity does not list any edition.


Seebohm, Henry (1832-1895)

The / Geographical Distribution / of the Family / Charadriidae / or the / Plovers, Sandpipers, Snipes, / and their allies  32.0 x 25.5 cm.  [a]4b-c4d2e2(-e2)B-3U43X2[$1, 2 signed]; 277ll.  Pp. [i-iii]iv-xxix(1)[1]2-524.Original publisher's green pebbled cloth with black block ruled frames and corner decorations on upper cover, blind ruled frames on lower.  Gilt lettering on spine and upper cover.  Greenish black endpapers.  Uncut.  Rebacked with original spine retained.  London, Henry Sotheran, (1888, from spine [Zimmer gives 1887]). 

i, title page with vignette after Millais of avocet;  ii, quotations; iii, preface; vi, wood engraving of the skull of a lapwing; vii, contents; xv, systematic index and diagnoses; xxix, list of plates I-XXI, so designated here only; page numbers not assigned (first issue); 1, classification of birds; 7, evolution of birds; 16, differentiation of birds; 25, the glacial epoch; 33, migration; 51, paradise of the Charadriidae (arctic region); 59, zoological regions; 63, subspecific forms; 66, keys to subfamilies; 66, systematic diagnoses and information concerning all genera and species; 507, index ; 524, printed printer designation: Taylor and Francis.  Contains 21 unnumbered (save on list) hand-colored lithographed plates, drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans, printed by Hanhart, imp, an uncolored text wood-engraved map and approximately 200 text wood engravings, mostly of birds but including 18 heraldic tail-pieces.

Seebohm tells us in the preface that he is not writing a monograph but rather, is interested in the geographical distribution of this family and the insights into relationships and classification thus afforded.  The work does not provide full descriptions but emphasizes diagnostic points for both genera and species.  It also differs from a monograph in omitting any discussion of life history.  That having been said, Seebohm provides the following information for the 194 species that he covers: diagnosis in Latin; variations; synonymy/bibliography; reference to antecedent plates of the species and of its eggs; specific characters (elaboration in English of "diagnosis"); geographical distribution; seasonal variations; nearest allies.  Seebohm was apparently regarded as an iconoclast and his views on classification were often disputed.  However, scholarship shines through this book to the point of pedantry.

Most of the huge number of wood engravings were produced specifically for this book and the effort in assembling the whole production must have been considerable.  The artists included J. G. Millais, Charles Whymper, "MHF", "RAH" and G. E. Lodge who engraved many of the drawings of Millais as well as his own.  Lodge was a young man at the time and this was probably his biggest commission to date.  His skill as an engraver of birds has often been overlooked.  There were none better.

This book comes in at least three forms: according to Mullens and Swann (p.516), Seebohm had a few copies bound without plates as presentation copies (sic!); first issue (this copy) with the page numbers not yet included on the list of plates; and second issue with the page numbers present. The first issue comprised 220 copies and its plates are a bit cleaner because the lithographic stones were less worn.  I believe I have also heard of examples with uncolored plates.

Wood, p. 561.  Zimmer, p. 568.  Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.  Cornell lists a copy without plates.


Seebohm, Henry (1832-1895)("edited and completed [after the author's death] by Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler[1847-1909])

A / Monograph of the Turdidae / or/ Family of Thrushes  Two volumes.  37. 5 x 28.6 cm.  Later mottled brown calf-backed marbled boards by James Macdonald Co.  Spine with five gilt-ruled raised bands, gilt lettering in second, fourth and sixth compartment.  TEG, others uncut.  London, Henry Sotheran & Co., (1898-)1902.

Volume I.  [a]4b2B-K4L2M-P4Q2R2(-R2)S-2F42G2(-2G2)2H-2N42O4(-2O4)2P-2T42U22X2(-2X2)2Y-3A43B2(-B2)[$1 signed]; 175 ll. Pp.  [i-iii]iv-xi(1)[1]2-336[337](1).  i, Title; ii, printed engraved printer designation; Taylor and Francis; iii, introduction by Sharpe; v, contents; ix, list of plates; 1-337, systematic accounts, Geocichla varia-Turdus nigrilorum encompassing 109 species.  Contains plates I-LXXVIII, hand-colored lithographs drawn and lithographed by J. G.  Keulemans, printed by Hanhart imp.  Also contains as frontispiece signed portrait of Seebohm engraved by Wm H. Ward & Co. after a photograph by Barraud's Ltd.

Volume II.  [a]4b2(-b2)B-E4F4(-F4)G-N4O2P2(-P2)Q-S4T2(-T2)U-Y4Z22A2(-2A2)2B-2M42N2; 130 ll.  Pp. [i-iii]iv-ic(1)[1]2-250.  i, Title; ii, printer designation; iii, contents; vii, list of plates; 1-227, systematic accounts, Merula merula-Mimocichla albiventris encompassing 85 species; 227, appendix discussing approximately 30 additional species or forms; 241, addenda with a discussion of yet four more forms; 243, index; 250, printer designation.  Contains colored plates LXXIX-CXLIX.

This work appeared in 13 parts, from 1898-1902, according to Zimmer, yet I have never seen either the parts or their wrappers despite having examined quite a few copies.  Peter Tate, in his A Century of Bird Books (1979) states (p. 27) that publication began in 1896 and that the total edition comprised 300 copies.  I've often read the figure 250 in booksellers' catalogs. Although Seebohm is the nominal author, he had finished only a small fraction of the book at the time of his death when he left the publisher a messy manuscript and a pile of unexamined plates. The indefatigable Sharpe accepted the job of "editing" and then reluctantly ended up writing more than three quarters of the work.  The sections that he wrote are designated by his initials.  Sharpe tell us that Seebohm was the first to recognize spotting of the young as an important distinguishing characteristic of thrushes to distinguish them from, for example, Eurasian warblers.  Sharp acknowledges that by this definition, including a single moult, a number of groups such as nightingales and robins could be considered thrushes yet are not covered in the present work which he says is limited to the "true thrushes".  For each species the reader is provided with: synonymy/bibliography; key diagnostic points in Latin; distribution; a description in English with measurements; the source and collection from which the depicted specimen was obtained; and a variable but often large section that contains everything known about the species in question and quotes virtually every author or correspondent who has ever written about it.

This monograph does not contain the immense general bibliography that usually accompanies a work by Sharpe so we can accept his lamentation that he had not intended to write it and would not have taken on the job had he understood what it really entailed.  He also had to arrange for new illustrations and corrections to many of those left with Seebohm's manuscripts.  The final illustrations, however, must have pleased him greatly.  They are outstanding. 

The work has special meaning for me.  It is the first major ornithological book that I bought for myself. The occasion that I used as an excuse was my 50th birthday.

Wood, p. 561; Zimmer, p. 570-571.  Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Selby, Prideaux John (1788-1867)

Illustrations / of / British ornithology Vol. II. / Water birds.  21.0 x 13.6 cm.  [a]4b2A-Kk8Ll6(-Ll6)[$ 1, 2 signed]; 275 ll.  Pp.  [i-iii]iv-xii[1]2-538.  Original green cloth sides with floral design.  Rebacked with brown cloth spine, cream colored paper lettering piece and renewed endpapers.  Edinburgh, printed for the proprietor and published by W. H. Lizars; London, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman; Dublin, W. Curry Jun. & Co., Dublin, 1833. 

i, Title; ii, printer designation: Neill & Co., Edinburgh; iii, contents; viii, blank; ix, synoptical table with classification and status; 1, text, Grallatores and Natatores, Grus cinerea-Thalassidroma pelagica; 538, printer designation.

This is the second volume of text meant to accompany the splendid series of 222 engravings (218 colored) issued initially 1821-1833 under the same title.  The first volume on land birds appeared in 1825 and was then revised and published as a second edition simultaneously with this, the first edition on water birds.  The text comprises a reference to the plate number; synonymy; status including life history,  nest and eggs; general description of adults and young.  Sections are also devoted to family and generic characteristics.  The work is very well done.

This particular copy has many 19th century ephemeral items bound in.  The longest is a four page manuscript letter in which the writer strongly supports Selby's contention, originally advanced by Montagu, that the bird known as the Purre is actually a phase (basic plumage) of the Dunlin.  The letter is not dated but the citations it advances suggest that it is mid 19th century.  The writer's name appears to be something like "G.  Aukkiuiou" and the addressee, and perhaps owner of this copy, appears to be "Js Ris Esq".  In addition, there are more than 20 newspaper clippings inserted at appropriate places.  Most are "Letters to the Times" (London) from 1853 to 1876, and many are from the Reverend F. O. Morris.

Wood, p. 561; Zimmer, p. 573.  Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.  Not listed by Cornell.

 


 

Selby, Prideaux J(ohn)(1788-1867)

The / Natural  History / of / Parrots  17.3 x 10.9 cm.  π4a4B-D8E-S4T6χ22[$1 signed]; 116.   ll.  Pp.  [i-ix]x-xvi[17]18-187[188][12]22-42[13]23-43[14]24-364.  Original publisher's plum-colored pebbled cloth with gilt title and design on spine.  Green endpapers.  Edinburgh: W. H. Lizars; S. Highley, London; W. Curry Jun. &  Co., Dublin, 1836. 

i, List of volumes of Naturalist's Library; ii, blank; iii, half-title; iv, blank; v, series title: The / Naturalist's Library / Conducted by / Sir William Jardine, Bart. / Ornithology / Vol. VI / Parrots; vi, printer designation: Edinburgh, Neill & Co.; vii, volume title; viii, printer's designation; ix, advertisement; xiii, contents; 17, memoir of Bewick; 33, history of parrots; 67, systematic text; 12-42, contents of Magazine of Zoology and Botany; 13-43, prospectus for The Naturalist's Library (with printed yellow wrappers); 14-364, works on education published by Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh.  Contains supplementary engraved title leaf with hand-colored engraved vignette after (James) Stewart, engraved uncolored portrait of Bewick and hand-colored, steel-engraved plates 1-30 engraved by Lizars after original drawings by Edward Lear.

The Naturalist's Library was an enormously successful commercial publication intended to educate the public about natural history through an inexpensively produced series of books which eventually became 42 in number.  The work went through numerous printings and editions for more than 60 years eventually morphing into Lloyd's Natural History and Allen's Natural History in the mid 1890s.  The present book is an absolutely unsophisticated example of the original printing of what is generally regarded as the most desirable volume because of the presence of Lear's prints of parrots.  The scenic backgrounds of the plates in the Naturalists Library were always uncolored and the first printings of some of the volumes, including those on hummingbirds and pigeons, did not have these scenic backgrounds.  The volume on parrots did contain scenic backgrounds, even in this first printing, but I doubt whether Lear was pleased with these reproductions which are the merest shadow of those produced for his own famous monograph on parrots.  However, Jardine must receive credit for recruiting talent at the level of Selby and Lear to produce an inexpensive work whose popularity has persisted for almost two centuries.

This book, like most of those in the Naturalist's Library, presents an area of natural history that is attractive, exotic, and, at the time of publication, poorly known.  Thus, there was little to be said about most of these parrots save their synonymy, how they behave in captivity, and whence they were imported.  The Naturalist's Library was not a vehicle for announcements of scientific discovery.  In fact, the most educational part of these volumes was the biographical memoir of a distinguished contributor to the field of natural history, in the case of this volume, Thomas Bewick.

Wood, p. 562; Zimmer, p. 572.  The Naturalist's Library is present in all major natural history collections and libraries.


Selby, Prideaux (John) (1788-1867) (Jardine, Sir William [1800-1874])

Series title:  Naturgeschichtliches / Cabinet des Thierreiches / von / Sir William Jardine / VII. / Ornithologie. / IV Theil: / Die Tauben / Deutsch bearbeitet / von / Friedrich Treitschke  Volume title: Naturgeschichte / der / Tauben    16.4 x 10.3 cm.  π4A-E41-164172(-172)[$1 signed]; 89 ll.  Pp. (8)[I]II-XL[1]2-129(1).  Contemporary cloth-backed marbled boards, gilt lettering on spine.  Pesth, Verlag von C. A. Hartleben, 1839. 

π1r, volume title; π1v, blank; π2r, series title; π2v, blank; π3r-π4v, contents; I, biography of Albrecht von Haller; 1, text, general introduction; 9, generic and specific accounts.  Contains hand-colored steel-engraved (title) vignette and hand-colored steel-engraved plates I-XXX as designated only in contents section but not on the plates themselves.  The plates are (almost) all from drawings by Lear who is not identified and no engraver is designated.  Also contains uncolored engraved portrait frontispiece of Haller designated “Seipp sc…Stahl”.

According to Anker, in an entry for the German version of Selby’s Parrots, ten volumes of Jardine’s Natural History Library were adapted and published in Germany between 1836 and 1842.  I say adapted because they are not strict translations and in the case of this volume, the biography of Pliny present in the English original, is replaced by one on  Albrecht von Haller.  The plates are taken from Lizar’s engravings.  In the German Parrot volume published in 1842 “Gebhart, sc.” appears on the plates according to Anker.  However, only the Latin names of the species are printed on the present plates and Lear is not designated the artist despite the fact that the images are identical and in the same direction as those of the English edition in which Lear is identified.  The scanty backgrounds are also identical to those in the original printing of the English work.  Later editions of the English volume had more complex backgrounds.

Nissen refers briefly and without details to this German version at the end of his entry to the English volume.  Other than that, I can find no reference to this German version of Selby’s Pigeons.

Nissen, #855.  Absent from Ayer, McGill, Trinity and Yale collections.


Selby, Prideaux John (1788-1867)

The / Natural History / of / Pigeons  17.2 x 11.0 cm.  [A]8B-F8H-X4Y8Aa4a8[$1 signed]; 124 ll.  Pp.  (2)[i-vii]viii-ix[x][xiii]xiv-xv[xvi]17-228[12-42]52-202.  Original plum cloth with gilt title and design on spine.  Green endpapers.  Uncut, unopened.  Edinburgh: W. H. Lizars; London: S. Highley; Dublin: W. Curry Jun. & Co., 1835. 

i, list of volumes of the Naturalist's Library; ii, blank; iii, series title: The / Naturalist's Library / conducted by / Sir William Jardine, Bart. / / Ornithology / Vol. V. / Gallinaceous Birds / Part III. / Pigeons.; iv, printer's designation (Neill & Co.); v, specific volume title; vi, printer's designation; vii, advertisement; x, blank; xi-xii, absent due to printer's error (i. e. no lacking substance); xiii, contents; 17, memoir of Pliny by Andrew Crichton; 83, natural history of…pigeons, general introduction; 92, generic and species accounts; 21-24, advertisements for Naturalist's Library; 25-220, other advertisements.  Contains five unnumbered text wood engravings, uncolored engraved portrait of Pliny by Lizars, engraved supplementary title page with colored vignette by Lizars after (James) Stewart and engraved colored plates designated 1-30 on plates and I-XXX in text by Lizars after Edward Lear (29) and J. G. Pretre (1, #5).

This is a completely naïve copy of the first printing entirely in its original state.  It is one of two volumes of the Naturalist's Library  that contained original illustrations after Edward Lear and each (this and the Parrots) was written by Selby.  The various volumes of the Naturalist's Library went through numerous printings and editions and it is interesting that in the original (i. e. first) printings this volume and the two on hummingbirds did not contain scenic backgrounds.  Such uncolored backgrounds were present in the other volumes and were added to these in later printings.

The descriptions for the various species comprise synonymy, description, distribution, and life history including information on habitat, nidification and nourishment.  Some of the species were exotic were exotic and little-known at the time so the length of the treatment accorded them in the work is variable.

The book is a difficult one to describe bibliographically.  It is lacking pp. xi-xii due to a printer's error and does not contain G or Z signatures.  In addition, one of the title pages is supplementary and, because it is engraved and contains a colored vignette, is considered a "plate" by the publishers who advertise "thirty-two" plates.

Trinity, p. 130 (under Jardine); Wood, p. 562; Yale, p, 260; Zimmer, p. 572.


(Selby, Prideaux John [1788-1867])

Plate XLVI from Plates to Selby's Illustrations of British Ornithology, Edinburgh, London, Dublin (1821-)1834.  65.0 x 51.8 cm.  Hand-colored engraving on wove paper with etching.  Watermarked JWHATMAN 1821. 

Selby's life-sized illustrations are the finest of all engraved pictures of British birds and the work is comparable, if stylistically different, from Audubon's great folio.  The original edition is said to have appeared in 19 parts between 1821 and 1834.  There was a Bohn edition in 1841 which had a blue wash background and somewhat different, albeit well-done coloring.  The coloring for the original edition was done by a Scotch artist, Daniel McNee, who subsequently enjoyed a successful and well recognized artistic career.  However, between the original and Bohn editions, there were various unspecified issues and printings, some of which had very indifferent coloring so that there can be great variation amongst bound sets of the 222 (218 colored) plates.  The present example, watermarked 1821 and finely colored, is clearly an early issue with coloring by McNee.

The plate illustrates seven of England's favorite songsters in nine figures: #1. Nightingale M; 2. Redbreast M (signed PJ Selby); 3. Redstart M & F; 4. Greater Pettychaps (now Garden Warbler); 5. Black Cap M& F; 6. Dartford Warbler M (signed PJ Selby); 7. Greater White Throat.  The engravings were actually made from three paintings corresponding to lots 284-286 at the Bradley Martin sale of original paintings for Selby's book on 06/08/89.  Lot 284 comprised #s1, 2 and 6 by Selby.  Lot 285 contained #3 by Selby; and Lot 286 comprised #s 4,5 and 7 by Robert Mitford, Selby's artistically gifted brother-in-law.  This plate contains more figures than any other in the work because the depicted species are small.  Yet it is one of the most important of the plates because the figured birds are so familiar and beloved.

Wood, p. 561; Trinity, p. 216; Yale, p. 260; Zimmer, p. 571 (all for entire set of plates).


Selous, E. (1858-1934)

Bird Watching  232 x 135 mm  [a]2b4  A-X8Y6  [$1 signed].  180 ll;.  Pp. [i-viii]ix-xi(1)[1-2]3-347[348]. Original gilt-decorated cloth.  TEG, other edges uncut.  London, J. M. Dent, 1901.  The Haddon Hall Library edited by the Marquess of Granby and Mr. G. A. B. Dewar.

i, Haddon Hall designatory leaf; iii, title; v, contents; vii, list of illustrations; ix, preface; 1, title leaf; 3-337, text; 338-347, index.   Contains one wood-engraved and  six photogravure plates not included in pagination and seven text woodcuts by J. Smit as well as chapter head and tail pieces and endpaper illustrations by A. Rackham.

This is a handsome little work that provides a good example of English books that were produced for the trade at the turn of the century.  Smit’s pictures are beautifully reproduced by photogravure much as those of Keulemans were in Sharpe’s edition of Gilbert White that was published at about the same time.  The decorative cloth binding is also particularly attractive and characteristic of the period. 

Selous became very highly regarded as a pioneer in the study of bird behavior and this was his first significant book in that area.  He gives detailed field observations for a few species.  In the early 20th century, bird behavior succeeded collection and anatomical description as the major activity of many serious ornithologists.  Erwin Stresemann, who was not an easy man to impress, devotes two full pages (342-344) to Selous in Ornithology from Aristotle to the Present (1975).

Trinity, p. 216; Wood, p. 562; Yale, p. 260.  Unlisted by Zimmer.


Setha, Tan, Poole, Colin

A field guide to the / birds / of / Cambodia  20.4 x 14.1 cm.  (5)1-173.  Original pictorial boards.  Wildlife Conservation Society, Phnom Penh (2003)

First unnumbered page, Khmer title page; second, publication details in Khmer; third, title page in English; fourth, publication details in English including copyright, 2003; printed by JSRC Printing House, Phnom Penh;       fifth, contents; 1-11, preliminary section including acknowledgements, topography of a bird, geography; 12-148, brief descriptions and colored figures of 303 species; 149, explanation of abbreviations and symbols; 150, references (6); 152-173, list of 535 species with Khmer, English and Latin names, provisional status in Cambodia, global threat status, Thai threat status, Lao threat status.  The corresponding numbers of the species in antecedent works by Robson (A field guide to the birds of Thailand and southeast Asia, 2002) and Lekagul and Round (A guide to the birds of Thailand, 1991) are also given.  The figures of birds are taken from Robson’s book and are arranged on about 70 half-tone colored plates which are included in pagination and arranged such that they face the corresponding texts which are on the verso of the antecedent plate.

This is the first field guide of birds to be written almost entirely in Khmer.  It is divided into sections on  “Birds of town and country side; wetland birds; forest birds”.  The colored figures have been cleverly taken from Robson’s book and placed on a plate opposite their text in this work.

 


 

Seth-Smith, D. (1875-?)

Parakeets.  A Handbook to the Imported Species  25.5 x 16.5 cm. [A]8B2 1-2834  4-5864  7-118 124 13-198 202 (-202)[$1 signed]; 151 ll.  Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii-xi]xii-xv[xvi-xvii]xviii[xix-xx](1)2-261[262]263-281(+1).  Later fine half-red morocco, marbled boards with gilt spine containing raised ridges and six compartments.  R. H. Porter, London, (1902)-1903.  Red wrappers for the six original six-shilling parts (June, 1902-Oct., 1903) bound at rear. 

[i], title; [iii], dedication; [v], preface; [ix], contents; [x], dates of issue; [xi], systematic index; [xvii], list of plates; [xix], illustrations in text;[1], text; 255, appendix; [262], index.  Contains 20 colored plates (18 hand-colored lithographs, two photo-mechanical prints) and 24 text illustrations.

This work is basically avicultural since it deals only with “imported species”.  It is, however, very well done by someone with considerable ornithological knowledge.  The accounts for the 130 listed species cover, to varying degrees, life histories in the wild and under domestication.  Most of the information concerning the natural habitat is second-hand, however, the author has considerable first hand avicultural experience.

The illustrative material in this work is excellent.  Seth-Smith himself commissioned 17 of the plates whereas one, a photomechanicallly reproduced, unattributed plate of the Ornate Lory, is taken from Avicultural Magazine, and two others appeared in that magazine prior to the publication of this work although the cost of their production was shared by Seth-Smith who, I believe, was also an editor of the magazine.  Fourteen of the plates are after H. Goodchild.  Thirteen are hand-colored lithographs and one is a three-color print beautifully reproduced by André & Sleigh Ltd.  There are five other hand-colored lithographs, four after H. Grönvold and one after W. E. Renaut.  The printing and coloring of the beautiful lithographs was done by Mintern Bros and by Bale & Danielsson.  The text illustrations are mainly wood engravings taken from antecedent works, primarily Lydekker’s Royal Natural History and Cassell’s Book of Birds.

Trinity, p. 217; Wood, p. 563; Yale, p. 261; Zimmer, p. 575, “ The colored plates are excellent”.


Sewertzow, N. A. (Severtsov, Nicolai Alekseevich[1827-1885), (Menzbier, M.)[Menzbir, Mikhail Aleksandrovich {1855-1935}]

Oeuvres posthumes / de / Mr. le Dr. N. A. Sewerezow, / publiées par la / Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, / Rédigés  par / Mr. M. Menzbier. : I. / zwei neue oder mangelhaft bekannte / russische Jagdfalken. / II. / Études sur les variations d'age des / Aquilinés paléarctiques et leur valeur / taxonomique  28.5 x 22.5 cm.

The present volume, which contains these articles as the third and fifth of six livraisons, is Tome XV of the Noveaux Mémoires / de la / Société Impériale des Naturalistes / de Moscou.  The entire volume contains enumerated pp. 274 as well  as many unpaginated leaves of preliminaries.  The volume is bound in brown pigskin-backed green marbled boards.  The spine is divided into four compartments by incised band and there is a gray leather labeling piece in the second compartment that contains the designation B/168/C in old ink.  Reticulated edges.  Bradley Martin copy with his bookplate (more likely affixed by Sotheby's for the sale of his books) on the upper paste-down.

Journal title page: Noveaux Mémoires / de la / Société Impériale des Naturalistes / de Moscou. / Tome XV // Livraison 3. (5.) // Moscau / Imprimerie de l'Université Impériale / 1885(1888)

Livraison (Fascicule) title page: Oeuvres posthumes / de / Mr. le Dr. N. A. Sewerezow, / publiées par la / Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, / Rédigés  par / Mr. M. Menzbier.

Livraison 3, 1885.  π49-144X2[$1, 2 signed]; 30 ll.  Pp. (8)[69]70-118(2).  π1r, journal title page; π1v, blank; π2r, livraison title page; π2v, blank; π3r, note to reader from Menzbier about Sewertzow's unpublished manuscripts; π3v, blank; π4r, article title page: I. / zwei neue oder mangelhaft bekannte / russische Jagdfalken. / II. / Études sur les variations d'age des / Aquilinés paléarctiques et leur valeur / taxonomique.; 69, zwei neue oder mangelhaft bekannte russischen Jagdfalken 1) Hierfalco Grebnitzkii; 71, 2) Hierfalco uralensis; 84, études sur les variations d'age des Aquilinés paléarctiques et leur valeur taxonomique I, imperfection of present knowledge; 95, II, natural composition of the Aquila family; 105. III, geographical distribution; X2r, table of contents; X2v, Cyrillic designation;  Contains fine colored chromolithograph of the two purported new falcons designated W. Bachmann, Moskau and lithographed plates I-VII, six colored by chromolithography with Cyrillic designation of a Russian printing firm and Sewertzow designated as artist on two of them.

Livraison 5, 1888.  π419-244252; 30 ll.  Pp. (8)[147]148-197(1).  π1r, journal title page; π1v, blank; π2r, livraison title page; π2v, blank; π3r, note to reader from Menzbier; π3v, blank; π4r, article title page:  II. Études sur les variatiaons d'age des / Aquilinés paléarctiques et leur valeur / taxonomiques. / (Continuation)  147, critical review of palearctic species according to their age; 148, 1, Aquila chrysaëtos; 155, 2, Aquila nobilis; 178, 3, Aquila fulva; 190, 4, Aquila daphanea.

Sewertzow (Severtzoff, Severtsov) was apparently the mentor of Menzbier and both were highly regarded as scholars at the international level.  Menzbier resurrected much of Sewertzow's work by publishing it after the latter's death.  The present work is one example but a better known one, often attributed to Menbier, is Ornithologie du Turkestan, a very rare book that I examined (lot #1722) at the sale of Bradley Martin's library.

The seven chromolithographs in the present work are extremely well drawn and printed.   Sewertzow is designated as artist for two of them whereas there is no designation for the others which were almost certainly done by him as well.  Very few ornithologists have displaed comparable artistic talent.  One of the pictures is a tableau of the two purportedly new species of Gyrfalcon (certainly now not considered full species) printed by W. Bachmann, whereas the other six were apparently done by a different Moscow firm and are strict portraits rather than tableaux.  There is also an uncolored lithograph of feathers.

One of the articles describes the two aberrant Gyrfalcons while the other deals with variations in eagles of the genus Aquila.  In his explanatory statement for Livraison five, Menzbier informs the reader that he hopes to publish additional material on the Aquila eagles that Severtzow had assembled, but he is not certain when he will have the time to do so.  I don't think that he ever got to it. 

The use of German and French as languages for their articles was standard for Russian scholars of the era.

The journal is listed by Wood, p. 574, Cornell and Harvard but not by Trinity, Yale, Zimmer.  AMNH lists an early run that does not extend to this volume.  I found the article separately listed in the Catalogue (1902) of the Library of the Zoological Society (London).  The journal and these articles are very rare.


Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909), Wyatt, Claude W.(ilmott)(1842-1900)

A / Monograph / of the / Hirundinidae / or / Family of Swallows  Two volumes.  31.2 x 24.8 cm.  Later fine maroon blind paneled quarter morocco and marbled boards, spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments, blind design in all compartments.  London, for the authors, 1885-1894.  Perforated stamp of St. Paul library on title pages and one or two text leaves.

The individual accounts of species in these two volumes have their own separate pagination.  The signatures are not sequential and quite chaotic suggesting that the accounts were printed before the authors had decided upon the order of their arrangement.  The two content sections contain intended sequential pagination but with an incorrect number of pages, perhaps because they were developed before all the species accounts were finalized.  The only previous bibliographer who seems to have noticed these problems is Zimmer.  Others, like Wood, accept at face value the pagination in the contents pages, or, like Trinity and Yale, ignore the text.  This work also appeared under the Sotheran imprint, however, the pagination had not been corrected (Zimmer's copy).  The work sometimes appears with only 15, instead of all 103 of the plates colored, however, Wood's conclusion that the completely colored sets were specifically those with the Sotheran imprint, is disproved by this copy which was privately published but has all 103 plates colored.

Volume I  Pp. [i,-v]vi-lxx followed by 174 ll (Zimmer counts 173) including half-title and systematic text.  Total leaves, 209.  i, Title; ii, printer's engraved logo: London, Taylor and Francis; iii, preface; iv, blank; v, list of contents (text pages numbered 1-356); ix, list of plates numbered 1-64 including maps; xi, introduction; xv, geographical distribution; xxxi, literature; lxix, note on supposed hibernation; 348 unnumbered pages of systematic text including initial half-title leaf.  Contains 53 hand-colored lithographic plates of birds by Mintern Bros. after Wyatt, and 11 hand-colored lithographed maps, all unnumbered save in list of plates.

Volume II.  Pp. [i-iii]iv-viii] followed by 157 ll (Zimmer reports 337!) including 150 of systematic text and seven of index, the latter numbered [661]662-673(1). Total leaves, 161. i, Title; ii, printer's logo; iii, list of contents starting with page 357 and ending with 661 as start of index thus 357-674, or 159 ll; vii, list of plates numbered 65-129 including maps. Contains 50 hand-colored lithographed plates and 15 hand-colored maps.  Also contains a single uncolored text figure.

This work was published in 20 parts over a ten year period and the chaotic signatures and pagination suggest that much rethinking of taxonomic relationships may have gone on durint the lengthy germination.  The result is an exhaustive, and perhaps exhausting monograph.  Consider, for example, that Hirundo rustica receives a 24 page text (including three full pages of synonymy!!) and that does not include the American Barn Swallow which consumes another 18.  Consider also a bibliography of 36 pages. Sharpe, as Curator of Birds at the British Museum, received correspondence from observers all over the world and every word of it that concerned swallows found its way into this work.  Certainly, the family will never receive more complete coverage.

The plates by Wyatt are a major asset of this book.  Wyatt was a highly regarded ornithologist with publications in The Ibis as well as a gifted artist and he later wrote and illustrated a fine two-volume treatise on British birds that has never received its proper recognition because of the plethora of works on the same subject in the late 19th and early 20th century.  The plates in this book are especially good because they were colored by Sharpe's daughters who learned coloring not only from their demanding father, but also from Keulemans.  Other significant books that they colored include Godman's Petrels, Wyatt's own British Birds, Whitaker's Birds of Tunisia and the Supplement to Buller's Birds of New Zealand.

Wood, p. 565 (only 15 of plates colored); Zimmer, p. 578-579.  Also listed for AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale, none daring to estimate the number of pages.


Sharpe, R(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909)

A Chapter on Birds / Rare British Visitors  18.2 x 12.6 cm.  π61-7886[$1, 2 signed]; 68 ll.  Pp.  [i-v]vi-ix[x-xii][1]2-124.  Original publisher's green boards with gilt lettering on spine, black lettering and color-printed Red-breasted Flycatcher on upper cover.  Yellow end papers.  London, Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, 1895. 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Riddle & Couchman, London; v, preface; xi, contents; 1-124, text.  Contains 18 unnumbered chromolithographic plates after Keulemans by Riddle & Couchman.  Also contains single woodcut repeated 18 times as head-piece and 18 different tail pieces.

This little work is yet another gem from the SPCK which was responsible for producing several inexpensive, yet extremely attractive and authoritative popular works of ornithology during the last 60 years of the 19th century.  In this work, Sharpe, the Curator of Birds at the British Museum and arguably England's most highly regarded ornithologist of the era, treats 18 species that occur only rarely in England.  The treatment is personal, anecdotal, historical, and above all, interesting.  The colored plates are superb.  Of them Sharpe writes in the preface "The pictures which Mr. Keulemans has drawn are, in my opinion, among the best which the present generation owes to his talented brush, and the way in which they have been reproduced in chromo-lithography by Messrs. Riddle and Couchman…demands my warmest acknowledgement…".

This book is quite scarce in the North America. It is listed by Zimmer (p. 583), the AMNH and Harvard but is lacking at Cornell, Trinity and Yale.


Sharpe, R.(ichard)B.(owdler)(1847-1909)

A Monograph / of / The Alcedinidae: / or, / Family of Kingfishers  29.3 x 21.5 cm.  π5a-i4[$1, 2 signed] followed by 159 unpaginated leaves without signatures.  200 ll.  Pp.  (6)[i]ii; [i2]ii2[i3]ii3-lxxi(1)(2, subtitle leaf)unpaginated text [1-304]; [i4]ii4-xi2(1).  Contemporary gilt-ruled half brown morocco and henna pebbled cloth. Spine with five gilt raised ridges, gilt lettering in second compartment, triple gilt paneling in other five.  Marbled endpapers.  AEG.  London, for the author, 1868-71. 

π1r, Title; π1v, printer designation: London, J. W. Elliot; π2r, dedication to Walden and Zoological Society; π2v, blank; π3 r, list of about 135 subscribers accounting for 145 copies; π3v, blank; i-ii, contents giving page numbers where no pagination exists (text, 1-303[1]) and none where it does exist (i-lxxi); i2-ii2, list of plates 1-120; i3, introduction; iii,classification; xxi, geographical distribution; xlii, concluding remarks; xlviii, description of plate of generic characters; xlix, literature; lxxi, engraved and printed printer designation for Taylor and Francis (sic); (1, blank) (2, subtitle leaf: sub-family / alcedininae)[1-304], systematic text accounts of 120 species; i3-xi, index. Contains a hand-colored lithographed"Map of the Family Alcidinidae" as frontispiece; a single uncolored lithograph of generic characters; a single text figure depicting classification relationships; and 120 unnumbered (save in list of plates) hand-colored lithographs after J. G. Keulemans by P. W. M. Trap.  A previous owner has tastefully numbered plates and text in this copy.

In 1868, when Sharpe began to publish this book, he and Keulemans were respectively 21 and 26 years old.  According to Sharpe, it was published in 15 parts between 1 July, 1868 and 1 January,  1871. It was the beginning of an extraordinarily fruitful collaboration.  At the time, Sharpe was the librarian for the London Zoological Society which was being run by an extremely prodigious publisher of ornithological works, P. L. Sclater.  The two men apparently never had much to do with one-another and Sharpe soon became Curator of Ornithology at the British Museum.

This work bears several characteristics of books by Sharpe.  First, it is overwhelmingly exhaustive and exhausting.  Not only does he provide a 23 page bibliography, but Sharpe also supplies us with "Additional References" for each species.  The systematic text for each species contains synonymy, distribution and description followed by a section which includes virtually every word that has ever been written about the species or that Sharpe has obtained from his already extensive world-wide correspondence.  He tell us the origin of every specimen he describes and Keulemans paints and it is clear that he has gone to great extremes to examine as many individual birds as possible.  Fortunately or unfortunately, virtually nothing was known at the time concerning many of these species.

Sharpe may have been writing for posterity, but he was not writing for bibliographers.  Most of this work is unpaginated, the plates are not numbered, the contents page lists page numbers that don't exist and doesn't list those that do, and the same small case Roman numerals are used as many as four times.

It is often said that this work was issued in an edition of only 200 copies.  This is highly unlikely for two reasons: first, the subscriber list accounts for about 145 copies, a very large number for a book of this type, especially considering the youth of the author.  Most editions were printed to at least double the number of subscribers and usually more.  Second, the book is present in all major ornithological libraries and is frequently available for sale.

Wood, p. 564; Zimmer, p. 575.

 

 

 

Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909).

The / birds of the globe / A lecture delivered in the Hulme Town Hall, Manchester, on / Wednesday, November 10, 1875. 19.5 x 12.9 cm.  Pp. [49]50-71.  Unbound extract. Manchester Science Lectures, No. III., 1875.

This lecture describes briefly some characteristics of members of the various taxonomic groups comprising all birds known at the time.  Of necessity, the treatment is rather superficial.  Sharpe ends “I… hope….aided by the talented pencil of ….Keulemans,…I have introduced to your notice some of the most interesting …Birds of the Globe.”

 “The lecture was profusely illustrated with coloured drawings of birds, which were shown by the oxy-hydrogen light.”

 OCLC locates five copies.

 

 


Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler(1847-1909)

Scientific Results / of / The Second Yarkand Mission; / based upon the Collection and Notes / of the late / Ferdinand Stoliczka, Ph.D. / Aves  32.0 x 27.4 cm.  [a]2(-1)b-c4B-U4χ[$1, 2 signed]; 86 ll.  Pp.  [i-iii]iv-xvii(misprinted xviii)(1)[1]2-153(154).  Later blind-paneled half tan calf, marbled boards.  Spine with five gilt-paneled and decorated raised ridges.  Gilt-black and gilt-red morocco labeling pieces in second and fourth compartments.  Pages uncut.  Original green printed wrappers included.  London, printed by Taylor and Francis by Order of the Government of India, 1891.

Upper wrapper, recto, title; verso, blank; lower wrapper entirely blank;  i, title page identical to upper wrapper; ii, printer designation and engraved logo; iii, contents; 1, introduction; 3, systematic annotated list of 350 species; 149, appendix of six Indian birds with associated colored plates from Hume collection; 153, list of plates.  Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-XXIV, all mounted on guards. Presentation slip from the Secretary of State in Council of India, India Office, London, pasted to p. vii.

This expedition took place in the 1870s and notes on the birds by Stolicza and Colonel Biddulph were given to Hume whose resulting manuscript was "stolen by a dishonest servant and sold as waste-paper in the bazaar." Apparently, Biddulph's notes were spared.  Hume made a gift of his bird collection to the British Museum and Sharpe went to India to supervise its transportation.  Included in the collection were the birds and some of the original notes, particularly Biddulph's, those of Stolicza mostly having found their way to bazaar.  Also in Hume's collection were six Indian birds with fine colored plates by Keulemans and Sharpe took the opportunity in the appendix to publish the descriptions and plates even though the birds were found as part of the expedition.  Sharpe also quotes antecent papers from Henderson and from a Dr. Scully in order to "monograph the labours of the English Expeditions into Central Asia."  For each species, Sharpe provides a bibliography for the central Asian form including synonymy; sex, date and location of each specimen with measurements and a description of soft parts if it was recorded; and quotations, mostly from Biddulph,  concerning status, occurrence and behavior.  Sharpe also refers readers to  Lahore to Yarkand (the First Yarkand Expedition) by Henderson and Hume.  The ornithological section of that work was also published separately by Hume as Contributions to Indian Ornithology (1873).

Of the 24 mostly excellent colored lithographic plates, 15 are signed by Keulemans and M.& N Hanhart are designated as printer on four of these. There is no printer designation for any of the other plates.  Two, VII and VII (Aegithalus coronatus and Leptopoecile sophiae), are unsigned but appear to me to be typical of Keulemans; three are initialed by William Hart; two, XII and XIII (Dendrocopus leucopterus), bear a distinctive monogram that I don't know; and two others, XXIII and XXIV, bear initials (?LS) that I don't recognize.  Several bibliographers ascribe some of the plates to J. Smit, perhaps thinking that the last initials are JS.  However, I don't think Smit is amongst the four or five contributing artists.

Wood, p. 583; Zimmer, p. 580.  Also listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by AMNH.


Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909)

Sketch-book / of / British birds  24.9 x 18.5 cm.  [a]4b61-168[$1, 2 signed]; 138 ll.  Pp.  [I-vii]viii-xx[1\2-255[256].  Publisher's polychrome pictorial beveled green cloth with design of two Golden Eagles on upper cover.  Black lettering on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine.  London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1898. 

Contains full-page chromxylographic frontispiece of Song Thrush, chromoxylographic title vignette of Peregrine and approximately 300 unnumbered separate chromxylographic pictures in text (one full-page), many depicting more than one bird, all by A. F. and C. Lydon.

The SPCK produced many ornithological books intended for popular consumption during the 19th century and they were invariably well done by highly regarded authors and artists and often quite innovative.  Sharpe, the head of the ornithological section at the British Museum and possibly England's most prolific ornithological author, did at least two books for the SPCK, both quite different in style from his usual scientific prose.  He tells in the preface to this book that it contains "…the most complete record of the birds in the 'British List' yet published.  It …..brings the total number of species to 445."  All these birds are described in little essays which inform the reader of the habits of the bird, its status in the British Isles, and its nest and eggs if it is a breeder.  Virtually every species is represented by a colored figure.

It is extremely unusual to find any color-printed wood-engravings interspersed with text in an ornithological work and no other examples come immediately to mind.  If this is not the only ornithological book with chromxylographs throughout the text, than I am quite certain it is the one with the most.  A.(lexander) F.(rancis) Lydon (1836-1917), who was responsible for the pictures in this book, had been Benjamin Fawcett's principal artist and engraver for many years, having done the plates in William Greene's Parrots in Captivity (1884-1888) among others.

Listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by Cornell.


Sharpe, R(ichard) Bowdler (1847-1909)

On the Birds collected by Professor J. B. Steere in the Philippines (from contents page) as a part of The / Transactions / of / the Linnaean Society / of / London. / Volume I. / Second Series-Zoology / Part the Sixth.  (from the upper wrapper and the title page).  π22T-3A43B2(-2B2)[$1, 2 signed]; 27 ll.  Pp.  (4)307-355(1).  Later fine blind paneled blue quarter calf and marbled boards.  Blue gilt morocco lettering piece on upper cover. Spine with five raised ridges, single blind design in all six compartments.  Uncut.  Printed tan wrappers included.  London, Printed by Taylor and Francis (for the Sociey), 1877. 

Upper wrapper, recto, complete title page; verso, blank; lower wrapper, recto, blank; verso, list of available Society publications, this one for £1 2s; π1r, Transactions title page as wrapper; πv, blank; π2r, contents, part VI-November, 1877, this article with its title here printed for the first time;  307, introduction, description of Steere's trip; 308, summary of Phillipine ornithology; 312, systematic catalog of collection; 350, tabular distribution of all Philippine birds in Philippine and other islands; 355, description of plates.  Contains hand-colored lithographed plates 46-54 (numbered XLVI-LIV in description of plates) drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans, printed by M. & N. Hanhart.

This is an offprint of an exceedingly important paper since Steere's collection of 139 species included 60 species that were new to the Philippine list of which 45 were endemics and therefore, entirely new species.  Sharpe described some these new birds in other contemporary journals, however, approximately 25 are described  here for the first time.  Until this article, knowledge of this avifauna was based almost entirely on an antecedent article by Lord Walden in the Transactions of the Zoological Society of April, 1875.  According to Sharpe, with additions from the present collection, the total list of Philippine birds comes to 287 species.  There is an interesting table at the end of this article that provides the distribution of these species amongst various areas and islands of southeast Asia and Australasia as well as the Malay peninsula.  The plates are superb.

Wood, p. 565 (oddly with "nd"); also listed as separate by AMNH, Trinity, Yale, but not by Cornell, Harvard, Zimmer.

 


 

Sharpe, R.(ichard) Bowdler(1847-1909)

An / analytical index / to the works of the late / John Gould, F. R. S. ////////// with a biographical memoir/ and portrait  27.2 x 21.3 cm. [a]4b-c4d2(-d2)e-f4g2h2(-h2)B-3B4[$1, 3 signed]; 212 ll. Pp.[i-v]vi-xlviii [1]2-375(1).  Publisher’s green buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Mansfield, CT, Maurizio Martino, 1994

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, publisher designation: Maurizio Martino; “this reprint is strictly limited to 125 copies”; v, preface by Sharpe dated Dec. 15, 1892; ix, biographical memoir; xxvii, bibliography of Gould publications (302 citations); 1, index; 373, errata and corrigenda; 375, original printer designation: Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. Contains uncolored frontispiece photoportrait of Gould.

This an index which references birds and mammals by their English, generic and specific names to the work, volume number and plate number where they are treated.  In those cases where there are no plates (i. e. the handbooks to the birds of Britain and Australia), a page reference is given.

Sharpe, a great admirer of Gould, was perhaps the most knowledgeable of the ornithologists of his own era and was a prodigious worker.  He was Gould’s junior by 43 years and completed, after Gould’s death, Gould’s works on the Birds of Asia, the Birds of New Guinea and the Supplement to the Monograph of the Humming-Birds.

Gould was responsible for the production of about 3000 exceptionally beautiful hand-colored lithographic pictures of birds and, to a lesser extent, of mammals and the present work lists all the species by English and scientific names and locates them in his opus.  Of the original index, 100 copies were printed on large paper and 350 on regular paper.  The present copy is an exact photofacsimile of the regular paper issue.


Shaw, Tsen-Hwang

The birds of Hopei Province  29.3 x 22.0 cm.  One volume as two with continuous pagination and identical gray printed wrappers.   Pp.  [i-iv]v-xxxiii(1)[1-3]4-528, 529-974.  Original gray printed wrappers similar, but not identical, to title page.  Zoologia Sinica / Series B, The vertebrates of  China / Volume XV, Fascicle I / Peiping, Fan Memorial Institute of Biology, December, 1936.

i, Half-title; ii, Chinese characters; iii, title; iv, printer designation: The Yu Lien Press, Peiping; v, foreword by A. W. Grabeau dated December 23, 1936; viii, blank; ix, contents; xiv, blank; xv, list of plates I-XIII (forst vp;I,e)XIV-XXV, second  volume; xviii, list of text figures 1-303 (first volume), 304-506; 1, part one: general account; 67, part two, systematic accounts, Gavidae-Asioninae (first volume), Caprimulgidae-Emberizinae (second volume); 913, corrigenda and addenda; 921, index to generic and specific Latin names; 967, index to English names.  Contains uncolored half-tone plates I-XXV printed on one side only, each containing 1-3 separate photographic figures; uncolored text line cuts 1-506 after C. J. Tchang; between pages iv and v, a folding map after Shaw of life zones in colored collotype.

This remarkable work is the first significant one on the birds of China by a Chinese person.  It is written in impeccable English, covers 416 species in 246 genera and is based on personal observations of the author and a collection of 14,000 skins, most obtained by him.  For each species he provides synonymy; Chinese name if known; status in China; a description including numerous measurements; habits and habitats including food and nidification.  Keys are also provided for the various families and genera.  The line drawings are excellent. 

Hopei Province was also known as Chihli Province and a list of its birds had been published by George Wilder and Hugh W. Hubbard in the Bulletin of the Peking Society of Natural History in 1924.  Although a brief reference to Wilder is made in the present work, there seems to have been little communication between Shaw and Wilder even though both were elaborating the ornithology of this area at the same time.  The present work lacks a bibliography.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Melvyl.  Not listed by Trinity, Yale.

 


 

Shaw, Tsen-Hwang

The avifauna of Tsingtao and neighboring districts(from upper wrapper).  26.0 x 18.7 cm.  Pp. [133]134-222.  Original printed gray wrappers.  Bull. Fan Mem. Inst. Biol. Ser., vol. VIII. No.2, June 25, 1938(from upper wrapper).

133, introduction enumerating 48 species described as new for the area of Tsingtao in Shantung province; 137, systematic annotated list of all 253 species now known for the area, Gavia arctica pacifica-Emberiza rustica; 218, analysis; 220 bibliography (five references); 221, corrigenda and addenda; 222, several paragraphs of Chinese characters.  Contains uncolored text figures 1-5(two photographs, a sketch and two graphs) and a folding colored (stencil) map inserted between pp. 136 and 137.

The author, perhaps the first internationally known Chinese ornithologist, and his colleagues collected approximately 1,000 skins in this area southeast and adjacent to Hopei province about whose birds Shaw had published an extensive monograph in 1936.  The present monograph contains a complete list of the species known for the area with original citation and status given for each.  For those that were collected, weights, weights, measurements and stomach contents are also reported.

This is an author’s offprint of a very scarce publication.

Listed by Harvard.  Unlisted by AMNH, Cornell, Melvyl, Trinity, Yale.

 


 

Shaw, George (1751-1813) (figures by James Sowerby; introductions by Valmai Hanekl and Ed McAlister)

Zoology / of / New Holland  29.7 x 23.0 cm.  Eight unpaginated preliminary leaves as described below.  Actual facsimile [A]2B-D2E2(-E2)F4(-F4)F2(sic)G-H2I2(-I2)[$1 signed]; 19 ll.  Pp.  (4), 1-33(1).  Publisher's half-black morocco with gilt lettering to spine.  Blue cloth sides with blind vignette of topknot pigeon.  Adelaide, Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 1998 (original, London, J. Sowerby, 1794).

First preliminary leaf: recto, title page for new edition; verso, Australiana Facsimile Editions No. 218; Limitation statement, 600 of which 90 are numbered, bound in half-leather, and include a separate set of illustrations, this copy, No. 73.; ISBN 1 876154 22 5(Deluxe); second-fourth, introduction by Valmai Hankel, Senior Rare Books Librarian, State Library of South Australia; fifth-eighth, the animals (and birds) by Ed McAlister, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Zoological Society of South Australia Inc; actual facsimile: A1r, half-title; A1v, blank; A2r, title; A2v, blank; 1-33, species accounts (12) including five of birds.  Contains colored plates 1-12 printed in half-tone (originals hand-colored engravings) on one side only and not included in pagination.  Also contains extra uncolored suite of unbound loose plates, each with loose tissue sheet, house in black cloth portfolio with blind panel and topknot pigeon on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine.  Also loosely laid into the portfolio are two conjugated unpaginated leaves as follow: first recto: title; verso, limitation statement, this set No. 73 of 200, 90 of which are designated to accompany the deluxe edition of the facsimile as here; printed by Van Gastel Printing Pty. Ltd; second: recto, list of plates; verso, blank.

This is a facsimile edition of  a very rare book which was the first devoted entirely to Australian Zoology.  The original was issued either independently, as in the copy from which this facsimile was taken, or together with James Smith's Specimens of the botany of New Holland with a general title page for both works.

I had occasion to examine an original copy of this work at the auction of Bradley Martin's library in 1989 where it was lot 203.  The pictures are extraordinarily well done.  James Sowerby, the artist, is much better known for his botanical illustrations and it is unfortunate that he did not do more of birds.  The birds depicted are (modern nomenclature) the eastern rosella, the ground parrot, the topknot pigeon, the regent honeyeater and the chestnut quail thrush.  Of these, only the rosella had been previously pictured, that in Shaw's own Naturalist's Miscellany.

Shaw, who never visited Australia, was the author of a number or well known works including: Museum leverianum (1792-1796); Cimelia physica (1796); General zoology (1800-1826[some posthumous]); and with Frederick Nodder, The naturalist's Miscellany (1789-1813).

Wood, p. 566 (original). This edition not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.  Harvard does list the original.


Shelley, G. E. (1840-1910)

The Birds of Africa, Comprising all the Species Which Occur in the Ethiopian Region  Five volumes in seven.  28 x 19 cm.  Original red cloth.  Uncut, unopened, TEG.  R. H. Porter, London, 1896-1906. 

Vol. I. List  [A]4 B-N8O2  [$1,2 signed]; 102 leaves, pp. [i-iv]vi-viii[1]2-196.  A1, title; A2, dedication; A3-A4, introduction; [1]-196, list.  1896. 

Vol. II.  (5 ll.)1-208 214 228 232 [$1 signed]; 179 leaves, pp. (2)[i]ii[iii-v]vi-vii+(1)[1]2-348.  (1), title; [i]-ii, preface; [iii], list of plates; [v]-vii, contents; [1]-11, keys; 12-328, species accounts; 329-337, indexes; 339-348, notes.  Colored plates I-XIV.  1900. 

Vol. III.  (4 ll.)1-178182 [$1 signed]; 142 leaves, pp. [i-v]vi-vii+(1)[1]2-276.  [i], title; [iii], list of plates; [v]-vii, contents; [1]-267, species accounts; 268-276, indexes.  Colored plates XV-XXVIII.  1902. 

Vol. IV, part I.  (4 ll.)[1]82-188 [$1 signed]; 148 leaves, pp. [i-iii]iv-v[vi-vii]+(1)[1]2-287[288].  [i], title; [iii], contents; [vii], list of plates; [1]-287, species accounts.  Colored plates XXIX-XXXV.  1905. 

Vol. IV, part II.  (4 ll.)19-328[$1 signed]; 116 leaves, pp. (2)[i-iii]iv[v]+(1)289-511.  (1-2), blank; [i]title; [iii]-iv, contents; [v], list of plates; 289-496, species accounts; 497-511, indexes.  Colored plates XXXVI-XLII.  1905. 

Vol. V, part I.  (4 ll.)1-108 112 [$1 signed]; 86 leaves, pp. (8)[1]2-163[164].  (1), blank; (3), title; (5), contents; (7), list of plates; [1]-163, species accounts.  Colored plates XLIII-XLIX.  1906.  Each volume is signed on the front end paper by Robert W. Oates and has his bookplate on the front paste down and an Oates library stamp and blind stamp on the title page. 

Vol.V, part II. (Acquired later)  Completed and edited by W.(illiam)L.(utley) Sclater. Original red cloth.  Henry Sotheran, London, 1912.  (4ll)12-328332(-332)[$1 signed]; 173 ll.  Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii]165-502.  i, Title; ii, blank; iii, prefatory note by Sclater dated July 15, 1912; iv, blank; v, contents; viii, list of plates; 165, species accounts; 485, index I, Latin names; 499, index II, English names.  Contains colored plates L-LVII with LI as frontispiece.

This great work was never finished although the second part of Volume V was written from Shelley’s notes by W. L. Sclater and published with eight more colored plates by Henry Sotheran (instead of R. H. Porter) in 1912.  In the first volume, Shelley lists 2534 species of which only about one-third, all Passeres, were treated in the entire published work.  A complete synonymy was given for each covered species as well as a careful description, all published and many unpublished sightings, life histories as far as known, and references to antecedent figures.  The hand-colored lithographs after H. Grönvold depicted mainly species which had not previously been illustrated.  These pictures are highly acclaimed by Casey Wood and John Zimmer. 

George Ernest Shelley, a nephew of the well-known poet, was a career military man with a passion for African ornithology.  In addition to the present work, he was the author of A Handbook to the Birds of Egypt and A Monograph of the Nectariniidae or Family of Sun-Birds .

Trinity, p. 218; Wood, p. 566; Yale, p. 264; Zimmer, p. 589.


Shelley, G.(eorge) E.(rnest)(1840-1910)

A / Handbook / to the / Birds of Egypt  15.2 x 16.2 cm.  [A]6(-A6)B-X8Y4Z8(-Z8); [$1, 2 signed]; 176 ll.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii[ix-x][1]2-342.  Later binder's pebbled red cloth, gilt lettering on spine.  London, John Van Voorst, 1872. 

i, Title; ii, printer designation; (London), Taylor and Francis; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, contents; ix, list of plates; 1, introduction, geology, description of trip; 65, systematic list of birds; 317, concluding remarks; 329, index.  Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-XII (IV as frontispiece) after Keulemans.  Stamps of Umtali Museum, Rhodesia on first and last leaves.

Shelley may be better known for his later works, AMonograph of the Nectariniidae, and the unfinished Birds of Africa.  He was a nephew of the poet, Percy B. Shelley.  The present book is perhaps the first devoted specifically to the birds of Egypt although North African ornithology already had a rich history.  Shelley enumerates 352 species, for each of which he provides the initial source of nomenclature, status, a description with measurements, and reference to an antecedent published illustration.  He was an exceedingly meticulous ornithologist and most of the descriptions were based on specimens that he, himself collected during the trip described in the first section of the book. The colored plates by Keulemans were probably printed in the Netherlands by P. W. M. Trap although this is not explicitly stated.  The picture of Nectarinia metallica (Plate IV) was copied and signed by G. Mützel for inclusion in the second edition of  Brehm's Thierleben (second bird volume, page 568).

Wood, p. 566; Zimmer, p. 588.  Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.


Shelley, G.(eorge)E.(rnest), Captain(1840-1910)

A Monograph / of / The Nectariniidae / of / Family of Sun-Birds  One volume in two.  31.7 x 24.5 cm.  Preliminaries, [a]4b-n4o2[$1, 2 signed]; 54 ll.  Pp. [i-v]vi-cviii.  Text pages unnumbered but correctly paginated 1-382 on contents leaf.  Index pages correctly numbered [383]384-393(1) and so paginated on contents leaf.  Thus, text and index account for 197 leaves and the total for the work is 251, leaves.  Contemporary fine full mottled maroon calf with two triple gilt-rules and elaborate gilt roll panel design on covers.  Spine with five gilt-ruled and decorated raised bands.  Gilt red and gilt brown morocco lettering pieces in second and fourth compartments, others with gilt floral decoration.  Gilt-ruled dentelles.  Marbled endpapers.  AEG.  London, by the author, 1876-1880.

  i, Title; ii, engraved and printed printer designation: Taylor and Francis; iii, dedication to mother; iv, blank; v, contents with pagination; vii, list of plates 1-121; ix, introduction; xii, blank; xiii, dates of publication with description of original 12 parts; xvi, classification with generic and specific keys; liii, geographical distribution; lix, literature; [1-382], systematic accounts of 138 species; [383]384-393(1), index.  Contains hand-colored lithographic plates 1-121, so numbered only in list of plates, drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans, printed by M. & N. Hanhart, and colored by William Hart.

Volume I of the present copy contains the preliminaries and goes through page 176 and plate 55.  Volume II contains pp. 177-394 and plates 56-121.

This is my personal favorite amongst the great English family monographs produced in the late 19th century and mine is a beautiful copy.  Shelley a career military man and nephew of the poet, was the most meticulous of a very meticulous group of ornithologists.  The 50 page bibliography here begins with Linnaeus, as was the custom, but Shelley assures us that earlier references are to be found in the extensive individual synonymy/bibliography section that begins each species account.  Shelley devotes the last four pages of the bibliography to this work and tells us that it describes138 species (137 illustrated) including two new genera and 10 new species, and that 52 species are here figured for the first time not including many additional females that had never been pictured.  The accounts of the various species contain, in addition to the synonymy/bibliography section, a description in Latin; distribution; a very detailed description with measurements in English; the location and collection from which described and figured specimens were taken; and a discursive section that covers absolutely everything known about the species in question as documented by quotes from original sources.

Shelley pays particular respect to Keulemans telling us that he has used the notes of the artist on species from Prince's Island.  The fact that William Hart, one of Gould's more important artists, was in charge of the coloring of this volume assured that the artwork would be accurate and stunning.

Shelley describes the original 12 parts in which the work appeared beginning in July, 1876 and ending in February 1980.  I've examined many copies of this work but I have never seen or heard of an original wrapper for it.  I have read that it was originally titled "Cinnyridae" instead of "Nectariniidae" but I have never seen or heard of a title page containing the former designation.  One variant that I have seen on two occasions is a large-paper copy (38 cm) containing only the full complement of plates without any preliminaries or text.

Booksellers and auction houses invariably state that this work was printed in an edition of 250 copies. The work is found in most major collections and I see it quite frequently for sale.

Wood, p. 566; Zimmer, p. 588.  Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by Cornell.


Shirihai, Hadoram (author) (editors Ehud Dovrat and David A. Christie; illustrator, Alan Harris)

The birds of Israel 27.0 x 22.0 cm. Pp. [i-ix]x-lxx(2, recto, Plates 1-24, title, verso, blank)lxxi-lxxxix(1, blank)[1]2-362(2, recto, Plates 25-96,title, verso blank) 363-692 followed by three blank leaves. Endpaper maps. Original publisher’s navy cloth with gilt lettering to spine. This U. S. edition, San Diego, Academic Press, copyright, 1996. Contains two loosely laid in uncolored sheets printed on one side only showing various topographical features.i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, ISBN 0-12-640255-8; printed by Bath Press Colour Books, Bath; v, contents; vii, foreword by Dr. J. T. R.Sharrock; viii, “an Israeli viewpoint” by Ehud Dovrat and Dr. Yossi Leshem; ix, list of colour plates; xi, preface; xiii, acknowledgements; ixx part one: general introduction; lxiii, part two: relevant introduction; lxxxx, blank; [1], part three: the birds of Israel; classification contents; 3, species accounts, Ostrich-Corn Bunting; 642, appendix. Additional Sinai species; 651, gazetteer; 666, references (about 700); index of English and generic names; 691, note added in proof. Contains half-tone colored plates 1-96 printed on both sides of 48 unpaginated leaves, each plate containing 1-11 images. Also contains uncolored Figures 1-12 in the general introduction, about 180 uncolored unnumbered text species illustrations by Allan Harris and about 1000 uncolored distribution maps.

Covers the status and distribution in Israel of more than 500 species.

 

 

OCLC locates 134 copies

 

Short, Ernest H., Lattin, Frank H.(aak)(1861-1937)

Checking list / of / North American birds (from first page) A complete list / of the / birds of  North America / arranged according to the AOU check list (from page 2)  23.1 x 15.4 cm.  Pp.  [1]2-16.  Unbound pamphlet with page 1 as apparent title page.  Rochester, NY, Ernest H. Short;  Albion, NY, Frank H. Lattin, 1905 (?). 

1, title and designaton “190” suggesting that date of issue was 1900-1910; 2, different title as above, suppliers (Short and Lattin) and beginning of list.

The list contains 768 numbered species with additional alphabetical designations for subspecies or species added after compilation of the AOU list.  Each species or subspecies is designated by English and Latin name and referenced by number to the revised AOU check list of 1892, Ridgway’s Smithsonian Catalogue of 1881 and Coues’s Check List of 1883.

This is an exceptionally rare survival for which OCLC lists only two locations, AMNH and Harvard.  AMNH lists both Short and Lattin as authors and suggests 1905 as the date of publication.  Harvard lists Lattin as the author and gives no date nor place of publication.  Lattin published much oological material from Albion, New York and I suspect that the work was printed and issued first from there.  Both AMNH and Harvard list the title found on page 2 rather than the “Checking list…” title.

The title “Checking list…”  on the first page suggests that the authors thought purchasers might put checks next to the species they had seen and I believe this represents an early suggested usage of a check list for that purpose.

This work was never published in a journal and is not an offprint or extract.

 


 

Short, Lester L.(eroy)(1933-) (color plates by George Sandström)

Woodpeckers / of the world  26.8 x 19.2 cm.  Pp.  (2)[i-ii]iii-xviii[1-2]3-676.  Original publisher's simulated wooden boards with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine.  Greenville, Delaware, Delaware Museum of Natural History, Monograph Series Number 4, ( 1982). 

Unpaginated initial leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; i, title; ii, ISBN 0-913176-05-2; editorial production and design by Weidner Associates, Inc., Cinnaminson, N. J.; copyright 1982; iii, dedication; iv, about the author; v, contents; xi, list of color plates; xiv, blank; xv, acknowledgments; xviii, foreword by Dean Amadon; 1, part one section leaf; 3, introduction; 7, plumage and structure; 21, behavior; 35 zoogeography, evolution and systematics; 57, part two section leaf; 59, species accounts, Jynx torquila-Mulleripicus pulverulentus, comprising about 198 species; 537, part three section leaf; 539, plates 1-101; 641, part four section leaf; 643, references (about 400 entries); 665, index of English and Latin names; Contains plates 1-101 printed in color half-tone on both sides of paginated leaves.

This the first comprehensive monograph on the woodpecker family since that by Malherbes in 1862.  It is not so attractive as its hand-colored predecessor, but much new information accrued during the ensuing 120 years and is completely assimilated here.  For each of almost 200 species, there are sections on the following topics: range; diagnostic features; description; distribution and habitat; foraging habits; display; interspecific interaction; breeding; taxonomy; and references.  Although some measurements including weight are given, length is not.  The introductory section provides an overview.

The author traveled extensively to see woodpeckers in the wild and was Curator of the Ornithology  Department at the American Museum of Natural History.

The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Shortt, (Angus Henry [1908-]), Cartwright, (B. M.)

Sports Afield Collection of Know Your Ducks and Geese  35.2 x 30.0 cm.  Original simulated leather with gilt title on upper cover.  Minneapolis, Sports Afield, 1948.  This work is unpaginated and all leaves are printed on rectos  only. There are 79 leaves as follows: seven preliminary leaves including title, dedication, foreword, foreword continued, foreword continued, contents, and blank; the subsequent text comprises 36 unnumbered leaves of colored plates by Shortt, each showing a male and female of a single species in flight, and each preceded by a tissue leaf containing descriptive letter-press by Cartwright, an uncolored drawing of the male and female swimming, and a distribution map.

The monthly magazine, Sports Afield, published one of these plates and its accompanying letter-press in each issue for 1946-1948 and then, as a result of popular demand, combined them in the present book which was reprinted with a different title in 1957.  Shortt, the older brother of ornithologist-artist Terrence Shortt,  worked as an artist for Ducks Unlimited of Canada and Cartwright was a naturalist for the same organization. 

This book is highly  attractive and exceptionally well done.  The artistry is outstanding and the plates are beautifully produced by photo-offset on thick mat paper.  The text is terse, comprehensive and accurate.  It covers Latin and common names, description, courtship, nesting, eggs, weight, migration and distribution and also includes key references for each species.

Trinity, p. 219 (1957 version); Yale, p. 265.


Shortt, Terrence Michael  (1911-)

Two silkscreen prints, undesignated (red-breasted mergansers, whooping cranes).  Image size 25.3 x 21.0 cm.  Matted and framed.  Inscribed and signed by artist on mats.  The names of the species as well as "Smith and Matthews, Toronto", printed on back of mats.

Terrence Shortt spent his professional life at the Royal Ontario Museum and enjoyed a successful career as an artist and author.  He wrote and illustrated Wild birds of the Americas and Not as the crow flies, both published in 1977, and supplied artwork for numerous other works including Francis Kortwright's Ducks, geese and swans of NorthAmerica (1942), Bailey and Niedrach's Birds of Colorado (1965) and Bodsworth's The last of the Curlews (1957).  He was particularly effective with the scratchboard technique.


Shortt, Terry (Terrence Michael [1911-])

Not as / the crow flies  22.9 x 15.0 cm.  Pp.  [1-10]11-255[256].  Publisher's brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine.  Tan endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Toronto, McClelland and Stewart Limited, (1975).

1, Half-title; 2, uncolored frontispiece; 3, title; 4, copyright 1975; [ISBN] 7710-8167-7; printed and bound by T. H. Best Printing Company Limited, Don Mills, Ontario; 5, contents; 7, introduction; 9, northern Canada expedition; 29, Nascopie expedition; 47, Klondike expedition; 61, Alaska expedition; 87, Mexico expedition; 95, Trinidad expedition; 125, Ecuador and Galápagos expedition; 173, India expedition; 220, Africa expedition; 253, epilogue; 255, acknowledgements.  Contains 13 (including frontispiece) unnumbered, full-page line and scraperboard illustrations with running text on obverses and included in pagination.

Shortt spent his entire life working at the Royal Ontario Museum.  Here he describes anecdotally and pictorially various expeditions  to obtain material for displays, some of which most probably contained dioramas by him.  Roger Tory Peterson, in his introduction to the Abbeville Baby Elephant folio edition of Audubon's Birds of America, praises  Shortt's art and singles out this book.  Indeed, its dust jacket, with fine colored illustrations on the front and rear, and the 13 uncolored sketches in the text are impressive.  One wonders, however, why, if his objective were to draw attention to Shortt's art, Peterson did not select Wild birds of the Americas (1977), written by Shortt and containing numerous very good colored figures.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity.  Not listed by Harvard, Yale.


Sibley, Charles G., Monroe, Burt L. Jr.

Distribution and / Taxonomy of / Birds of the World  277 x 215 mm.  568 Ll.  Pp. [i-vi]vii-xv[xvi]xvii[xviii]xix-xxiv1-1111(1).  Red cloth with gilt titles on black cloth inlays on spine and upper cover.  DJ.  New Haven & London, Yale University Press, 1990.  Second printing. 

i, Half-title; iii, title; v, dedication; vii, contents; xvii, preface; xix, introduction; 1, systematic list; 785, world numbers; 849, maps; 875, gazeteer; 907, references; 940, index.

This is a major summary work on the the birds of the world, now considered to number almost 10,000 species.  The classification is arranged according DNA hybridization studies pioneered by Sibley and Jon Ahlquist.  Their technique resulted in the most revolutionary changes of the past century in the taxonomy of birds.  Latin and English names and distribution as well as a world number (presumably for use in future computer operations) are supplied for each species.  There is also a fairly extensive series of maps and a gazetteer as well as a copious bibliography and a meticulous index.

This important work reflects the state of understanding of the world’s avifauna at the end of the twentieth century.


Sibley, David Allen (1961-)

The Sibley / Guide to Birds  24.0 x 15.7 cm.  Pp.  [1-6]7-544; 272 ll.  Decorated laminated card.  Printed and illustrated endpapers including topographical map.  New York, Knopf, 2000.  First printing. 

1, Half-title; 2-3, illustrated title; 4, dedication, publication data; 5, contents; 7, preface; 8, acknowledgments; 9, introduction; 15, bird topography; 23, systematic text; 538, index.  Contains numerous unnumbered, colored text illustrations after the author.

This much praised and heavily promoted book is said to be a new kind of bird guide for a new century.  It covers 810 species and the jacket claims it contains 6600 colored illustrations in the text.  The work is concerned exclusively with identification and there is very little printed text.  Measurements, distribution maps and illustrations of every plumage are given for each species.  Sometimes the author explicitly states identifying points but often the reader is left deduce them from the pictures.  The author includes Eskimo Curlew, Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Bachman's Warbler in a list of extinct species.

A virtue of the work is that it illustrates virtually every species and geographical variation that has been described for North America up to the time of publication.  This includes exotic populations such as parrots, as well as new species that have recently been raised from subspecific status by splitting.

David Sibley is the son of the ornithologist Fred Sibley. 


Sick, Helmut (1910-1991)

Birds in Brazil.  A natural history. Translated by William Belton.  28.5 x 23.0 cm.  Pp. (2, blank)[i-xi]xii-xiii[xiv-xv]xvi-xvii[xviii][1-4]5-704[705-708].  364 ll.  Original publisher’s buckram-backed cloth, dust jacket.  Maps on endpapers.  Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1993.

Half-title, i; title, iii; dedication, v; contents, vii; forward to Brazilian edition, viii; tribute, ix; expressions of appreciation, x; translator’s comments, xi; introduction, xv; text, 1-642; general bibliography, 643; species index, scientific names, 651; species index, English names, 690; index to plates, 707.  Contains text figures 1-327, mostly after Paul Barruel and 47 plates (1-46 and undesignated) of which 38 are colored. Plates 1-43 are after Barruel, 44-45 after John P. O’Neill, and the remaining two, photographic.  The plates are at the end and not included in the pagination.  The 45 that illustrate birds depict 5-15 species each.  The figures are full-length and artfully arranged.

Helmut Sick is to Brazil very much what Johannes Gundlach was to Cuba.  He came from Germany to Brazil on a scientific mission just prior to the second World War and stayed there for the remaining 52 years of his life studying the rich bird life.  He published his magnum opus in 1985 and the present work is an updated, revised and translated version.  It treats all of the 91 families and 1635 species of the Brazilian avifauna.  There is an extensive description of the biology of each family and a specific bibliography for that family as well as a general bibliography at the end .  There is also a short physical and distributional description for each species.  John O’Neill has added two colored plates to the 43 (37 colored) done by Paul Barruel for the Brazilian edition and all of them, as well as the numerous text illustrations, are excellent. 

This is the definitive 20th century work on the birds of Brazil, one of the largest of national avifaunas.


Siebold, Ph.(ilipp)Fr(anz) de (1796-1866)(Temminck, C.[oenraad]J.[acob][1778-1858]; Shlegel, H.[ermann][1804-1884])

Fauna Japonica / sive / Descriptio animalium , quae in itinere per Japoniam, jussu et aispicis / superiorum, qui summum in India Batavia Imperium tenant, / suscepto, annis 1823-1830 collegit, notis, ; observationibus et adumbrationibus illustravit / Ph. Fr. de Siebold. / Conjunctis studiis / C. J. Temminck et H. Schlegel / pro vertebratis / atque / w. de Haan/ pro invertebra-tis / elaborata. / regis auspiciis edita. / Lugduni Batavorum. / 1833. / Amstelodami apud J. Müller et Co  37.5 x 26.6 cm.  π41-352362(-362)χ13[$1 signed]; 88 leaves.  Pp.  (8)[1]2-141(1)[12]22-232(1)(2, publication data, colophon, publisher's red stamp, all in Japanese).  Contemporary (publisher's [?l]) half maroon calf and maroon buckram sides.  Spines with five gilt ruled raised bands with gilt ornamentation.  Gilt lettering in second, fourth and sixth compartments including "4 Aves" in fourth, and "Tokyo, 1934" in sixth.  Patterned endpapers.  Blue reticulated edges.  (Tokyo, Shokubutsu bunken kanko-kai (Society for publication of botanical works, [1934]).

π1r-π1v, blank; π2r, decorated title page; π2v, blank; π3r, dedication; π3v, blank; π44, volume designation, "Aves"; π4v, blank; 1-133, systematic text, Falco communis-Sterna fuliginosa (199 species) in French; 135, appendice, Pitta nympha, Biophorus paradisiacus; 136, systematic list of species, 1-199, 1-2, Latin names, page and plate reference; 12-232, on the birds in Siebold's Fauna Japonica in Japanese by Dr.  Nagamichi Kuroda (1889-1978). Contains 120 colored plates, printed in gravure on one side only and numbered A-B; I-LXXXIX; IB; VB; VIB; VIIB; IXB; XVIIB-E; XXB-C; XXIB-D; XXXIB-C; XXXVIIIB, XXXIXB, LIVB; LVIB; LIXB; LXB-D; LXXVIIIB; LXXXXIIB-C; LXXXIIB; LXXXIVB.

This is a facsimile, made in Japan, of the first and most important work on Japanese zoology.  The work was originally published 1833-1850 in six volumes and the facsimile edition was combined into  four volumes and published in 1934.  Although Siebold was the traveler to Japan, the ornithological material was written by Temminck and Schlegel and based on museum specimens as well as on the Siebold collection.  It appeared in 12 parts between 1844 and 1850.  The facsimile edition title page used for the bird volume must have been made from an early nonornithological part.  Zimmer gives a title page with the imprint "Apud Arnz et Socios" and dated 1850.  Kuroda added notes and an index in Japanese for this facsimile bird volume.

The text describes distribution, measurements and descriptions of all stages for 201 species but does not include synonymy although some history is given for each.  This work was one of the first to use trinomial nomenclature to describe subspecies, an innovation introduced by Schlegel also in his Kritische übersicht der Europäischen Vögel (1844).  Several new species were described in this work for the first time including the varied tit.

Most of the colored plates, which in the original work are hand-colored lithographs, are very good.  Of plates I-XX, 16 are signed by Wolf and the other four are ascribed to him by Zimmer.  Schlegel and Wolf were probably responsible for the remainder.  Schlegel virtually never signed his designs.

The edition of the Japanese facsimile comprised 300 copies and is extremely uncommon, at least outside of Japan.  It is listed by Melvyl (University of California) and Harvard but not by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity and Yale.  The original ornithological volume is well described by Anker (#504), and by Zimmer (p. 92).

 

Silva, Tony (paintings by Eric Peake)

A / monograph of / macaws and / conures  33.0 x 22.6 cm.  Pp. [i-viii]x-xx1-380.  Original publisher’s black cloth with gilt titled spine.  Patterned gray endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Pickering, Ontario, Silvio Mattacchione and Co., copyright 1993.

 i, Half-title; i, blank; iii, title; iv, publication data; ISBN 1-895270-00-6; printed and bound in Canada; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, certificate of authentication, #1967/2000 copies of the “Subscriber’s Edition”; inscribed warmly in ink and signed by author, dated Miami, December 13, 2004; viii, blank; ix, foreword by Jeronimo Saavedra Aceverdo, former president of the government of the Canary Islands; x, blank; xi, contents; xv, acknowledgements; xvii, plan to the text; xix, introduction; 1, classification; 3, the bird trade; 11, purchasing a bird; 13, pets: selection care and well-being; 17, the role of aviculture in conservation; 21, husbandry of macaws and conures; 37, incubation; 43, hand-rearing; 51, genus, Anodorhynchus; 77, genus cyanopsitta; 95, genus Ara; 151, genus Orthopsittaca; 157, genus Propyrrhura; 167, genus Diopsittaca; 175, genus Thectocercus; 183, genus Guaruba; 191, genus Aratinga; 263, genus Nandayus; 267,  genus Leptopsittaca; 269, genus Ognorhynchus; 271, genus Rhynchopsitta; 281, genus Conuropsis; 283, genus Cyanolieus; 295, genus Pyrrhura; 349, genus Enicognathus; 357, genus Myiopsitta; 367, bibliography of more than 200 references; 373, index to scientific names; 377, index to common names.  Contains 40 unnumbered color half-tone plates after Peake printed on one side only and not included in pagination.

This work provides a very detailed and knowledgeable avicultural perspective on almost 140 forms comprising more than 60 species of long-tailed neotropical parrots.  The following aspects are covered in detail for each form: synonyms; other names; etymology; description with measurements; distribution; habitat; status; general notes; feeding; nesting; eggs; call; flight; and aviary notes.  The colored plates are quite attractive.

The author was Curator at Loro Parque, Tenerife, a zoo with a particularly large collection of parrots.  In 1996, he pleaded guilty to smuggling parrots, mostly Hyacinthe Macaws, into the United States.

 OCLC finds 13 copies.


Simon, Hilda

 The amazing book of birds 23.4 x 18.3 cm.  Pp.  [1-5]6-128.  Original brick red cloth with scarlet lettering on upper cover and spine.  Colored pictorial jacket of secretary bird and cobra with original retail price of $3.75 on upper jacket flap.  New York, Hart Publishing Company, (1958).

 1, Blank; 2-3, title; 4, copyright 1958, Hart Publishing Company; 5, half-title printed in black and green; 6, contents; 8, foreword; 11, half-title printed in black and red; 13, equipment of birds; 22, nests and eggs; 38, how birds care for young; 48, how birds get food; 66,  how birds fly; 74, bird migrations; 82, exceptional birds; 96, odd ways of birds; 120, birds of the past; 126, index.  Contains about 77 unnumbered color half-tone text illustrations, some full-page or more, usually printed in two colors.

 Hilda Simon had a remarkable breadth of interest and knowledge, comprising areas as disparate as ornithology, physics and Nazis!  She was a prolific author and illustrator and most of her later works contained illustrations that resembled chromolithographs, and were printed by a method she developed.  The present work was one of her earliest and does not exhibit this special method of color printing.  It is basically a general textbook of ornithology written with the objective of interesting children in birds.

 OCLC locates about 50 copies.

 

 

Simon, Hilda

Wonders of / hummingbirds 23.0 x 17.0 cm.  Pp. [1-6]7-62[63](1).  Color pictorial cloth-covered boards with similarly decorated dust jacket.  New York, Dodd, Mead & Company, (1964).

1, list of Dodd, Mead Wonderbooks; 2, list of books written and illustrated by Hilda Simon; 3, title page with colored illustration; 4, dedication; copyright, 1964; printed in the United States of America; 5, contents; 7, text; 61, index; 63, about the author-artist.  Contains about 45 two-color text illustrations and two colored maps, all unnumbered.

Hilda Simon’s books are marketed towards children but contain considerable material that most adults neither know nor understand.  Her combined interest in natural history, physics and illustration contribute to making her books very unusual.  In this book, she describes all aspects of the life of a hummingbird including the physics of its flight and of the iridescence of many of its feathers.  She distinguishes clearly between chemical and structural pigmentation, not exactly the kind of material one expects in a book for children.

Miss Simon produced numerous books on insects, birds and natural history.  All these books were illustrated by her and the colored figures were produced by a process the results of which resemble chromolithography.  I haven’t seen this type of color printing in other books published in the second half of the 20th century and I am certainly curious as to the technique employed.  It’s not unlikely that she may have contributed directly to the printing of her pictures.


Sinclair, Ian and Langrand, Olivier

Birds of the / Indian Ocean Islands  21.0 x 15.0 cm.  Pp.  [1-11]12-184.  Original illustrated stiff wrappers.  Cape Town, Struik Publishers, 1998. This copy signed and dated by Olivier Langrand.

1, Bird groups by colour code; 2, quick reference; 4, blank; 5, title; 6, publication data; 7, sponsor’s foreword; 8, acknowledgments; 9, contents; 10, map of entire area; 11, introduction; 13, family introductions; 22, locating endemic birds; 32, species accounts; 174, vagrants; 175, glossary; 176, illustrated glossary; 178, bibliography; 179, index of scientific names; 182, index of English names; endpapers, A-Z quick reference.  Contains 71 colored plates with facing text as well as other colored figures and maps in text

This work encompasses the birds of Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoros and the Mascarene Islands.  It is strictly an identification guide but a very good representative of that genre.  It covers 359 species, for each of which it gives brief information on size, identification, habitat, status and area distribution map, and vocalization.  The illustrations are by Norman Arlott, Hillary Burn, Peter Hayman and Ian Lewington and they are uniformly excellent.

 


 

Sitwell, S., Buchanan, H., Fisher, J.

Fine Bird Books  1700-1900  49 x 35 cm.  Pp.  [i-v]vi-viii[1]2-120.  Original half-red buckram with marbled boards.  London & New York, Collins & Van Nostrand, 1953. 

i, foretitle; iii, title; v, contents; vi, list of colored plates; vii, list of uncolored plates; 1, text by Sitwell; 47, bibliography by Buchanan and Fisher; 119, index.  Contains 16 full-page half-tone colored plates printed on one side only that are not included in pagination and 22 full-page monochrome collotype plates printed on both sides that are included in pagination. 

This is the original edition of this book which is deservedly known for its beauty.  The colored plates (four from Audubon, two from Gould, two from Elliot, two from Sharpe and single representatives from Frisch, Manetti Pennant, Nozeman, Levaillant and Schlegel) were reproduced by Van Leer of Amsterdam using 8-color half-tone and they are really superbly done.  The monochromes are also especially good having been reproduced by collotype.  This copy is one of 2,000 printed on Gelderland Mill paper.  There was also a signed, limited edition of 295 copies that was printed on a different type of paper and bound in half-morocco.

In contrast to its appearance, the intellectual content of this book is not outstanding.  Sitwell, from a well-known family, had no claims for authorship other than membership in an upper class English society.  Buchanan was a dealer in natural history books with no particular qualifications or reputation for scholarship.  Fisher was an excellent ornithologist and a major popularizer of ornithology and conservation but had no connection to the world of antiquarian books.  The bibliography is no more than a list of every book the authors could find, that contained colored plates and was published prior to 1900.  It is filled with errors, contains numerous omissions, and uses an absurd rating system of one to three stars that reflects Buchanan’s prejudices without Fisher’s knowledge of birds.  As for Sitwell’s discursive text, the less said, the better. 

Trinity, p. 269; Yale, p. 337.


Sitwell, Sachaverell (1897-1988), Buchanan, Handasyde, and Fisher, James (1912-) (foreword by S.(idney) Dillon Ripley [1913-2001])

Fine bird books / 1700-1900  30.2 x 22.9 cm.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii-xi[xii]1-180.  Publisher's purple cloth with gilt lettering to spine.  Lime endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket with price of $65 printed on upper flap.  New York, The Atlantic Monthly Press, (1990[1953]).  (Second edition).

i, Half-title; ii, colored frontispiece; iii, title; iv, copyright 1990; first published in Great Britain in 1953 by William Collins; printed in Japan; first printing; ISBN 0-87113-285-0; v, credits: designed by Ann Harakawa and Hideshi Fujimaki, New york; four-color separation, printing and binding by Dai Nippon Printing Company Limited, Tokyo; vi, colored plate; vii, contents; viii, note to the new edition; x, foreword by Ripley; 1, introduction by Handasyde Buchanan; 5, fine bird books by Sitwell; 62, notes, including some corrective by editors; 65, the bibliography by Buchanan and Fisher; 161, list of plates by Elizabeth Braun; 171, appendix to the new edition by Buchanan; 177, index to authors and artists.  Contains 52 unnumbered colored plates printed in half-tone with running text on obverse and included in pagination.

The original edition of this work, published in 1953, was a sumptuous and valuable folio of 2000 standard and 295 de luxe copies, all of which contained superb, expensively reproduced plates from conventional classic ornithological book such as those by Levaillant, Audubon and Gould.  The text consisted of an incomprehensible overview by Sitwell and a bibliography intended to list all ornithological books with colored plates published within the stipulated 200 years.  The authors then designated some of them with 1-3 stars in a puerile rating system that implied they had actually examined all the titles which they listed.  This was obviously not the case and the work was replete with errors, particularly concerning the number of plates and the techniques by which they had been printed.  Some of these errors have been corrected for the present edition which also contains a new, larger, and more interesting selection of colored plates as well as two added sections that are reprinted from Buchanan's Nature into art (1979).  The major new addition is Elizabeth Braun's fine selection of prints and her scholarly discussion of each including analysis of the techniques of reproduction as well as the significance of the work in which it appeared.  Betsy is the daughter of my long-time book-collecting friend and Audubon print expert, Robert Braun.

Listed by Cornell, Trinity.  AMNH, Harvard and Yale list only the first edition.


Sjöstedt, Yngve (1866-1948)

Zur / Ornithologie Kameruns / nebst / einigen Angaben über / die Säugtiere des Landes  31.0 x 24.6 cm.  [1]42-154[$1 signed]; 60 ll.  Pp.  [1-3]4-120(113-118 bound in reverse).  Later leaf green cloth with emerald cloth backing, white labeling piece on spine.  Original printed gray thesis upper wrapper bound in (vide infra). Kongl. Svenske Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar.  Bandet 27. No 1. Stockholm, Kungl., Boktryckeriet, P. A. Norstedt & Söner, 1896.

1, title; 2, blank; 3, preface summarizing results; 5, chronological bibliography of Cameroon ornithology and mammology; 10, general considerations; 23, systematic accounts (synonymy, status) of about 210 species of birds; 113, list of all known species of birds from Cameroon; 119, list of 43 species of mammals; 120, correction.  Contains chromolithographed plates I-X, drawn by A. Ekblom, lithographed by G. Thelander, printed by W. Schlachter.

Starting in October, 1890, the author spent 15 months in Cameroon as a participant on a collecting expedition under the auspices of  Stockholm and Upsala museums, the primary objective of which was to obtain insect specimens.  Although he wrote extensively about west African insects of various sorts, Sjöstedt seems also to have expended considerable effort on birds.  He collected 400 skins comprising 176 species of which 56 were new for Cameroon and six entirely new to science.  Furthermore, he had the opportunity, on returning to Sweden, to work up another collection of 52 species including 32 he hadn't seen of which 11 were new for Cameroon and four were entirely new.  The 10 new species (some not now recognized as full species) are pictured here for the first time and given diagnoses (Latin descriptions) as well as extensive German descriptions.  They had been briefly reported by the author in an antecedent publication.  Amongst these species is the gorgeous Malimbus racheliae, one of west Africa's most striking forest species.  Sjöstedt appends a complete list of the birds of Cameroon based on the previous literature and his own findings.

The bound upper cover of this copy differs from the title in that after the title, it identifies the work as "Inaugural-Dissertation…von Yngve Sjöstedt", gives the date for the thesis defense as "20 Mai, 1896" and is itself dated 1896 with the same publisher as that listed with the 1895 date on the title page.  I suppose that Sjöstedt used the published article as his thesis and had a special wrapper printed for it at his thesis defense.

The work is a major contribution to west African ornithology.

Wood, p. 569.  Also listed by Trinity, Yale.  Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Zimmer.


Skead, C.(uthbert)J.(ohn) (in collaboration with Jack Vincent, Cecily Niven, G. R. Mclachlan and J. M. Winterbottom; color plates by C. G. Davies, [R. Findlay], D. M. Henry, C. E. Talbot Kelly, Norman, C. K. Lighton and John Perry; black and white diagram by P. A. Clancey)

The canaries, / seedeaters and buntings / of Southern Africa  24.1 x 18.5 cm.  [1]82-8894104(+3 glossy)118[$1 signed]; 83 ll.  Pp.  [i-iv]v-xiv1-152.  Publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering to upper cover and spine.  Endpaper maps.  Pictorial dust jacket. Published for the Trustees, South African Bird Book Fund.  (Cape Town), distributed by the Central News Agency, 1960. 

1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, printed in South Africa by Cape Times Limited, Parow, C. P.; v, foreword by John Voelcker; vi, blank; vii, preface; viii, blank; ix, contents; xi, list of illustrations, maps; xii, blank; xiii, list of photographs; xiv acknowledgements; 1, general review of the family; 18, systematic accounts, Fringilla coelebs-Emberiza impetuani, comprising 18 specis; 133, gazetteer; 137, bibliography (about 220 entries); 144, index of names in English, Latin, Afrikaans.  Contains: colored plates I (folding frontispiece)-XIX printed in half-tone with uncolored distribution maps 1-18 on the obverses of II-XIX, the entire leaves not included in pagination; uncolored half-tone text photographs 1-50, including 39-50 printed on three glossy leaves included in pagination; uncolored line drawing of bills.

This is an exceedingly comprehensive monograph that covers only 18 species.  The following information is given for each: original citation; synonymy and references; local names; distribution in South Africa and elsewhere; review of the species; highly detailed description of each subspecies including measurements and precise distribution; habits; habitat; voice; food; breeding behavior including dates, nests and eggs.  Each species is illustrated on a single colored plate mostly by D. M. Henry (7) and C. G. Davies (7).  I believe this is the only book containing a newly published pictures by Davies from his death in 1920 until his resurrection by Alan Kemp beginning in 1976. There is one picture by R. Findlay whose name was curiously omitted from the title page which listed all the other artists.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Skead, C.(uthbert)J.(ohn)  (assisted by Cecily Niven, J. M. Winterbottom and Richard Livesidge; colour plates and drawings by John Perry)

The sunbirds of Southern Africa / also / the sugarbirds, the white-eyes / and the spotted creeper  24.3 x 18.5 cm.  Pp.  [i-iv]v-vi[vii-viii]9-351(1).  Publisher's ochre cloth with publisher's initials, A. A. B., in gilt on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Published for the Trustees of the South African Book Fund.  Cape Town, A. A. Balkema, 1967. 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, details of special assistance; colour illustrations reproduced by Photo Process (Pty) Ltd; printed and bound by Cape and Transvaal Printers Ltd. v, foreword by John Voelcker; vi, preface; vii, contents; viii, list of illustrations; 9, the sunbirds; 10, general review of the family; 87, specific accounts, species 1-20; 229, the sugarbirds; 230, general review; 248, specific accounts, species 21-22; 281, the white-eyes; 282, general review; 299, specific accounts, species 23-25; 327, the spotted creeper; 328, general review; specific account, species 26; 333, acknowledgements; 334, bibliography (almost 300 entries); 341, gazetteer; 344, general index including English and Latin bird names.  Contains: colored plates 1-10 printed in color half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination; enumerated only in list and legends which share facing page with consecutive text and are included in pagination; uncolored half-tone photographic plates 1-12 displaying 91 images and printed on both sides of six leaves that are not included in pagination; text line drawings 1-41; distribution maps 1-25, the two sugarbirds sharing a single map; sound record, "sunbird calls and songs, edited by Mrs. June Standard, in pocket at rear.

This is the second exhaustive monograph by Skead on a small number of species, the first (1960) having dealt with The canaries, seedeaters and buntings of Southern Africa.  The present work provides an extensive general discussion of the biology of the families,  followed by very detailed specific accounts that include the following information: local names; distribution in South Africa and elsewhere; field characters; habits; habitat; food; breeding parasitism; taxonomy with synonymy; and for each subspecies a meticulous description of all plumages with measurements.  The book is copiously illustrated and contains a record of sunbird vocalizations.

The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Skelding, Susie Barstow (editor), Bridges, Fidelia ([1834-1923] illustrator)

Birds and Blossoms / And what the Poets sing of them  22.4 x 20.0 cm.  Pp.  (6, including blank/colored frontispiece, title/copyright, acknowledgment/list of illustrations)[9]10-130; 64 ll.  Original publisher's half-buckram, moiré covered boards, the buckram with gilt design of birds and flowers, the moiré with colored floral motif.  AEG.  New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1891.

 11, title leaf for frontispiece "Cat-birds and Garden-roses"; 12, blank; 13, text.  Contains eight unnumbered chromolithographic plates after Bridges with separate sheet giving title in letter press, all included in pagination.  The plates are stamped "Copyright 1887 by Frederick A. Stokes, Publisher, New York".

This work is a collection of facsimile manuscript and printed quotations, and poems dealing with nature and taken from various writers including Browning, Burroughs, Keats and Wordsworth to name just a few.  Barstow and Bridges collaborated on several such anthologies.   The pictures by Bridges have an oriental quality and are rather appealing and the chromolithography is quite nice.

This work is uncommon.  A copy with the 1887 imprint is listed at Harvard under "American Poetry" and is described as 30 cm, considerably taller than this copy.  The Library of Congress also lists the 1887 imprint but with no description save "from an old catalog". The book is unlisted by AMNH, BMNH, Cornell, NYPL, Oxford, Smithsonian, Trinity, Wood and Yale.

The pagination suggests either that there is a printer's error or that a preliminary leaf, presumably a half-title, is absent.  The description of the Harvard copy simply states pp.  130.  It is conceivable that the 1887 issue may have had such a half-title whereas the present edition does not.  I can find no published reference to this 1891 edition either in the collections cited above or on the internet.  However, I have seen reference to a volume Favorite birds and what the poets sing of them edited by Josephine Pollard, published by Stokes, and also containing eight chromolithographs by Bridges that was said to have been first published in 1888 and reprinted in 1891 and may differ from this work only in the title page.


Skinner, M. P.

A Guide to the Winter Birds of the North Carolina Sandhills  23.3 x 16 cm.  Pp.  [i-ii]iii[iv]v-vii[vii]ix-xiv1-295[296]297-301[302](2, unmentioned monochrome plate “The Wood Gnome of the Sandhills”).  Original green cloth. Privately published Albany, 1928. with copyright to Mrs. J. W. Achorn.  Printed by Science Printing Press, Lancaster, Pa. 

i, title; iii, dedication to James Warren Achorn; v, foreword by memorial committee headed by Mrs. Achorn; vii, contents; ix, list of illustrations; 1-282, text by Skinner; 285-295, poem and two chapters by J. W. Achorn; 297, index.  Contains 13 colored plates, 12 by E. J. Sawyer, all not included in pagination and printed on one side only. Also contains 30 full-page text photographs included in pagination.

This is an excellent and handsome regional work that resulted from the love of the North Carolina sandhills on the part of a Boston physician with a special interest in birds, Dr. John Warren Achorn, who vacationed regularly there during the winter.  He arranged for the work, providing, with friends, for the financing and hiring Skinner to do the field research and Sawyer the illustrations.  Unfortunately, he died in 1926 and the completion of the book was overseen by a memorial committee of which his wife was a member and presumably the prime mover.

Skinner, an accomplished (professional?) ornithologist did an exhaustive analysis in terms of field research, representative habitat photographs and copious species accounts both in general and local terms.  The colored plates by Sawyer are unusual and highly effective.  They present a specific habitat with a number of its typical inhabitants.  The effect is that of a trompe de l’oeil as the birds seem to project out from the habitat.

There are also a number of personal touches to the book such as the invention of the game of “Bird Golf” by Achorn.

Trinity, p. 221; Wood, p. 569.  Not listed in Yale catalogue.


Skipwith, Peyton (1939-)

The great / bird illustrators / and their art 1730-1930  29.4 x 21.5 cm.  Pp.  [1-7]8-176.  Text and plates printed within double black-ruled frames.  Publisher's brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine.  Ochre endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket with price of $25.00 printed on upper flap.  New York, A & W Publishers Inc., 1979.

1, Half-title; 2,blankl; 3, title with uncolored illustration from Bewick; 4, acknowledgements; copyright 1979 by the Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited; first published in USA in 1979 by A & W Publishers Inc.; printed in Italy; ISBN 0-89479-044-7; 5, contents; 8, introduction; 12, Mark Catesby; 18, Eleazer Albin; 24, Alexander Wilson; 30, Ramsay Titian Peale; 34, John James Audubon; 48, Robert Havell Jr.; 52, William Swainson; 56, Edward Lear; 76, John Gould; 104, Josef Wolf; 124, Joseph Smit; 130, John Gerrard Keulemans; 152, John Guille Millais; 158, Henrik Grönvold; 168, Archibald Thorburn; 176, index.  Contains 65 unnumbered colored plates printed in half-tone with running text on obverse and included in pagination.  Also contains thumbnail uncolored half-tone portraits of all artists save Catesby.

This work contains a brief survey of ornithological iconography as well as biographies and representative colored plates from the works of:  Catesby (2 plates); Albin (2); Wilson (2); Peale (1); Audubon (5); Havell (1); Swainson (1); Lear (9); Gould (12); Wolf (9); Smit (2); Keulemans (10); Millais (2); Grönvold (4); and Thorburn (3).

I bought this book just when I was becoming interested in collecting ornithological books and in doing more exotic birding.  It was enormously stimulating to me in both regards.  I can remember vividly the excitement I felt in examining the plate of the Amazon Kingfisher by Keulemans.  It inspired me to visit the rare book room at the American Museum of Natural History where I could view the real thing.  When I did so, I decided immediately to buy any such old books that I could afford, especially those illustrated by Keulemans.

The plate of Temminck's Roller from Gould's Birds of Asia also  particularly excited me and eventually led me to Sulawesi where I could see it in the wild.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-) (Illustrated by Gardner, Dana)

Life of the / Flycatcher  25.3 x 17.6 cm.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii-xiii[xiv][1-3]4-162; 88 ll.  Original plain green boards, gilt lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Norman and London, University of Oklahoma Press,1997.  Volume 3 of Animal Natural History Series

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright, publication data, other publications by author; v, dedication (to a Chachalaca!); vii, contents; viii, list of illustrations; xi, preface; 1, second half-title; 2, blank; 3, flycatcher family, overview; 17, food and foraging; 30, daily life; 41, dawn songs and flight songs; 55, duets, greetings, nest songs; 61, courtship; 69, nests; 87, eggs and incubation; 100, young and their care; 116, enemies, defense, nesting success, longevity; 132, flycatchers as neighbors; 147, bibliography; 157, index.  Contains plates 1-16 on eight leaves not included in pagination.  Numbering and letter-press for the 16 is printed directly on nine of them, in some cases covering the facing plate.  Also contains 32 scratchboard-type text illustrations, some full-page, and tables 1-4.

This  fifth and last of the family monographs by Skutch was published when he was 93 years old.  It covers the New  World Flycatchers, the largest family of birds that is restricted to the Western Hemisphere.  The great majority of these birds are tropical and since Skutch spent most of his life in the tropics, he is particularly well suited to the task of describing them.  The book is quite an attractive volume, well written and referenced, and full of personal observations.

The work is present in the libraries of the AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-)(illustrated by Arthur B. Singer)

The life / of the hummingbird  26.1 x 19.2 cm.  Pp.  [1-7]8-95(1).  Original publisher's olive cloth with impressed gilt lettering on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine.  Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $15.95 on upper flap. A Vineyard book.  New York, Crown Publishers Inc., (1973). 

1, Half-title; 2-3, title; 4, "1973 by Vineyard Books, Inc., New York; ISBN 0-517-50572X; printed by A. Mondadori, Verona, Italy; 5, contents; 6-7, diagramatic family tree of birds; 8, colored plate; 9, the hummingbird family; 17, colors and adornments; 33, food, metabolism, longevity; 42, bills and tongues, flowers and insects; 54, daily activities and temperament; 59, courtship, voice and other sounds; 70, nesting; 83, enemies and friends; 89, the past and future of hummingbirds; 93, bibliography (about 75 entries); index (alphabetized with English names, each followed by Latin name.  Contains about 100 unnumbered figures of hummingbirds printed in color half-tone as vignettes, text illustrations, and on what might be construed as two full-page colored plates.

Skutch spent most of his adult life in Costa Rica and wrote prolifically about Central American birds. This is the first of several books by him about the life histories of specific families of tropical birds.  He describes the basic biology of his subjects in a popular, yet informative matter.  The work is very attractively illustrated by Arthur Singer.  Later books dealt with woodpeckers, tanagers, pigeons, antbirds and flycatchers and were illustrated by Dana Gardner.

The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-) (Illustrated by Gardner, Dana)

Life of / the Pigeon  30.3 x 23.0 cm.  Pp.  [i-vi]vii-xii(2, second half-title)1-130; 72 ll.  Original blue buckram-backed blue boards, silver embossed Zebra Dove on upper cover, black lettering on spine.  Blue end papers.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Ithaca and London, Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, 1991. 

i, Half-title; ii, other books by Skutch, Gardner; iii, title; iv, copyright, publication data; v, dedication; vii, contents; ix, list of illustrations, tables; xi, preface; 1, pigeon family, overview; 11, eating and drinking; 22, daily life; 31, voice and courtship; 41, nests and eggs; 51, incubation; 62, young and their care; 79, rate of reproduction; 88, pigeons and man; 96, homing pigeons; 113, how pigeons find their way; 111, Darwin's pigeons; 119, bibliography; 127, index.  Contains full-page colored plates 1-24 with numbering and letter-press on verso of antecedent plate save plate 1 on which the information is directly printed.  These 24 leaves not included in pagination.  Also contains 29 unnumbered, scratchboard-type text illustrations, some full-page, and tables 1-4.

Skutch, an ornithologist who has lived in Costa Rica for many years, is an excellent writer and covers topics not likely to appear in modern monographs such as the influence on Darwin's thinking of various types of domestic pigeons that have been obtained by selective breeding and conditions.  The production is a handsome one and the publisher's have corrected the error they made in the antecedent volume on Tanagers in which every colored plate was marred by the descriptive letter press printed directly on it.  This work followed previous Life of the  works on Hummingbirds (1973), Woodpeckers (1985), and Tanagers (1989).  The fifth and last work of this genre by Skutch  covered New World Flycatchers and was published in 1997 when the author was 93.

The work is present in the libraries of the AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale and Trinity.

 


Skutch, Alexander. F.(rank) (1904-) (illustrated by Dana Gardner)

Life of the Tanager  31 x 24 cm.  Pp.  [i-viii]ix-xii(2)1-114.  Original buckram-backed green boards with gilt bird on upper cover, pictorial dust jacket.  Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1989. 

Half-title, i; title, 3; dedication, v; list of illustrations and tables, ix; preface, xi; the tanager family, 1; food and foraging, 9; voice, 21; daily life, 29; displays and disputes, 36; temperament, 45; courtship and nest, 51; eggs and incubation, 62; nestlings and their care, 72; helpers, 86; enemies, nesting success and longevity, 94; tanagers and man, 105; bibliography, 108; index, 112.  Contains colored plates 1-24 not included in pagination and 19 uncolored and unnumbered text figures, all after Dana Gardner.

Skutch has lived in Costa Rica for most of his life and has acquired great first-hand knowledge of the life history of its birds.  He is a prolific author and amongst his works are several personalized monographs on various families including hummingbirds, woodpeckers, pigeons and this book on tanagers.  He writes mainly, though by no means exclusively, from the perspective of his own observations.  The books are attractively illustrated by Gardner who is now established as an expert in the depiction of Central American birds.  The plates in the present book while attractive, were printed in Hong Kong and are perhaps not quite so well reproduced as those by Gardner for The Life of the Woodpecker that were printed George Rice and Sons.  Gardner’s pictures remind me, in their contrasts of color between bird and background, of those by A. E. Gilbert.  In style, the artist seems to have been influenced by the Japanese ka-cho genre.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.       


Skutch, Alexander F.(rank) (1904-) (illustrated by Dana Gardner)

Life of the / Woodpecker  30.5 x 22.8 cm.  Pp.  [i-iii]iv[v-vii](1)1-136.  Original publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine.  Gray endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $49.95 on upper flap.  Santa Monica, Ibis Publishing Company, (1985).  This copy signed by Gardner on half-title.

  i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright 1985; ISBN 0-934797-00-5; credits: designed by Christina Clements; production art by Keith Axelson & Associates; manufactured by George Rice and Sons, Inc., Los Angeles; v, colored plate; vi, blank; vii, contents; 1, introduction by S. Dillon Ripley; 5, preface; 6, the woodpecker family; 16, food, foraging and storing; 30, the dwelling and territory; 42, daily life; 52, drumming, voice, displays, pair formation; 62, nesting; 78, the fledged young; 86, social life; 100, usurpers, parasites and predators; 114, woodpeckers and man; 127, taxonomic list of woodpeckers of the world; 130, bibliography (about 120 entries); 134, general index including alphabetized names in English followed by Latin.  Contains 31 unnumbered full-page illustrations  printed in color half-tone with running text on obverse and included in pagination.  Also  contains 30 unnumbered, colored text illustrations, some depicting several figures, three uncolored text illustrations and two colored text maps.

This is the second book by Skutch devoted to life histories of  birds in families primarily represented in the tropics.  It was preceded by one on the hummingbirds and followed by others on pigeons, antbirds and flycatchers.  This is the only one of the series to appear with the Ibis Publishing Company imprint.  That company was owned by the ornithologist James Clements, whose constantly updated Birds of the world: a check list, first published in 1974, became a staple the international bird listing community. 

The work addresses basic biological aspects of ornithology in general, and of woodpeckers in particular, in a popular yet informative style.  It is unusually attractive and well produced.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


 

Slater, Peter

Rare and vanishing / Australian birds 31.4 x 23.3 cm.  Pp.  [1-7]8-96.  Publisher’s ivory faux leather with gilt printing on spine.  Color pictorial dust jacket with parrots depicted on upper and lower covers.  Fly leaves decorated with uncolored sketches of parrot.  Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Rigby Limited, 1978.  Laid in color half-tone print of Princess Parrot.

 1, Half-title; 2, list of books by Slater; 3, title; 4, ISBN 0 7270 0884 6; Copyright, 1978; designed in Australia; printed in Hong Kong; 5, contents; 6, blank; 7, introduction; 14, systematic text covering 48 species; 96, acknowledgments.  Contains 41 unnumbered color half-tone plates included in pagination and with running text on versos, one with two discrete pictures, several depicting two species.  Also contains 14 uncolored text line drawings.

This interesting book comprises a general section devoted to the extinction of birds in Australia and a detailed section of essays and colored plates covering 48 species. The author is clearly a student of the history of Australian ornithology and writes from a scholarly perspective.  He is also a good artist and the colored plates, including 10 depicting parrots, are pleasingl

OCLC locates 85 copies.

 

 

 

Slater, Peter (1932-)

Masterpieces of / Australian bird / photography  31.4 x 23.2 cm.  Pp.  [1-8]9-190[191](1).  Publisher's brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine.  Blue endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Adelaide, Rigby, 1980.

1, Half-title with uncolored photograph; 2, colored frontispiece; 3, title printed in brown on pale green page with central, white-framed colored photograph; 4, ISBN 0 7270 1164 2; copyright 1980; "First published 1980"; uncolored photograph;  5, contents; 6-7, colored photograph; 8, introduction; 13, the making of a masterpiece (hints on how to take good pictures of birds); 35, pioneers and innovators (history of Australian bird photographers; 55, the masters (28 photographers and their work); 75, acknowledgments; 79, bibliography (about 125 entries); 189, index of photographers; 191, colored photograph.   Contains about 100 colored photographs (one double-paged, 37 possibly qualifying as full-page), about 90 uncolored (one double-paged, 38 full-page) including those in preliminaries.  All photographs printed in half-tone, included in pagination.

This is an unusual book that provides a history of Australian bird photography as well as brief biographies and examples of the work of 28 selected photographers, many contemporary.  This is a field that is much driven by technology and some of the pictures already appear antiquated.  One old photograph shown here that will never fail to excite is that taken in 1922 by C. H. H. Jerrard of a paradise parrot, the last one ever seen.  Some of the pictures are unconventional.  Slater is the author of several books on Australian ornithology including a popular field guide.

Listed by Cornell, Trinity, not by AMNH, Harvard, Yale.


Slud, Paul (Bentley)(1918-)

The birds of Costa Rica / distribution and ecology  26.9 x 19.8 cm.  Pp.  [1-2]3-430.  Original printed blue wrappers.  New York, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume 128, January 7, 1966(July 30, 1964). 

1, Title; 2, reprinted January 7, 1966; price $10.00; 3, contents; 5, introduction; 26, acknowledgments; 27, systematic accounts, Tinamus major-Zonotrichia capensis, comprising 758 apecies; 391, keys and comments for life-zone map; 400, references (about 85); 406, index of English and Latin names.  Contains plates 1, 2, uncolored physiography maps printed in collotype and "Fig. 1.", a large multifolded, uncolored line "life-zone" map not included in pagination.

This is a "second generation" treatise for Costa Rica following that of Carriker in 1910.  Slud's studies, carried out over a period of seven years, led him to delete 34 species from Carriker's list and to add 79 for a net gain of 45, making the national count 758 species including 864 forms in 440 genera.  This work specifies the global and local distribution, habitat and altitude for all species and subspecies and includes sundry field notes that are mostly concerned with behavior and vocalization.

Sometime shortly after the second world war, the American Museum of Natural History increased the print run of its Bulletin and also began the policy of reprinting it in the case of  sufficient demand, as here.

Listed as independent publication by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.


Small, Arnold (1926-2000)(maps by Robert Sandmeyer & Keith Axelson)

The birds of California  22.6 x 15.0 cm.  Pp.  [i-v]vi-xxiv(2)[1]2-310.  Original publisher's yellow cloth with blue lettering to spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  New York, Winchester Press, (1974).  Two signed typed letters from the author to RLS laid in loosely. 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, dedication; copyright 1974; ISBN 0-87691-119-X; design by Dennis J. Grastorf; printed in the United States of America; v, contents; vii, checklist of the birds of California; xxii, blank; xxiii, preface; unpaginated leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; 1, introduction; 5, California and its bird life; 22, birds and bird study; 33, annotated list, Gavia immer-Plectrophenax nivalis, comprising 518 species; 139, California's habitats for birds; 303, index of Latin and English names.  Contains more than 300 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text photographs, one full-page, uncolored, half-tone map of landform provinces and several habitat distribution text line maps.

Arnold Small was a Professor of Biology, an early president of the American Birding Association, and a transplanted New Yorker who became for many years the doyen of California ornithology.  He had a life-long interest in photographing birds but his skill in that regard is here betrayed by mediocre reproduction.

The annotated list contains very brief entries that include only seasonal status and range in California for each species.  The major part of the book is the extensive section on habitats, much more detailed than is found in most state bird books, and very informative.

Arnold and I were roommates on a birding trip to New Guinea in 1980.  Lest he see it, I removed all evidence of the low price I paid for this copy of his book, when I later took it on a trip to California where I did some birding with him.  That is how the upper right corner of the upper flyleaf happens to have been excised!

The book was issued over the Collier Books imprint in 1975.

Cornell and Trinity list this edition.  AMNH, Harvard and Yale list the Collier imprint.


Smee, Walter

Some account of the maneless lion of Guzerat  28.6 x 22.0 cm. Z4(-Z1)2A4(-2A3-4)[$1, 2 signed]; five leaves.  Pp.  165-174.  Contains plate (24), a colored engraving designated "Lear, del. Zeitter, sc." Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1:165-174 (1835).  Communicated December 10, 1833.

This article is one of a bound collection of extracts entitled Natural History Miscellansy,  some of which are from the first volume of the Transactions, of which a few (not this one) are relevant to ornithology.  Lear's color plate of the maneless lion is noteworthy.


Smith, Andrew (1797-1872)

Illustrations / of the / Zoology of South Africa; consisting chiefly of / Figures and Descriptions of the Objects of Natural History / collected during / An Expedition into the Interior of South  Africa, / in the years 1834, 1835, and 1836; / fitted out by / "The Cape of Good Hope Association for Exploring Central Africa" /// Aves.  30.3 x 24.0 cm.  Unpaginated.  Two preliminary leaves (title, index of species) and 130 leaves of accounts covering 123 species.  Contemporary full calf with gilt fillet and blind roll decorations.  Spine with five raised ridges, richly gilt designs and two red morocco labeling pieces with gilt lettering.  Richly gilt turn-ins.  AEG.  London, Smith, Elder & Co., (1838-)1849. Bookplate of Alan Francis Brooke (Viscompte Alanbrooke, CIGS for Great Britain during World War II).

Contains 114 hand-colored lithographs (backgrounds uncolored) lithographed by Louis Haghe after originals by George H. Ford.  

This work was issued in 28 parts, 26 of which contained ornithological material.  However, the plates for the five intended volumes were numbered separately.  Eventually the relevant material was extracted from the original parts and bound into its appropriate volume. Therefore, the volumes lack pagination and signatures.  In addition, the index of species is presented alphabetically with respect to the first letter of the Genus and the species are bound in that order along with the relevant plates.  Since this order was not envisioned when the parts were issued with their numbers, the numbering of the plates in the volumes is not sequential.

This is the single most important ornithological work ever devoted to the ornithology of any part of Africa.  Many of the species are described and figured for the first time and still others are pictured for the first time after having been described originally by Smith in The South African Quarterly Journal of 1836 or the Report of the Expedition for Exploring Central Africa from the Cape of Good Hope, also issued in 1836.  This ornithological volume contains no general material about the expedition and presents only specific accounts.  For each species, there is a brief Latin description, synonymy, a very detailed description in English including measurements, and a variable section of comments that can include abundance, distribution, classification, habits and reproductive history.

Although most of the plates are unsigned and I found his name only on numbers 6 and 18, all the plates are after originals by George H. Ford who accompanied the expedition and is better known for his work on reptiles. Richard Bowdler Sharpe's comments about these illustrations in his edition of Layard's Birds of South Africa some 40 years later, are not complimentary.  My own opinion is that the plates are a mixed lot.  Some are excellent, others less satisfactory.  Although the plates do not contain a designation of their lithotrapher, I believe it was Louis Haghe who is best known for his work on David Roberts' Holy Land.

Trinity, p. 222; Wood, p. 570; Yale, p. 267; Zimmer, p. 593.

 

Smith, Carol Sinclair

Ray Harris- / Ching / journey of an artist / masters of the wild (series)  27.1 x 29.6 cm.  Pp.  [1-5]6-175 (1).  Publisher’s blue-gray cloth with blind kangaroo decoration on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine.  Color pictorial dust jacket. Black endpapers.  Houston, Gulf Publishing Company, 1990.

1, color plate, Little Owl; 2, color plate,Takahe; 3, half-title; 4-5, title with Zebra Finch plate; 6, produced by Briar Press, Inc; printed in Italy; ISBN 0-872091-549-1; 7, dedication with colored vignette of Kingfishers; 8, foreward; 9, colored plate of Wallaby with Major Pink Cockatoos;10, introduction; 19, contents; 21, on the road; 81, Charing Cross station; 133, strangers and journeys; 175, published books.  Contains about 120 unnumbered colored illustrations, mostly paintings, many full-page.  Also contains about 43 uncolored, unnumbered illustrations of various sizes including many paintings.  All illustrations included in pagination.

This work is part art book, part biography.  While pictures of birds are generously represented, there is also some unrelated art work, as well as many interesting photographs taken at various times in the artist’s life.

OCLC lists 56 locations.

 


 

Smith, Frances Mary Isabella (1812-1903 or later) (introduction and commentary by Ralph Whitlock)

British birds / from nature / The Tresco collection of / early Victorian paintings and observations  30.0 x 23.3 cm.  Pp.  [1-5]6-94[95-96].  Original publisher’s green cloth with gilt frames and printing, some elaborate, on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine.  Gold-patterned endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Salem New Hampshire, Salem House, 1985.

1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright 1985 by Robert Dorrien Smith; first published 1985; ISBN 0 88162 089 0; published simultaneously in Great Britain by the Hamlyn Publishing Group; typeset by SP Typesetting, Birmingham; reproduction by Redsend Limited, Birmingham; conceived and designed by Thames Head Limited, Gloucestershire, Great Britain; designed by Nick Allen; editor, Allison Goldingham; 5, contents; 6, maps of the Isles of Scilly; 7, introduction; 17, list of (37) bird entries; 19, commentary on paintings and text; 33, colored plates and text.  Contains 32 pages of unnumbered color half-tone plates including one of original illuminated title page, 31 of birds with five pages displaying two plates and one plate showing two species, the other plates all figuring only one species for a total of 37.  Also contains two uncolored maps and 48 unnumbered uncolored text figures, most in half-tone.

This is attractive book presents the previously unpublished paintings of birds with text by “Fanny” Smith, work that had been maintained with the family estate, Tresco,  on one of the Scilly Islands for more than a century.  Each bird is depicted together with a specific, and usually appropriate plant, and both bird and plant are exquisitely drawn and colored.  By an odd coincidence, the plates resemble closely in composition, style and precision, those done by Edwin Dalton Smith (unrelated) for Robert Sweet’s British Warblers (1823-1832).  Whitlock’s introduction and commentary are well informed.  Christine Jackson gives a brief discussion (pp. 442) of Frances Mary Isabella Smith in her Dictionary of bird artists of the world (1999).

Listed by Cornell and Trinity.  Not listed by AMNH, Harvard, Yale.


Smithe, Frank B.

The birds of Tikal  18.7 x 11.5 cm.  Pp.  [1-v]vi-xxix(1)[1]2-350[351](1).  Original publisher's black buckram-backed red cloth with NHP logo imprinted on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $7.50 on upper flap.  Published for the American Museum of Natural History Garden City New York, The Natural History Press, 1966. 

i, Half-title; ii, note on The Natural History Press, a division of Doubleday & Company; iii, title; iv, color illustrations by H. Wayne Trimm; copyright; "First Edition"; v, foreword by Dean Amadon, Chairman, Department of Ornithology; vii, author's preface; viii abbreviations; ix, acknowledgments; xi, contents; xvi, blank; xvii, introduction including general considerations and seven new species reported for Tikal in 1965; xxv, plan of the book; 1, annotated list, Tinamus major-Spizella passerina, comprising about 280 species; 300, appendix A, weather data; 312 appendix B, two lists totaling 36 species reported for the department of Petén but not on Tikal list; 315, appendix C, Paynter's "Ornithogeography"; 316, appendix D, pensile nests; 323, appendix E, status of Tikal birds; 327, appendix F, new records for Petén from Tikal list; 330, appendix G, accepted sight records; 331, legends for maps A-C with altitudes; 334, bibliography (almost 100 entries); 340, index of common and scientific names; 351, about the author.  Contains: plates 1-39 (31 in color including one double-page): the eight uncolored half-tone photographic plates are printed on both sides of four leaves not included in pagination; the 31 colored half-tone plates are printed with their legends on 22 leaves that are not included in the pagination; 14 unnumbered line diagrams of pensile nests; two folded sheets bound at rear containing uncolored maps A-C.

This is an annotated list of the birds of Tikal and the department of Petén in Guatemala.  Smithe had previously (1963)published a less annotated list.  The following information is provided for each species; worldwide range; status; length; weight; a description; and specific references. In some cases, there is further discussion of various aspects of the life history.  About 100 species are illustrated in color.  Most of the plates are by H. Wayne Trimm but the double-page colored plate of the Great Plaza at Tikal, as it might have appeared a thousand years ago, was painted by Alton S. Tobey and appeared previously in Life magizine.

This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.

 

Smithe, Frank B. (1892-1989)

Nauralist’s / color guide  Three parts. New York, American Museum of Natural History, 1974, 1975, 1981.

 Naturalist’s / color guide (Part I, the color guide according to the introduction).   Bound in loose-leaf red plastic covered, six-ring folder, bound as though oblong 12.8 x 20.5 cm but printed as though 20.5 x 12.8 cm i.e. to be read as though bound at the top. There are five, unnumbered text leaves printed on both sides and 17 leaves, printed on one side only and containing 182 color swatches.

 Leaf 1r, title; 1v, copyright1975; color work by Hale Color Consultants, Baltimore; 2r-3v, introduction; 4r-4v, notations for 86 colors numbered 1-86; 5r-5v, irregularly enumerated list of 96 additional colors apparently published later (?1981) than the first 86; leaves 6-13, 86 color swatches numbered 1-86; leaves 14-22, 96 colored swatches irregularly numbered 87-172D.  There is a pocket on the rear cover that contains a cardboard mask to block out irrelevant swatches when using the guide.

 Naturalist’s / color guide / supplement 22.0 x 14.5 cm.  Pp. [i-viii]ix-xiii(1)[1-)3-229(1)  Original printed red card covers.  New York, American Museum of Natural History, (1974).

 i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright 1974; v, contents; ix, foreword by Dean Amadon; xiii, preface; 1, introduction; 19, correlated notes; 185, Appendix A, correlated tables; 211, appendix B nomenclature correlation;

 This volume explains the author’s extraordinarily complicated terminology for describing and analyzing colors.  In order to begin to understand it, the reader must be intimately acquainted with Robert Ridgway’s two works on color nomenclature and with his 11-volume work on “The birds of North and Middle America”, as well as with various “color systems” especially the “Munsell color system”.

 Naturalist’s / color guide / part III  20.2 x 12.8 cm.  2 PL.  Pp. 1-37(1).  Original printed red card covers.  New York, American Museum of Natural History, (1981).

 PL 1r, title; 1v, copyright; 2r, preface; 2v, blank; 1, introduction; 4, names and numbers; 5, dilution series; 8, discussion of color report; 11, correlated notes; 32, appendix containing scientific notations that define each of the 182 published colors; 37, references (three).

 This volume contains explanations of the last 92 swatches, which, together with this text, comprise what the author intended as part III, and which, apparently, was not completed until 1981.

 This work follows those of Tyzenhauza (1841) and Ridgway (1886, 1912) in attempting to standardize color nomenclature.  It is a chef d’oeuvre but requires much knowledge and motivation to understand completely.  It does, however, provide the vocabulary for any descriptive account of color.

 It is difficult to find complete copies of this work with all 182 color swatches.

 

 

Smithwick, J.(ohn) W(ashington). P.(earce)

 Ornithology of / North Carolina / A list of the birds of North Carolina, / with notes of each species  (from upper wrapper)  23.0 x 14.5 cm.  Pp.  [193-197]198-227(228) including the upper and lower wrappers at least the lower of which contains printed text. Bulletin No. 144, the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, N. C. October 30, 1897.

 193, Title page (printed upper wrapper); 194, information on North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station; 195; publication approval by the Experiment Station; 196, copyright, 1897; 197, preface including historical information; 200, annotated list; 227, hypothetical list; 228, index to families.  Contains folded map printed in black, white and red.

 According to the author, this was the second list for the birds of the entire state.  The first was “A preliminary catalogue of the birds of North Carolina with notes on some of the species” by G. F. Atkinson, published in 1887.The present work lists 303 species with another 22 on a “Hypothetical List” of birds that “ought to occur” such as White and Glossy Ibis.  A brief statement is given of the status in North Carolina of each species.  I was surprised to learn that the only record for Carolina “Paroquet” in North Carolina was that of Catesby.

 This is a very uncommon piece of ephemera.  OCLC locates about 15 copies.

 


Smythies, Bertram E.(velyn)(1912-1999)

The birds of / Borneo  23.6 x 16.1 cm.  [A]8B-G8H6I-2N82O4(-2O4)[$1 signed]; 289 ll.  Pp.  [i-iv]v-xvi1-561[562].  Erratum slip tipped in at 512/513.  Original publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering to spine.  Top edge dyed green.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Edinburgh and London, Oliver and Boyd, 1960.  First edition. 

i, Half-title; quotations; ii, "by the same author: Birds of Burma"; iii, title; iv, "first published 1960"; copyright; printer designation: J. and J. Gray, Edinburgh; v, acknowledgments; ix, contents; xii, list of illustrations; 1, introduction; 6, topography; 17, bird migration in Borneo; 20, birds and men in Borneo by Tom Harrisson; 62, cave swiftlets by Lord Medway; 73, Iban augury by J. D. Freeman; 99, hornbill ritual of the Iban by J. D. Freeman; topography of a bird with two full-page text diagrams; 107, section title for photographic plates of birds; 109, systematic accounts, Podiceps ruficollis-Corvus enca encompassing species 1-549; 513, addenda; 515, appendix A, history of Bornean ornithology; 531, appendix B, bibliography; 544, index to place names; 547, index of Malay and Iban names; 550, index of generic synonyms; 552, index of English and scientific names; 662, legend for topographical map.  Contains: stencil-colored folding topographical sketch map by Geological Department, Kuching bound at rear; tipped in colored frontispiece, colored plates I-XLV and uncolored plates A-D by Commander A. M. Hughes depicting 434 species, printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination.  Facing letter-press is included in pagination and contains printed text on obverse.  Also contains half-tone photographic plates 1-49 (two colored) of which all save the two colored and one other are printed on both sides.  Plates 1-12 depict scenery and plates 20-49 (33 images), birds.  The remaining plates are miscellaneous.  Most of the bird plates are from photographs by Loke Wan Tho.  All plates are excluded from pagination.

This remarkable book was the first complete treatment of Bornean birds since that by Salvadori in 1874.  Furthermore, it touches upon many interesting subjects that are not ordinarily encountered in an ornithological book.  It covers all Bornean birds, around 550 species, providing for each, distribution and status, a description with measurements and whatever was known concerning habits, food and nesting.  It immediately became the standard work on the subject and subsequent editions were published in 1968, 1981 and 1999.  Unfortunately, much of the ancillary material that made the original edition so special, was gradually whittled away in later versions.

The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Smythies, Bertram E.(velyn)(1912-1999)

The birds of / Burma  23.1 x 16.4 cm.  [a]6b-c8A-2S82T6[$1, 3 signed; 356 ll.  Pp.  [i-v]v-xliii(1)1-668.  Original publisher's green cloth, gilt lettering to spine.  Top edge dyed green, others uncut.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Edinburgh and London, Oliver and Boyd, second revised edition, 1953. 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, year of publication; printer designation: J. and J. Gray, Edinburgh; v, preface to second edition; xi, contents; xiii, introduction including topography and distribution; xli, generic synonyms; xliii, glossary; 1-565(1), sytematic accounts, Corvus macrorhynchos-Podiceps ruficollis, comprising about 953 species; 567, tabular systematic list of the birds with distribution and altitude; 619, bibliography; 635, index of English and Scientific names.  Contains folding unattributed map at rear with distribution areas demarcated in red.  Also contains frontispiece and plates I-XXX after Commander A. M. Hughes displaying 290 species and printed in color half-tone on one side only, overlain with tissue sheets containing identifying letter-press, the plates and tissues not included in pagination.

This work has a rather remarkable history.  It was originally conceived in 1937 with J. K. Stanford as author and H. C. Smith in charge of securing the illustrations for which task Hughes, also living in Rangoon, was recruited.  Stanford's participation became limited by the war and Hughes was asked to continue the text which he took over on New Year's day of 1940.  The book was finished and published later that year (1940) by the American Baptist Missionary Press in an edition of 1000 copies which was rapidly sold out, mainly to Europeans.  When the Europeans fled Rangoon, the invading Japanese confiscated as many copies of the book as they could and stored them in the Royal Veterinary College in Tokyo where they were destroyed by fire.  That edition is now uncommon. 

Smith's wife barely managed to elude capture by the Japanese and escaped to India with the original paintings by Hughes.  Smith also escaped and wrote Notes on birds of Burma (1946), a rare book based on his 26 year tenure there.  Smythies was a young man when he wrote the first edition of the present work and virtually all of his information came from Stanford and from Smith.

Burma was a part of "British India" and its avifauna was reasonably well known prior to publication of this work, which, however, became the updated standard authority.  Third and fourth editions appeared in 1986 and 2001.  Burma has an extremely rich avifauna because of its strategic location encompassing the Himalayas, the lowland tropics and the Irrawaddy delta.

Smythies later wrote another authoritative work on the ornithology of a part of the Oriental region,  The birds of Borneo (1960).

This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Smythies, Bertram E.(velyn)(1912-1999)(Earl of Cranbrook [Lord Medway]))

The birds of / Borneo  22.7 x 15.5 cm.  Some  signatures retained from previous editions (vide infra). Two preliminary leaves, Pp. i-xiv, [1-2]3-473(1).  Original publisher's pictorial boards.  Third edition revised by the Earl of Cranbrook.  Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur, The Sabah Society with the Malayan Nature Society, 1981. 

First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; quotations; verso, "by the same author: The Birds of Burma."; second preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, years of publication of three editions; copyright; printer designation: Art Printing Works SDN. BHD., Kuala Lumpur; i, introduction by Cranbrook; iii, acknowledgements; v, contents; viii, list of illustrations; x, acknowledgements from the second edition; 1, section title for systematic list; 3-432, systematic list, Podiceps ruficollis-Corvus enca encompassing about 550 species; 433, topography of a bird including two full-page text figures; 435, glossary; 436, guide to place names; 439, bibliography; 454, additional bibliography; 458, Malay and Iban names; 461, English and scientific names.  Contains; folded stencil-colored topographical map by the Geological Department, Kuching bound in at rear without the letter-press present in previous editions; plates A-D (uncolored), tipped in frontispiece and plates I-XLV (colored) depicting 434 species by Commander A. M. Hughes, all printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination.  Facing identification letter-press is included in pagination and contains text on obverse.

All of the interesting preliminary material that made the first two editions special have been removed for this dreary version.  According to Cranbrook in the introduction "The main text has been reproduced largely by a facsimile process from the second (1968) edition."  This explains why signatures beginning with "K" start at page 19.  The signatures have been reproduced by facsimile and for the most part indicate gatherings from the second edition of eight leaves.  Cranbrook writes that the only significant changes are in nomenclature to comply with the Collins Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia (King et al., 1975) and for new information, the latter added by footnotes.  It isn't clear whether the plates were reproduced from the original blocks or from the printed versions.  They appear slightly different in coloring from the original edition but aren't too bad save for the four uncolored plates which here possess an odd, almost blue tint.  The one thing nice that can be said about this edition is that it could be mutilated by the user without regret and that is precisely why I bought it for use during a trip to Malaysia in 1982.

This edition listed by Cornell, Harvard, Yale.  Not listed by AMNH, Trinity.

 


Snethlage, Dr. (Maria) Emilia (1868-1929)

Catalago / das / Aves Amazonicas / contendo todas / as especies descriptas e mencionadas ate 1913  24.0 x 17.1 cm.  In Portuguese. π8(-1)1-338344(-344)[$1, 2  signed]; 274 ll.  Pp. (14)[1]2-530[531-533](1).  Later yellow wrappers with upper original tan wrapper laid on.   Edicao Do Museu Goeldi, Para, Brazil, 1914. Impressao de A. Hopfer, Burg-Allemanha.  Boletim / do / Museu Goeldi / (Museu Paraense) / de / Historia Natural e Ehthnographia Vol. VIII, 1911/12.

π1r, general journal half-title; π1v, blank; 2r, general journal title; π1v, blank; π3r, specific article title page and index of contents; π3v, blank; π4r-π4v, blank; π5r, general journal half-title (repeat); π5v, blank; π6r, general journal title (repeat); π7r, specific article title page and index of contents (repeat); π7v, blank; 1, introduction; limits of the Amazon region; 4, history of ornithological exploration; 13, literature (48 references); 16, technical terminology; 19, systematic part with systematic index; 510, errata; 503, index (generic and specific) of scientific names; 523, index of common names (Portuguese); 532-533, alphabetical index of geographic names.  Contains uncolored folding map of Amazon valley and uncolored plates I-VI (mostly feet and heads) after G. Krause, printed on one side only and not included in pagination.

Snethlage was a German zoologist who came to The Goeldi Museum in Belem,  Brazil as an ornithologist in 1905 on the recommendation of Anton Reichenow.  She served as Director of the museum form 1914 to 1922.  She was an intrepid field biologist and undertook many expeditions into remote parts of Brazil and Amazonia.  The present book indicates that she was also a fine academic museum ornithologist.

The book covers more than 1,000 species and is a synthesis of her own findings and those that preceded her.  It is arguably the most comprehensive catalog of the ornithology of Amazonia as a biotype.  She provides scholarly keys for all families, genera and species.  The information for each species includes the following: Latin name; common name; complete original citation; world-wide distribution; number of specimens in the museum with their sexes and the locales in which they were collected; and a physical description including measurements.  The historical bibliography for the area and the indexes are also informative and well done.

Present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.  OCLC locates 23 copies.  Several bibliographies call for seven plates although the title page calls for six and there are six in the present copy.

 


Snelleman, Joh. F.

 

Bijdragen / tot de / Kennis der Fauna / van / Midden-Sumatra  27.3 x 19.3 cm.  Two volumes containing respectively 169 and 142 leaves.  Signatures and pagination as described below.  Binder’s blue cloth, gilt lettering on spine.  Leiden, (1886-)1887-1892.   Forms Section I, Fauna, of Deel IV, Natuurlijke Historie, of Veth, P. J. (1814-1895) ed. Midden-Sumatra.  Reizen en onderzoekingen der Sumatra-Expeditie, uitgerust door het...Genootschap, 1877-1879, beschreven door de leden der Expeditie, onder toezicht van ...P. J. Veth.  Contains 38 plates (29 [partially] colored) printed by P. W. M. Trap.

This is the faunal part of the Amsterdam Geographical Society’s Report on Central Sumatra which comprised four basic volumes that were published as nine volumes, 1881-1892.  The basic natural history volume, the fourth, was issued as three volumes, these two on the fauna, and a third on flora.  This faunal section comprises an introduction, 12 parts or “Afdeelingen”, and a conclusion, as outlined below.  The illustrations, if the designations on them are to be believed, comprised both lithographs and engravings.  The four ornithological plates are hand-colored autolithographs by Keulemans but other plates exhibit evidence of hand-colored and color printed engraving, chromolithography and tintstone lithography, and embellishment with liquid metal finishes.  The description that I present below agrees precisely with that in the British Museum Catalogue save that my Afdeeling on “Araneae” contains three colored and two uncolored plates whereas the Catalogue calls for five colored plates. 

The ornithological material is covered on pp. 30-52 and deals with about 92 species.  It is accompanied by four hand-colored autolithographs by Keulemans.

The work is divided into 12 Afdeelingen which are separately paginated.  Each contains a brief introduction by Snelleman or Veth followed by the text of a specialist (indicated below) for the faunal class in question.  The analysis of the two volumes below indicates that each is missing an initial leaf which is probably a general title leaf for the whole “Reizen” as opposed to the sectionat title for the “Fauna”.  Most of the work is written in Dutch save for the contributions of Ritsema in the section on Coleoptera and in the additions to it in the Aanhangsel.  These seem to be taken in large part from the author’s antecedent publications and contain much in Latin, English and French.

Eerste Deel  Pp [iii-v]vi-vii[viii].  iii, Sectional title; v, voorrede; viii, inhoud.  169 ll.

            Afdeeling 1.  J. F. Snelleman  Dieren en Vogels 1-7482(-82)[$1 signed]; 29 ll. Pp. 1-58. Contains five colored plates.

            2.  A. A. W. Hulbrecht, J. F. Snelleman  Kruipende Dieren en Vischen 1424(-24)34(-34); 10 ll. Pp. 1-20. Contains one colored plate.

            3.  M. M. Schepman  Mollusca 1-2432(-32); 9 ll. Pp. 1-18. One colored plate.

            4.  J. G. De Man  Crustacea 14(-14); 3 ll. Pp. 1-4(1, figure legend)5. Contains two uncolored (tintstone) lithographic plates.

            5.  H. Albarda  Neuroptera 1-2434(-34)3*2; 13 ll. Pp. 1-26.  Contains eight colored plates.

            6.  C. Ritsema Coleoptera 1-22423224-26427227*2(-27*2); 105 ll. Pp. 1-210. Contains three plates, two of which are colored.

Tweede Deel  Pp. [iii-v]vi-vii[viii-ix]x.  iii, Sectional title; v, voorrede; ix, inhoud.

            7.  A. de Bormans Orthoptera 16; 6 ll. Pp. 1-12.  One uncolored plate.

            8.  P. C. T. Snellen Lepidoptera 1-10411211*4; 46 ll. Pp. 1-92.  Contains five colored plates.

            9.  F. M. Van Der Wulf Diptera 1-74828*2; 32 ll. Pp. 1-63[64].  Contains three colored plates.

            10. C. Ritsema, W. L. Distant, G. L. Mayr, P. J. Veth Hymenotera en Hemiptera 1-3442(-42); 13 ll. Pp. 1-26.  No plates.

            11. A. W. M. Van Hasselt Araneae 1-64727*2; 28 ll. Pp. 1-56.  Contains five plates, three of which are colored.

            12. R. Horst Vermes 1424(-24); 7 ll.  Pp. 1-8[9]10-13[14].  Contains a single uncolored plate.

            P. J. Veth et al. Aanhangsel 1-2432; 10 ll. Pp. 1-20.

This basic faunal contribution is very well produced and quite uncommon.

BM(NH), p. 40 (under Amsterdam); Wood, p. 572, 612(Veth); Yale, p. 270; Zimmer, p. 654 (Veth)


Snouckaert van Schauburg, R.(ené)C.(harles)E.(douard)G.(eorges)J.(ean) Baron (1857-1936).

Avifauna Neerlandica / Lijst / der tot dusverre in Nederland in wilden / staat waargenomen Vogelsoorten  23.6 x 17.0 cm.  [1]-108X[$1, 2 signed]; 81 ll.  Pp.  [1-5]6-160(2).  Later blue faux leather-backed blue patterned boards. Gilt lettering on spine.  Leeuwarden, Meijer and Schaafsma, 1908.

1, Dedication to mother; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, blank; 5, foreword; 7-139, systematic annotated list of species 1-332, Corvus corax-Podiceps fluviatilis fluviatilis; 139, hybrids; 143, index of scientific and Dutch names; 151, index of local vernacular names; Xr, additions and corrections; Xv, list and explanation of plates.  Contains hand-colored lithographed plates I-XII, so numbered in list and on tissue guard leaf for each.  Drawn by T.(itus) Csörgey, printed by W. Grund, Budapest save for III which was printed by Kunstanstalt W. Hoffmann, Dresden.

This is a brief overview of the birds of the Netherlands.  For each species, the author provides Latin, Dutch and local vernacular names; synonymy/bibliography with reference to antecedent illustrations; status and dates; occasional breeding information and local records.

The colored plates in this book are extremely well done, both from artistic and technical perspectives.  They were probably produced in Budapest where Csörgey was a contributing artist to Aquila and Grund was the preferred printer for Madarasz.

According to a Quaritch catalog of 1915, only 400 copies of this book were printed and a mere 150 were colored.  The book is certainly uncommon but I have not seen or read of an uncolored example.

Wood, p. 572; Zimmer, p. 596.  Also listed by Trinity, Yale.  Unlisted by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard.


Snow, F(rancis)H(arrington)(1840-1908)

A Catalogue / of the / Birds of Kansas / Contributed to the / Kansas Academy of Science  23.4 x 15.6 cm.  Pp.  [1-3 including upper wrapper]4-14(2, blank leaf); 8 ll (including upper wrapper).  Original printed gray wrapper with decorative border on printed upper wrap.  (Kansas City), Third Edition, November, 1875. 

1, Upper wrapper with printed title page; 2, blank; 3, title page, same format as upper wrapper; 4, blank; 5-14, text; blank leaf.

Coues has an interesting note about this list (Ornithological Bibliography, first instalment, p.692 under 1872).  Apparently, Snow first published a list in 1872 and it was at once severely criticized by Joel A. Allen.  This led Snow to publish a second edition with an additional 45 species almost immediately in the same year, 1872.  In 1873, there was a "revised" second edition with a single minor change.  Snow added a few species in 1874 as a note in a magazine and in a newspaper, and then, in 1875 published this "third" edition.  The last edition was published in 1903. 

The list contains 295 species with a brief statement of status accompanying each.  The "Wild Pigeon" is described as "Migratory, rare". This copy is replete with pencil manuscript notations by a very knowledgeable hand dated 1875.  I believe that Snow's lists were the first reasonably serious compilations of Kansas birds.  They were quickly overshadowed by the much more authoritative lists and book by Nathaniel Goss.

This 1875 pamphlet is uncommon.  It was described as "very rare" as lot 766 in the catalog for auction of Braislin's ornithological library in 1923.  It is specifically listed by Wood, p. 572, and in the Harvard on-line catalog, but is unlisted by other libraries.


Snow, David (colour plates by Martin Woodcock[1935-])

The cotingas / bellbirds, umbrella birds and other species  27.5 x 21.7 cm.  Pp.  [1-8]9-203(1).  Original publisher's umber cloth with white lettering to spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  (London) and Ithaca, New York, British Museum (Natural History) and Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of Cornell University Press, 1982.  Inscribed and signed card from Woodcock laid in loosely. 

1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, dedication to Paul Schwartz; copyright; "First published 1982 by Cornell University Press"; ISBN 0-8014-1490-3; printed in Great Britain by W. S. Cowell Ltd. Ipswich, Suffolk; 5, contents; 6, blank; 7, preface; 8, acknowledgements; 9, origin, classification and distributional history of the cotingas; 16, evolutionary radiation and sociobiology; colour, ornamentation and display structures; 25, breeding and the annual cycle; 31, generic and specific accounts comprising about 25 genera and 64 species; 187, taxonomic summary of the cotingas (citations for all species and subspecies); 191, scientific names of cotingas and their derivations; 195, notes on distribution maps; 197, references (about 180 entries); 201, index of English and Latin names.  Contains: frontispiece and plates 1-21, so numbered on facing text page, printed in color half-tone with running text on obverse and included in pagination; uncolored text figures 1-15 (line drawings); distributional maps 1-30.

This very scholarly and technical monograph is organized along generic lines and the species are considered within their generic framework.  This is not unreasonable since the various genera are either monotypic or comprise just a few species.  The following information is given for most species: distribution with map; habitat and food; ecology; behavior; breeding and the annual cycle; plumages and moults; physical characters including unfeathered parts; geographical variation; and measurements.  The plates are good.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.

 

Sociedad Antioqueña de OrnitologÍa SAO (Editores: Laura Agudelo, Tomós Cuadros, Walter H. Weber)

Aves del Valle de Aburrá  Tercera edición revisada  22.5 x 16.5 cm. In Spanish.  Pp. [1-4]5-168.  Color pictorial card covers.  Medellin,Editorial Colina, 2010.  Warmly inscribed on second page to Richard by Diego Calderón whose name is listed on page 2 under “Revisión”.  “Tercera edició, revisada” (Third edition).

1, Title with colored vignette; 2, ISBN 978-958-8513-30-0; credits, including six artists; Laura Agudela, Iván Bernal, Dana Gardner, Catalina Londoñ, Marco A. Sáenz and Adriana Sanín; 3, contents; 5, presentacíon; 7, presentacíon to second edition; 9, presentacíon to first edition; 11, general introduction to Colombian birds; 13, prefacio; 15, introduction; flora of the Valle de Aburrá; 21, observation and protection of birds; systematic text; 25, systematic coverage of common birds; 160, acknowledgements;  119, brief coverage of less common species including where to find them; 161, bibliography (ca. 20 references; 162, topography of a bird; 163, glossary; 165, index  of names(English and generic).  Contains 31 unnumbered colored plates figuring 3-5 species, included in pagination and with running text on obverse.

The Valle de Aburrá is the drainage area of the Medellin river and  is dominated by the city of Medellin.  The total list of birds for the area was 405 species at the time (2010) of publication of this work.  This attractive book is meant to indicate what birds have been found in the valley and precisely where to look for them.  The first and second editions of this work were published in1999 and 2003.

OCLC locates seven copies.

 

Society for promoting Christian knowledge

Birds / of the / sea shore 13.0 x 9.6 cm. 13 unpaginated leaves. Original green cloth with impressed frame on both covers and gilt vignette with lettering on upper cover. AEG. London, Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, ND (ca. 1850).

The 13 leaves are all printed on the verso only. The first is the title and the next 12 contain text describing the life history for each of the facing 12 depicted birds. The pictures are chromoxylographs, at least one of which is signed W. Dickes.

This is an attractive little book for children. The treated species are: stormy petrel; gannet; puffin; heron; dunbar sandpiper; cormorant; grebe; common tern; oyster catcher; guillemot; gull; diver. The book is quite uncommon. OCLC locates only seven copies.

 

Society for promoting Christian knowledge

Wonders / of / the animal kingdom / birds 13.6 x 10.7 cm. [A]2B-HH8I4 ($1 signed)246 ll. Pp. [i]ii-iv1-484(4, advertising for Society books). Original publisher’s green cloth with frames on both covers, gilt lettering on spine. Lemon endpapers. London, printed for Society for promoting Christian knowledge, 1848.

i, Title; ii, printed by S. & J. Bentley, Wilson, and Fley; iii, contents; 1, blank; 2, text, eagle; 32, the owls; 57, raven; 83, nightingale; 101 parrot; 113, humming bird; 163, swallow; 203, pigeon; 233, dodo; 241, peacock; 257, lyre-bird; 271, ostrich; 293, stork; 317, flamingo; 329, trumpeter; 339, goose; 369, pelican; 397, penguin; 413, remarkable nests of birds. Contains 26 unnumbered, uncolored text figures and 13 tail pieces. At least one of the text figures seems to be signed Whymper or Whimper.

This work is a series of anecdotal monographs concerned with the birds indicated above. It appears to be quite uncommon. OCLC finds only four copies.

 

(Society for the protection of birds) Dresser,H.(enry) E.(eles)(1838-1913) Editor of the Educational Series.

Society for the protection of birds.  / Educational leaflets Part I. 24.0 x 18.2 cm.  Pp.  (4)[11]2-4(4)[1]2-5[6][1]2-7[8][1]2-4[1]2-4[1]2-4[1]2-4[1]2-5[6][1]2-4[1]2-5[6][1]2-8[1]2-8. Original gray printed wrappers. Disbound (from staples). London, Printing and Publishing Office, Knowledge, 326, High Holborn, 1897.

 Title page including “Rules of the Society; No. 1, owls by Montagu Sharpe; No. 2, woodpeckers by Sir Herbert Maxwell; No. 3, starling by O. V. Aplin; No. 4, swallows by Thomas Southwell; No. 5, kingfisher, Sir Edward Grey; No. 6, osprey, J. A. Harvie-Brown; No. 7, dippers, by W. L. Mellersh; No. 8, nightjar by  Montagu Sharpe; No. 9, titmice, by Sydney Buxton; No. 10, kestrel by Rev. J. E. Kelsall; No. 11, plovers by  Joseph A. Pease; acts and orders by Frank E. Lemon (8 pp); supplement to acts and orders by Frank E. Lemon (8 pp).

 Contains 21 unnumbered text figures reproduced from Wolf’s illustrations in Johns’s “British birds their haunts”, Saunders’s “Manual of British birds” and Hudson’s “British birds”

 Loosely laid in, a single sheet, 21.5 x 13.8, dated July, 1896, listing the officials of the “Society for the Protection of Birds /  (founded February, 1889)” and summarizing rules and requirements for members and associates.

 Although the loose laid-in leaf states that the Society for the Protection of Birds was founded in 1889, I believe that the documents written by Lemon, and accompanying the finely written and illustrated educational leaflets, are the original founding statements for the Society, which became the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds after receiving the royal charter in 1904.  The president, listed on the title page of this work, was the Duchess of Portland.

 This is an extremely rare piece of ephemera.  OCLC locates only two copies. It was reissued with educational leaflets 1-24 in 1903

 


Soderberg, P.(ercy) M.(easday)(1901-)

Foreign birds for cage / and aviary  Four volumes, enumerated I-lV only on lower dust jackets.  21.5 x 14.0 cm.  Publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jackets with prices of 10/6 for I and 15/ for II-IV printed on upper flap.  London, Cassell and Co. Ltd., 1956.

(I)  Care and / management  Drawings by Paxton Chadwick.  Pp.  [i-iv]v-viii1-88.  i, Half-title; ii, also by P. M. Soderberg; iii, title; iv, copyright; first published 1956; printed by Jarrold and Sons, Limited, Norwich; v, contents; vi, list of plates; vii, dedication; preface; 1, accommodation; 22, buying birds; 28, acclimatization; 32, water; 34, feeding; 47, general management; 54, breeding; 64, exhibiting; 67, plants for aviaries; 75, disease and accident; 87, index.  Contains: 12 uncolored, unnumbered photographic plates printed on both sides of six leaves, displaying 16 images, and not included in pagination; 23 unnumbered text line illustrations (three full-page) some displaying several subjects (equipment).

(II)  Waxbills, weavers / and whydahs  Drawings by Sheila Dorrell.  Pp.  [i-iv]v-viii1-116; I, half-title; ii, also by ..; iii, title; iv, copyright etc.; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, preface; 1, waxbills; 59, weavers; 86, whydahs; 113, general index; 116, index of Latin names.  Contains eight unnumbered colored plates displaying 18 species, printed on recto only by chromolithography over uncolored half-tone outlines and not included in pagination; 28 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text figures of birds.

(III)  Finches  Drawings by Sheila Dorrell.  Pp.  [i-vi]vii-viii1-112.  I, Half-title; ii, also by..; iii, title; iv, copyright etc.; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, preface; 1, finches; 109, general index; 116, index of Latin names.  Contains: eight colored plates depicting 18 species; 18 text figures.

(IV)  Buntings, cardinals, / lovebirds, & mannikins  Drawings by Sheila Dorrell.  Pp.  [I-vi]vii-viii1-108.  I, Half-title; ii, also by..; iii, title; iv, copyright etc.; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, preface; 1, buntings; 14, cardinals; 36, lovebirds; 60, mannikins; 99, silverbills; 105, general index; 108, index of Latin names.  Contains: nine colored plates depicting 21 species; 16 text figures.

This work is very attractively illustrated.  I've never seen plates printed like these with uncolored half-tone outlines over-colored by what appears to be chromolithography.  The upper flap of the dust jacket describes these as "..reproduced by six-colour lithography.."  The text is entirely concerned with the maintenance and propagation of pet birds.  The author was interested in other types of pets as well including "fancy mice" which he claims to have exhibited.

Listed by Trinity.  Yale lists a 1963 edition with an American (T. F. H. Publications) imprint.  Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard.


Sotheby’s

Catalogue Bibliothèque Marcel Jeanson.  Première Partei.  Chasse.  27.0 x 21.0 cm.  Pp.  [1-4]5-515 (5, information about Sotheby’s and conditions of sale).  Original green cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine.  Sotheby’s Monaco, S. A. M., 1987. 

1, Half-title; 3, title, 4, portrait of Marcel Jeanson; 5, description of Marcel Jeanson as a collector; 6, avant propos;  9, description of lots.  Contains numerous illustrations, some colored, a few full-page, all included in pagination.  List of prices realized loosely inserted.

This is the catalog for an auction held on 28 February and 1 March, 1987.  This sale contained those of Jeanson’s books and paintings that were specifically related to hunting.  Subsequent sales of his library in 1988 and 1996 were concerned with ornithological books and paintings, and ornithological paintings, respectively.  The present sale contained 598 lots including six illuminated manuscripts of the Livre de Chasse of Gaston Phébus as well as the first two printed editions of this work; the first three editions of the Roy Modus of Henri de Ferrière; a number of original drawings by Jan van der Straet (Stradanus) for his Venationes…. the first edition of which was published in 1585 and also included in the sale;  various more recent works specifically related to birds such as La Vénerie by Traviés and various important treatises on falconry.

 


Sotheby’s (auction catalogue)

 

Watercolours and Paintings of Birds  27 x 21 cm.  Pp. [1-10]11-86(10).  Original decorated wrappers.  London, 1995.  Contains numerous illustrations, both colored and black and white.  List of prices realized loosely inserted.

This auction was held in London on November 22, 1995 and was designated LN5703 “TUCAN”.  It comprised 314 paintings of birds, mostly from the Glenbow Museum of Calgary, Alberta.  The majority of the paintings were done in the 20th century by Thorburn, Rickman, Lodge, Harrison and G. M. and D. M. Reid-Henry.  All the original paintings by Richard Robjent for  The Pheasant (1995) were also offered.

 


 

Southgate, Frank (1872-1916) (text by Pollard, Hugh B.(ertie)C.(ampbell)[1888-])

Wildfowl / & waders / nature & sport in the coastlands  30.7 x 24.6 cm.  Laid paper. [π]4A-K4L2[$1 signed]; 46 ll.  Pp.  [i-iv]v-viii1-83(1).  Vellum-backed brown mottled boards with title scripted in black on upper cover and spine.  TEG.  London, Country Life, 1928. 

i, Half-title; ii, limitation statement 477/950; iii, title partly printed in blue; iv, “first published in 1928”; v, contents; vi, list of illustrations; 1, I, prelude; 10, II, wild geese; 21, III, duck; 30, IV, duck shooting; 39, V, waders; 50, VI, game birds; 65, VII, snipe and woodcock; 73, VIII, vermin and various; 81, index; 83, printer designation: Robert Maclehose and Co. Ltd.. The University Press, Glasgow.  Contains 16 unnumbered color half tone plates on glossy paper presented in sunken mounts on laid, unpaginated sheets with blank versos.  Also contains 48 unnumbered uncolored plates printed in half-tone on both sides of 24 unpaginated glossy sheets.

Southgate was of the “hunterly” school of English ornithological artists and his work resembles considerably that of Abel Chapman, Philip Rickman and Cyril Harrison.  This is the original limited edition.  A trade edition was published in 1940.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity and Yale but not by Harvard.


Spaulding, Edward S(elden)(1891-).  (illustrated by Francis Lee Jaques [1887-1969]).

The quails  25.2 x 18.8  Pp.  [i-x]xi-xii[xiii](1)(2)1-123(1).  Publisher's red cloth with ruled, gray paper labeling piece on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine.  New York, The Macmillan Company, 1949. 

i, Half-title; ii, list of Macmillan global designations; iii, title with line drawing vignette; iv, copyright 1949; first printing; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations; x, blank; xi, preface; xiii, chart showing classification of quails; xiv blank; unpaginated leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; 1, the quails; 11, the valley quail; 24, hunting the valley quail; 43, the desert quail; 54, the mountain quail; 68, the massena quail; 79, the scaled quail; 90, the bobwhite; 99, the masked bobwhite; 104, transplanting and restocking; 113, random observations.  Contains seven unnumbered colored plates printed on gray paper in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination.

This book is about hunting quail.  I bought it because it contains colored plates by Jaques, an American wildlife artist with a unique style, who was responsible for many diaoramas at the American Museum of Natural History and deserves to be much better known.  Unfortunately, the plates in this book were printed on gray paper and at least some of them (most conspicuously elegant quail [hybird: gambel's x scaled], desert quail) were clearly painted on white paper and then mounted.  This has resulted in an unsightly white margin in various places.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.

 

SPCK (Society for promoting Christian knowledge)

Wonders / of / the animal kingdom / birds 13.6 x 10.7 cm. [A]2B-HH8I4 ($1 signed)246 ll. Pp. [i]ii-iv1-484(4, advertising for Society books). Original publisher’s green cloth with frames on both covers, gilt lettering on spine. Lemon endpapers. London, printed for Society for promoting Christian knowledge, 1848.

i, Title; ii, printed by S. & J. Bentley, Wilson, and Fley; iii, contents; 1, blank; 2, text, eagle; 32, the owls; 57, raven; 83, nightingale; 101 parrot; 113, humming bird; 163, swallow; 203, pigeon; 233, dodo; 241, peacock; 257, lyre-bird; 271, ostrich; 293, stork; 317, flamingo; 329, trumpeter; 339, goose; 369, pelican; 397, penguin; 413, remarkable nests of birds. Contains 26 unnumbered, uncolored text figures and 13 tail pieces. At least one of the text figures seems to be signed Whymper or Whimper.

This work is a series of anecdotal monographs concerned with the birds indicated above. It appears to be quite uncommon. OCLC finds only four copies.


Spix, J(ohannes) B(aptist) de (1781-1826)

Avium Species Novae, / Quas / in Itinere per Brasiliam Annis MDCCXVII-MDCCXX / Jusso et Auspiciis / Maxmiliani Joseph I / Bavariae Regis / Suscepto / Collegit et Descripsit  36.5 x 28.0 cm.  Two volumes.  Late 20th century quarter green morocco, green marbled boards.  Spine with five compartments, gilt lettering in second and fourth.  Monachii, Franc. Seraph. Hübschmanni.

[Tomus I] 1824  π3[1]21-114122(-122)[$1, 2 signed]; 50 ll.  Pp.  (10)1-90.  π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r, dedication; π2v, blank; π3r-π3v, list of 54 subscribers accounting for 99 copies; 11 r-1 2v, index listing 175 species; 1, systematic text describing 175 species.  Contains 105 hand-colored lithographic plates after M. Schmid as follows: I, Ia-Id, II-III, IIIa, IV, IVa, V-VIII, VIIIa-VIIIc, IX, IXa, X, Xa, XI-XIV, XIVa, XV-XXXII, XXXIIa, XXXIII-XXXVIII, XXXVIIIa, XXXIX-XCI.  Plates LXXVI  and LXXVII are printed on the same page and plates  LXXXVI and LXXXVII are bound in reverse order.

Tomus II  1825  π221-212222(-222)[$1, 2 signed]; 46 ll.  Pp.  (6)1-85(1); πr, Title; πv, blank; 21r-22v, index listing 156 species; 1, systematic text.  Contains 117 colored plates as follows: I-VIII, VIIIa, IX-XXXI, XXXIa, XXXII-LXII, LXIIa, LXIII-LXVII, LXVIIa, LXVIII-LXXV, LXXVa, LXXVI, LXXVIa-LXXVIc, LXXVII-CIX.

The expedition by Spix and Martius through Brazil in the years 1817-1820 was one of the most fruitful ever for the fields of zoology and botany.  Spix was concerned with the former and, in addition to this treatise which represents the starting point of modern Brazilian ornithology, was also associated with works, some published posthumously, on Brazilian primates (1823), snakes (1820), lizards (1825), fresh water shells (1827), fish (1832), insects (1834) and turtles and frogs (1840).  Although some of the plates by Schmid depicting parrots were subsequently used by Bourjot Saint-Hilaire in his Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets (1837-8), many of them are quite poor and the species are not easily recognized.  They were subsequently critically analyzed and diagnosed by C. E. Hellmeyer in his Revision der Spix'schen Typen Brasilianischer Vögel in Abhandl. der K. Bayer, Akad. Wiss. May 20th, 1906.

It is interesting that although this work is written in Latin, the names of the birds on the plates are also often given in vernacular French.  From a bibliographical perspective, it is curious that the first volume is assembled in fours, whereas the second is in twos.

Although this very important work is present in most major ornithological libraries and collections, it has been very rare on the market for many years.  Perhaps even rarer is a second edition of 1840 which I have heard of for sale only once or twice.

Anker 483; Trinity, p. 227; Wood, p. 580; Yale, p. 275; Zimmer, p. 600.

 


 

Spratt, Mrs. G.(eorge)

The / language of birds / comprising / poetic and prose illustrations / of the / most favourite cage birds 
13.6 x 9.6 cm.  π3A2B-FF6GG4(-GG4)χ6 [$1, 3 signed]; 182 ll.  Pp. (2, half-title)[i-iii]iv-vii[viii][1]2-342[12]22-122. Probably later full polished brown calf (?) with gilt ornamental roll frame on covers, gilt printing and design on spine.  Machine marbled endpapers.  AEG.  London, Saunders and Otley, 1837. 

π1r, Half-title; π1v, blank; i, title; ii, printer: Thomas C. Savill, Charing Cross; iii, preface; v, contents; vii, list of plates; viii, errata; 1, introduction; 19, text; 12-122, advertisements for “new works by Messrs. Saunders & Otley”.  Contains hand-colored lithographic plates frontispiece and 2-12 drawn by Mrs. Spratt (as deduced from text), lithographer, printer, colorist not indicated.

This highly attractive little work treats 15 species of which 13 are illustrated.  The species, save the kingfisher, were all cage birds popular for their songs.  For each species, there is a reasonably accurate life history often quoted from contemporary ornithological works and sometimes including  a discussion of related birds.  There are also poems about the birds quoted from various authors.

The plates are very artistic, reasonably accurate portraits of the birds, each on a beautiful plant.  They resemble in style, those in Cotton’s Song birds (1835-1836).  Most were “drawn from life” but one, a humming bird (coquette) was copied from Donovan.  In at least one case, the illustrated bird is not the species of the chapter title but one that was thought to be a relative (an Australian Fairy-Wren shown on plate 19)

Another edition, apparently identical, was published in London, by William Tegg in 1851,

The work is rare.  Wood, p. 580 (1851 edition); Zimmer, 601, this edition.  OCLC locates only three copies, two of the 1851 edition and one of this edition.


Sprunt, Alexander, Jr. (1898-1973), Chamberlain, E.(dward) Burnhamm (1895-) (original illustrations by Jaques, Francis Lee [1887-1969]; Peterson, Roger Tory [2908-1996]; Dingle, Edward von S.; and Dick, John Henry)

South Carolina / bird life  25.2 x 18.0 cm.  Pp.  [i-viii]ix-xx(2)1-585(1).  Original publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering to upper cover and spine.  Photopictorial endpapers.  Contributions from the Charleston Museum: XI.  Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, 1949.

 i, "Contribution form the Charleston Museum / XI"; ii, blank; iii, half-title; iv, blank; v, title; vi, copyright; credits: printed and bound by the R. L . Bryan Company, Columbia; illustrations by Photogravure and Color Company, New York; vii, dedication to the memory of Arthur Trezevant Wayne; viii, blank; ix, acknowledgments; xi, foreword by E. Milby Burton, editor; xv, contents; xvii list of illustrations; unpaginated leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; 1, ornithology in South Carolina; 28, birds (77 forms) originally described in South Carolina; 36, the region; 43, on studying birds; 48, systematic annotated list, Gavia immer-Plectrophenax nivalis, comprising 442 forms; 555, hypothetical list (17 species); 560, addenda; 562, literature cited; 573, general index including common and scientific names.  Contains frontispiece and plates I-XXXIV (after Jaques [11], Peterson [10], Dingle [10], Dick [4] printed on one side only in color gravure and not included in pagination.  These are numbered in the list and on legends as part of adjacent text page but not on plates per se.  Also contains 48 full-page unnumbered uncolored photographic plates, mainly after Carl Julien, Allan D. Cruikshank and S. A. Grimes,  printed in gravure on 24 leaves and not included in pagination.

This is an authoritative status report on 442 species and subspecies known for South Carolina at the time of publication.  I was surprised to learn that one of the early lists of South Carolina birds was A synopsis of the birds of South Carolina (1968) by Elliott Coues and that it was widely considered to be unreliable and had been severely criticized by Arthur Wayne, the historic dean of South Carolina ornithology.

The present work is distinguished not only by a comprehensive text but also by the fact that its fine illustrations, both colored and photographic, were rendered particularly attractive by having been printed in gravure rather than in half-tone.  It's interesting, for example, to compare the picture by Jaques of a flock of white ibises here with a very similar tableau done for Howell's Birds of Florida.  The difference in printing is obvious.

A second and revised edition of this work appeared in 1970.

The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.

(Stecher) Hodgman, Carolyn Stecher (author), Stecher , W. F. (illustrator),

 Bird Jingles  No 32  26.5 x 19.3 cm.   Eight unnumbered, stiff paper leaves including covers, all printed in chromolithography.  External color pictorial covers, upper depicting cardinals, lower flamingos. Verso of upper cover and recto of lower with printed poems.  The six internal pages each depict a bird and present a poem about it.  The birds are: owl; peacock; bob-white; goose; crow; bald eagle; turkey; meadow-lark; fan-tailed pigeon;  ostrich; parrot; wild duck.  Six are multicolored, the others are printed in two colors.  Rochester, Stecher lithographic Co., (1917)

 This is a fine example of the chromolithographic pulp natural history works that were targeted towards children in the late 19th and early 20th century.  The Stecher firm was one of several color printing establishments in Rochester.  In addition to children’s books, they were also well known for issuing strikingly colored plant catalogs.

 OCLC locates four copies of this work.


Stejneger, Leonhard (Hess)(1851-1943)

Results / of ornithological explorations / in / the Commander Islands and in Kamtschatka  22.7 x 14.5 cm.  [15861 Bull. 29-1]8(-15861 Bull. 29-11)2-238[24]8(-248)[$1 signed]; 190 ll.  Pp. (4)[7]8-382.  Later quarter dark green cloth-backed light green cloth.  Gilt lettering on spine.  Washington, Government Printing Office, 1885. 

12r, volume title page; 12v, blank; 13r, table of contents; 13v, blank; 7, prefatory note; 9, review of birds seen or collected by Stejneger on Commander Islands at at Petropaulski, Kamtschatka, 1882-1883: systematic accounts of 140 species; 311, synopsis of birds reported to inhabit Kamtschatka: annotated list of 186 species; 327, appendix to synopsis: analysis in the light of newly published list by B. Dybowski and L. Taczanowski; 333, conclusion; 361, list of illustrations; 363, index.  Contains uncolored full-page sketch map of Kamtschatka and adjacent countries with blank verso included as pp. 359/360 in pagination; uncolored text woodcut figures 1-7 after Stejneger; and chromolithographic plates I-VIII after Stejneger by Julius Bien & Co. Lith.

The collation indicates that an early preliminary leaf is absent and, according to the description by Anker (#485), that leaf is an initial series title leaf or upper wrapper including the following additional information: Department of the Interior: U. S. National Museum.  Serial number 39.  Bulletin No. 29 of the United States National Museum.  Published under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution.

In the first part of this work, Stejneger describes the species he recorded in great detail.  Each account includes: synonymy/bibliography; a description with particular emphasis on comparison with related forms elsewhere often including findings from different specimens; a list of the specimens collected including date, locality, sex, age and various measurements.

After much analysis of various lists, Stejneger writes, on page 357, "…the conclusion seems quite justified that the peninsula forms a very well circumscribed ornitho-geographical province, remarkable not only for a  number of peculiarly modified forms, but also for a surprising absence of many of the most characteristic forms of the  Northern Palaearctic and Circumpolar ornis"  The modified forms include six species and three subspecies which Stejneger considers endemic, all of which differ from their nearest relatives by containing more white in their plumage.  This "rule" of northerly birds had been noticed by Gloger many years before, however, based on his own observations, Stejneger is able to surmise that it is neither a direct function of temperature nor of latitude although he is unable to advance an explanatory hypothesis.

The lithographer, Julius Bien, is best remembered for his chromolithographed plates in the "Bien" folio edition of Audubon's Birds of America (1860-1861)

Wood, p. 582.  Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.


Stone, Witmer (1866-1939)

The Birds of New Jersey  Part II in:  Annual Report / of the / New Jersey State / Museum / Including a Report of / The Birds of New Jersey / Their Nests and Eggs / And Notes on New Jersey Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles / 1908  22.1 x 15.4 cm.  [1]82-278χ [$1 signed]; 217 ll.  Pp. [1-4]5[6]7-11[12]12-432(2, “Plates”).  Original green cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine.  Trenton, the John L. Murphy Publishing Company, 1909.

  1, Title; 3, part I; 5, list of museum officers; 7, curator’s report; 11, part II, the birds of new jersey; 13, preface; 15, destruction and protection of birds; 25, distribution and migration; 35, systematic text; 317, bibliography; 347, glossary; 349, part III, notes on New Jersey fishes, amphibians and reptiles by Henry Fowler; 409, index.  Contains plates 1-84 which are uncolored photographs taken from plates in Wilson, Audubon and Audubon Society Educational leaflets.

Witmer Stone was a highly regarded  New Jersey ornithologist best known for a painstaking study of the birds of Cape May.  The present work provides brief overviews of all families, keys to identification of certain groups and descriptions and comments of abundance and seasonal distribution of each species.  There is an important complete bibliography of New Jersey ornithology.  This book is the first significant one devoted exclusively to the birds of New Jersey.  Turnbull published a treatise on the birds of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania in 1869 and Stone, himself, covered that area in 1894.  Shriner issued a work on the birds of New Jersey in 1896 that was completely compiled from antecedent publications.

Trinity, p. 230; Wood, p. 584; Yale, p. 278.  Unlisted by Zimmer.


Stout, Gardner D. (editor and sponsor[1931-])(text by Matthiessen, Peter; paintings by Clem, Robert Verity; species accounts by Palmer, Ralph S.[imon])

The / shorebirds / of / North America  35.3 x 25.5 cm.  Pp.  [1-6]7-270.  Original publisher's beige-gray cloth with two gilt brown labeling areas to spine.  Brown endpapers.  Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $22.50 on upper flap.  New York, The Viking Press, 1967.

1, Half title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, "First published in 1967.."; color plates printed in Switzerland by Offset & Buchdruck A. G. under the supervision of Chanticleer Press, Inc.; 5 contents, list of plates; 6, blank; 7, introduction by Stout; 17, half-title; 19, essay by Matthiessen; 131, acknowledgments; 133, bibliography (97 entries); 139, species accounts (75) by Palmer; general index with common and scientific names.  Contains: plates 1-32, so enumerated only in contents and on facing letter-press, printed in color half-tone on one side only, the plate leaf and letter-press included in pagination; additional partly colored schematic plate of shorebird plumages; 11 uncolored, unnumbered text half-tone sketches.

This is an unusual bird book that combines a lengthy essay by Matthiessen with a formal monograph by Palmer.  Much of Matthiessen's text appeared first in The New Yorker Magazine as The wind birds.  Palmer's part of the work comprises 75 species accounts, each of which includes a description as well as information on voice, habitat, distribution, breeding habits and references for further reading.

The illustrations of this work are a major asset and received much acclaim at the time of publication.  The lively birds are placed by Clem in perfectly appointed habitat that is extraordinarily evocative.  Clem, a serious landscape artist with an interest in birds, apparently became disillusioned with the process of illustrating an ornithological book for this is the only one he did, although he continued to paint birds.

The book was reprinted the following year.  It is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Stresemann, Erwin (1889-1972) (with a prologue and epilogue on materials for an American ornithology by Mayr, Ernst; translated by Epstein, Hans J. and Cathleen; edited by Cottrell, G.William)

Ornitholgy / from Aristotle to the present  23.4 x 15.3 cm.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii-xii[1-3]4-432.  Original publisher's yellow cloth with brown lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Cambridge Massachusetts and London, Harvard University Press, 1975. 

i, Half-title; ii, frontispiece portrait of author; iii, title; iv, copyright; ISBN 0-674-64485-9; v, dedication to wife; vi, blank; vii, contents; ix, forward by Mayr, September 1, 1974; preface, Berlin, April, 1951; 1, part one, the foundation of ornithology; 39, part two, the development of systematics and the study of evolution; 283, the development of biology; 365, epilogue by Mayr, materials for a history of American ornithology; 399, references; 421, index.  Contains uncolored half-tone photographic portrait of author as frontispiece.

Originally published in Berlin under the title Die Entwicklung der Ornithologie von Aristoteles bis zur Gegenwart (1951), this is a unique, broadly based history of ornithology painted on the broad canvas where it really belongs.  It begins with Aristotle and weaves an exciting tapestry of exploration, discovery, and descriptive natural history with dynamic portraits of numerous historically significant ornithological personages.  It is quite incredible that the original text was written by Stresemann mostly from memory under difficult postwar conditions without easy access to library facilities. The footnotes and references by G.William Cottrell, are, therefore, an important addition to this edition. This is a book that cannot be digested in one, or even two readings and that yields entirely new insights with each rereading.

Mayr, an ornithologist who emigrated from Germany to the United States and enjoyed a successful career at the American Museum and at Harvard, was amongst the most highly regarded evolutionary biologists of the 20th century.  Cottrell was an ornithological bibliophile who wrote an appreciation of Bradley Martin's library for The Book Collector, London, autumn, 1963.

This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Stresemann, Erwin (1889-1972)

Die Vögel von Celebes  The present volume contains two offprints of articles from the Journal für Ornithologie  corresponding respectively to Teil I and Teil II and Teil III, 2 of the entire work.  Teil III, 1, J.f. O. 88: 1-135 (1940) and Teil III, 3 J. f. O. 89: 1-102 (1941) are not present.  22.8 X 15.5 cm.  Original printed blue gray offprint wrappers. Berlin.

Teil I und II.  J. f. O. 87, 1939, Heft 3. Pp. [299]300-424(1); 64 ll. 301, Teil I, die ornithologische Erforschung von Celebes; 312, Teil II, Zoogeographie.  Upper wrapper inscribed by the author to H. O. Raven, a contemporary authority on the distribution of Indo-Australian mammals.

Teil III, 2. Pici bis Acciptres. J. f. O. 88, 1940, Heft III.  [389[390-487(1); 50 ll.  389, Systematik und Biologie

Stresemann, the doyen of 20th century German ornithologists, was, at the time of publication of these articles, the general secretary of the Deutsche Ornithologische Gesellschaft of which the J. f. O. was the official publication.  The J. f. O. is one of the oldest, if not the oldest long-running ornithological serial publication having begun in 1853 (see Anker, #239).  Stresemann's purported encyclopedic knowledge was legendary and he was reputed to have written Ornithology from Aristotle to the Present without access to a proper ornithological library just after World War II.  Ernst Mayr was an admirer and disciple.

Teil I describes the various expeditions collecting Celebes birds with particular emphasis on Gerd Heinrich's in the early 1930s.

Teil II assimilates the findings and develops the ornithological and from it, the evolutionary relationship between Celebes and Mindanao to the north, the Moluccas to the east, Borneo to the west and Flores (Lesser Sundas) to the south.  He concludes that the strongest and oldest ties are first to Mindanao and second to the Moluccas and that land bridges probably existed between the upper and eastern arms of Celebes to these islands.  The discussion is at a very learned level.

Teil III comprises a systematic list of the species and includes discovery, literature, list of published illustrations, location of specimens, geographical variations, distribution on the island and field observations.  Part II covers non Passerine species from Piciformes to Acciptres.

This series of articles is a worthy successor to the work of Meyer and Wigglesworth as an important contribution to the ornithology of Celebes (Sulawesi).

 


 

Stroud, Patricia Tyson

The / emperor of / nature / Charles-Lucien Bonaparte / and his world  23.2 x 15.4 cm.

Pp. [i-ix]x-xv[xvi-xviii][1-3]4-371(1).  Original publisher’s maroon cloth, spine lettered in silver.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania Press, (2,000); first printing.

i, Half-title; ii, uncolored frontispiece portrait; iii, title; iv, copyright 2,000; ISBN 0-8122-3456-0; designed by Carl Gross; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, illustrations; xii, blank; xiii, preface; xvi, blank; xvii, quotations; 1, text; 317, notes; 348, genealogical chart; 351 bibliography including 27 Bonaparte listings and approximately 125 general references; 359, index.  Contains uncolored half-tone frontispiece and uncolored text figures 1-46, some full-page, and color half-tone plates 1-16 printed on both sides of eight unpaginated leaves of glossy paper.

A biography in scholarly historical format.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.

 


 

Sturgis, Bertha Bement

Field book of birds / of the / Panama Canal zone  A description of all the species of the / birds of the Panama Canal zone, with / notes on their habits, call notes / and songs, for the purpose of identifiying / them.  Many of these birds are / also common elsewhere in Central and / in South America 17.1 x 10.3 cm.  Pp.  (2, list of Putnam's "Nature Field Books")[i-ii]iii-xxxix(1)1-466.  Original publisher's ochre cloth with black empanelled toucan design on upper cover, black lettering on upper cover and spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  New York, London, G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1928.

i, Title; ii, copyright, 1928; printer imprint: The Knickerbocker Press; iii, foreword by Frank M. Chapman; iv, blank; v, preface; ix, map; x, blank; xi, introduction; xxiii, contents; xxviii, blank; xxix, list of illustrations; 1, half-title; 2, blank; 3, commonest birds of the Canal Zone; 15, scientific names and classification of birds; 19, descriptions of species; 22, systematic text, Tinamidae-Corvidae, covering 64 families and 434 species; 489, migrants and winter visitants; 443, localities mentioned; 419, index of English and generic names.  Contains: plates I-XXIV printed in half-tone on one side only, not included in pagination and including six colored and two uncolored after F. L. Jaques, the other 16 uncolored photographs; text line figures 1-107 after Rudyerd Boulton; one uncolored text map.

This is the first handbook covering a neotropical avifauna in a popular style, the forerunner of a spate of such books to come in the late 20th century.  Mrs.  Sturgis provides family keys and descriptions, some measurements, brief status summaries and comments concerning the habits of 434 species.  She was informally well connected with various members of the ornithology section at the American Museum of Natural History who specialized in Central and South American birds and the work is very well done.

Wood, p. 586;  Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.

 


(Susemihl, J. C. [1767-1837], Susemihl, E. E., Schlegel, H.)

 

(Abbildungen der Vögel Europas herausgegeben, gezeichnet und in Stahl gestochen von J. C. Susemihl...und E. Susemihl.....Text nach Temminck’s Manuel d’Ornithologie und den vorzüglichsten neuern Schriften und mit Beitragen von mehreren ... Naturforschern, bearbeitet von Dr. [F.] Gergens [and afterwards Dr. H.Schegel])  26 x 17 cm (somewhat cropped by binder affecting two images and perhaps a few of the engraved captions).  1-8492  10-154 [$1 signed, initial page of each gathering also designated by “Schlegel und Susemihl, Vögel”]; 58 ll.  Pp. [1]2-116(entirely devoted to text and ends in mid sentence).  Contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, very rubbed and with spine badly damaged.  (Stuttgart[Darmstadt, Leipzig], 1839-1851). 

Contains 105 colored plates numbered 1, 1a, 2-3, 3a, 4-6, 6a, 7 ,7a, 8, 8a, 9-35, 35a, 36-38, 38a, 39-51, 53-54; II1-II6, II6a, II8-II9, II11-II20; III1-III6; IV1- IV2; V1-V4; VI1- VI3; VII5, VII8, VII11; IX1-IX6; X1; XII1; i. e. 105 of ?108 colored plates lacking plates 52, ?II 7, II10.

This is one of the rarest of important 19th century European ornithological iconographies and the information given above in parentheses comes from the wrappers of a copy at the British Museum.  The work was never finished and the text is complete only for diurnal birds of prey, stopping in the middle of the section on owls.  The McGill library possesses two copies, each containing 106 colored plates, which Wood considers to be the complete number.  One of these copies allegedly contains a title page, the only preliminary that has ever been reported.  The British Museum copy also contains 106 plates.  Hawks (49) and owls (12) comprise 61 of these 106 plates.  Nissen (#906) gives a figure of 108 plates, presumably because the work was issued in 36 Lieferungen most of which contained three plates.  However,that not all did is suggested by the French version (Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux d’Europe...) which comprised only the first eight livraisons containing 23 (not 24) plates (Engelmann, p. 390).  Nissen certainly errs in calling for 11 lithographed plates.  There were actually only seven as described below.   Jeschke, Greve and Hauff describe a copy (item #4127) for their sale ending 24 May, 2000 that contains 108 colored plates of which they claim 11 are lithographs.  They are probably following Nissen as regards the number of lithographs but I assume that their plate count is correct.

The text, allegedly based on Temminck’s Manuel but certainly not identical to it, was at first written by F. Gergens who contributed 16 pages to the first two (BM[NH]), or perhaps the first eight (Englelmann), Lieferungen.  After this, it was started anew by Schlegel and the pages by Gergens were suppressed.  The present copy lacks these suppressed 16 pages.  The part of the text by Schlegel that deals  exhaustively with diurnal birds of prey (pp. 1-100) was issued with 44 of these colored plates in 1845 under the title Die Europäischen Tagraubvögel.. 

The Susemihls (Johann Conrad, his brother, J. T. and his son, E. E.) are usually referred to as “Hessian draughtsmen and engravers”.  Conrad, began work on an iconography of German birds at the same time in the late 18th century as did the elder Naumann and the result was Teutsche Ornithologie... (1800-1817) with a second edition, Deutsche Ornithologie..  (1837-1841).  These magnificent folio works were intended to rival those of Levaillant and are usually catalogued under the name of Borckhausen or of Bekker, two of the ornithologists who supplied the text.  The relationship of the Abbildungen to the original folio work is very similar to that between the original folio of the elder Naumann and the octavo of his son.  That is, after producing the magnificent luxurious work for the wealthy, the families decided to try and perfect their illustrations for an edition in smaller and less expensive format.  Aside from the seven autolithographs by Wolf (see below), the plates in the present work were all produced as steel engravings that were partially printed in color (i. e. brown, black and grey, see below) and finished by hand.  One plate, X1, illustrating coursers, appears to be completely printed in color.  These birds are entirely brown, black, and white and brown and black and grey were apparently the only colors used by the Susemihls in their printing process.  I believe that this work is the only example of an ornithological book containing color-printed steel engravings.

It is the illustrations, particularly those by Wolf, that have made this rare book a great desideratum.  Plates 6a, 44, 47, 54, II20, IX5 and IX6 are the seven superb autolithographs done by Wolf during his Darmstadt period and depicting two species of falcon, two species of owl, starling,  partridge and blackcock.  Several  of these are dated 1846.  In addition, plates II6, II14, II15 and II17 depicting a jay, and a total of four species of shrike (two on plate II17) were drawn by Wolf and engraved by the Susemihls.  Wolf’s autolithographs deservedly caused quite a sensation.  They exhibit much more life than the other illustrations all of which, however, are drawn and engraved with remarkable skill.  Palmer, in his biography of Wolf, errs in  describing Wolf’s contribution to this work by omitting plate II17 and by referring to all the other plates after Wolf as autolithographs.

Plates 1a and 3a were drawn by H. Schlegel and 7a, 8a, 21, 23, 27 and 38a by H. Hoffmeister.  All were engraved by the Susemihls who presumably were responsible for drawing those not attributed to other artists.  Some plates are actually designated Conrad Susemihl fec.  Many are simply designated Susemihl & Sohn (Susemihl, C. Susemihl & Sohn, S & S) Sc.  The draughtsmanship is uniformly excellent although Wolf’s pictures are artistically the most interesting.

Engelmann (p. 398) indicates that the work was issued in both octavo and quarto format at respectively 7/12 and 11/12 of a mark per Lieferung.  The first 25 Lieferungen had appeared by 1846. Copies  at McGill and the British Museum are designated as quarto. Copies at Harvard and the Smithsonian are said to be 34 cm. I don’t know what the original size of my copy was.  It could now be called royal octavo, however, it has been considerably cropped so that in many cases the engraved margins are not present and I suspect that it was actually printed in a size that would be called quarto. 

BM(NH), p. 2051; Engelmann, p. 398; Nissen, #906; Wood, p. 587.  Absent from Ayer, Martin, Trinity and Yale catalogues. 


Suthard J(ames), Allen, George A. Jr.

The Junglefowl, / Spurfowl & Peafowl / of the World  23.2 x 18.0 cm.  Pp. (2, blank recto, vignette on verso)[1-2]3-73[74-75](1); 39 ll. Original green cloth with gilt design of peafowl taken from J. G. Harrison's figure in Delacour's Pheasants of the World on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine.  Salt Lake City, Allen Publishing Company, 1964. 

1, Title; 2, copyright; 3, contents; 4, dedication to Allen's late father; 5, foreword by Jean Delacour; 6, list of illustrations and maps; 7, preface and acknowledgments; 9, junglefowl; 34, spurfowl; 48, peafowl; 72, bibliography; 74, about the authors.  Contains four unnumbered vignettes including one on the verso of an otherwise blank leaf preceding the title; four other unnumbered line drawings of anatomical details and accoutrements; several unnumbered distribution maps; two pages containing nine uncolored, unnumbered photographs; and six unnumbered colored plates printed on one side only and included in pagination.  One of these, that after J. G. Harrison, is mounted above its letter-press whereas the letter-press for the others is on the apposite page.

This is an exceedingly uncommon little work that was, I suspect, distributed only to a small circle of fanciers of these birds.  Suthard was responsible for the sections on Junglefowl and Spurfowl and Allen did that on Peafowl.  However, virtually the entire book was quoted verbatim from a few antecedent works, mostly from Delacour's Pheasants of the World.  The foreword is Delacour's imprimatur for this book and the publishing company is the one which published the American imprint of Pheasants of the World.  While not explicitly stated in the book, I imagine that George Allen Jr. may have had a connection to the Allen Publishing Company.  The text looks as though it were prepared from camera-ready copy and the last of the colored plates, which is by J. G. Harrison, has been excised from Pheasants of the World, cut to size, and mounted above its letter-press.  

The text consists of descriptions, anecdotes of habits in the wild quoted from other authors, and comments pertaining to aviculture.  Five of the colored plates are said by the authors to have been prepared specifically for this book and they are its outstanding feature.  Three of these are by Shige (?) Kobayashi and two by G. M. Henry. 

This work is listed in the on-line catalogs of the AMNH, Trinity and Cornell but is lacking from those of Harvard and Yale.


Sutter, Ernst, (1914-) Linsenmaier, Walter (plates)

Pariadiesvögel / und / Kolobris / Bilder aus den Leben der Tropenvögel  29.5 x 20.7 cm.  [1]4(-1)2-164[$1 signed]; 63 ll.  Pp.  (4)7-127(127 is recto of lower flyleaf).  Original publisher's yellow cloth with line green ornithological design on upper cover, green lettering to flat spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Zürich, Verlag Silva-Bilderdienst (1953). 

First preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, copyright 1953; printed by Gebr. Fretz AG Zürich; second preliminary leaf: recto-verso, contents, list of plates; 7, introduction; 8-127, paginated mounted colored half-tone plates with running text describing and illustrating about 67 species.

This work was apparently issued in four "Bilderserien" (numbers 45-48) that, I believe, were exchanged for coupons in Silva confection products.  The recipients then pasted the pictures on the indicated pages.  The work displays and describes a varied group of highly colored tropical birds including rollers, bee-eaters, kingfishers, birds of paradise, doves, parrots, hummingbirds, flowerpeckers, tree-swifts, flycatchers, maleo, minivet, frogmouth, trogon, pittas, broadbills, jacana, hornbills, barbets, woodpeckers and leaf birds.  Linsenmaier is a master of color contrast and many of these pictures are  quite striking.

This was the first bird book that Silva issued this way.  Subsequently (1956-1962), they published a promotional four volume set on European birds illustrated by Linsenmaier and Paul Barruel (French version, Oiseaux nicheurs d'Europe; German, Brutvögel Europas; see description of my mixed set under "Géroudet")

Cornell lists both this and a French version by Géroudet; AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale all list the French version only.

 


 

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1980)

Birds in the wilderness / Adventures of an ornithologist / Illustrated / by the author, with pencil drawings / and field-sketches in color made / from living or freshly killed birds 
21.6 x 14.9 cm. Pp.  [i-vi]vii-xiv(2)1-200.  Original publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket with price of $3.50 on upper flap.  New York, the Macmillan Company, 1936.

i, Half-title; ii, Macmillan locations and logo; iii, title page enclosed within triple frame; iv, copyright 1936; published June, 1936; printed by the Stratford Press Inc., New York; v, dedication to John Bonner Semple; vi, blank; vii, foreword; ix, acknowledgments; x, blank; xi, contents; xiii, description of illustrations; unpaginated leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; 1, text.  Contains 12 unnumbered plates printed on recto only in half-tone (four colored) and not included in pagination.

George Sutton was talented as both artist and writer.  In this work he recounts various ornithological experiences in 22 chapters.  Perhaps the most interesting describes his participation on the Allen expedition to northeastern Louisiana in 1935 during which a pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers was studied, recorded and photographed.  This chapter contains a pencil drawing of the male by Sutton.

This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982)

At a bend / in a / Mexican river  27.3 x 21.0 cm.  Pp.  (2)[i-iv]v-xvii[xviii-xix](1)[1-4]5-184.  Original publisher's red buckram-backed gray-brown boards with black lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $14.95 on upper flap.  New York, Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., (1972). 

Unpaginated initial leaf: recto, blank; verso, list of other books written and/or illustrated by Sutton; i, half-title; ii, colored frontispiece; iii, title; iv, copyright 1972; ISBN 0-8397-0780-0; designed by Arouni; v, dedication; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, foreword; xv, list of photographs; xvi, list of uncolored portraits; xvii, list of colored plates; xviii, legend for facing colored plate; xix, colored plate; 1, half-title; 2, blank; 3, part one title leaf, at a bend in a Mexican river; 5, text for part one; 61, part two, from the Bravo to the Balsas; 145, part three, Huastecan trails above the Axtla; 175, birds (English and Latin names) mentioned in text (about 175 species); 181, general index including English and local names.  Contains: 12 unnumbered colored plates printed in color half-tone on one side only with entire leaf excluded from pagination; 18 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone portraits of heads of birds, one in text, the other 17 printed on green pages within a double black-ruled white frame; obverse with running text, both sides included in pagination; 17 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone photographs printed on green paper, the obverse containing running text  both sides included in pagination; about 27 (including repeats) silhouette vignettes of birds and foliage.

This attractive book is a travel narrative of three collecting expeditions taken by Sutton and various companions in Mexico, the last being targeted rather specifically at the bearded wood partridge, the first two being more general.  In addition to being an outstanding ornithologist and artist, Sutton was also an excellent writer and this work is beautifully painted in words as well as pictures.  Some of the latter have been reproduced from Sutton's earlier (1951) work, Mexican birds, first impressions.  Sutton and Eriksson had earlier (1971) produced a comparable travel narrative, High Arctic, concerned with Sutton's other favorite area.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1980)

An introduction to the / birds of / Pennsylvania  19.6 x 13.2 cm.  Pp. [i-vi]vii-ix(1)1-169(1).  Publisher's dark olive cloth with chickadee design, black lettering on upper cover, black lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  Harrisburg, J. Horace McFarland Company, 1928. 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, prefatory note; ix, contents; 1, introductory; 11-162(1), account of species, Colymbus auritus-Turdus migratorius, comprising more than 200 species; 163, index of English and local names (Latin names are given in text, not here).  Contains frontispiece of Baltimore oriole printed in color half-tone and approximately 175 line drawings of birds in text.

Although Sutton had published many illustrations by this time, the present little work was his first as author. It is intended for beginners, omits entirely many birds on the state list, and makes but brief mention of other rarities.  For relatively regular residents, visitors and breeders, Sutton provides a description including length, the status in Pennsylvania, a brief essay, and usually a pen-and-ink drawing.  Sutton was to enjoy a highly successful career as ornithologist, artist and writer.  A short biography of him is given by Peter Tate in (pp. 167-169) Birds, men and books (1986).

This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982)

Mexican Birds / First Impressions / Based upon an ornithological expedition / to Tamaulipus, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila / with an Appendix briefly / describing all Mexican birds  24.4 x 17.5 cm.  Pp. [i-vi]vii-xv(1)[1-2]3282[283-284](4, two printer's blank leaves); 152 ll.  Original publisher's turquoise cloth, gilt-lettered black labeling block on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket, top edge dyed green.  Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1951. 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, foreword; xi, contents; xiii, illustrations; 1, half-title; 2, blank; 3, text; 187, appendix; 259, index of English and Latin names; 283, blank; 284, University of Oklahoma Press designation.  Contains colored plates I-XVI printed on one side only and not included in pagination.  Also contains 65 unnumbered pen-and-ink drawings in text.

This work describes anecdotally an ornithological expedition to Mexico undertaken with Thomas Burleigh and John B. Semple and concludes with an appendix which comprises a brief description of every Mexican species not covered in the text.  There are 16 colored plates, mostly portraits of heads, and many fine text line sketches.  Sutton was an excellent writer and an internationally acclaimed ornithological artist and Mexico was his favorite area so it is not surprising that this is a first rate book.  At the time of its publication, in addition to being entertaining reading, it provided an important reference for identification and graphics of Mexican birds.

Present in libraries of AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.

 


 

Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982)

Portraits of /Mexican birds / Fifty Selected Paintings  35.6 x 27.7 cm.  Pp.  [i-vi]vii-xi[xii-xiv][1]2-106; 60 ll.  Original blue patterned boards with white cloth backing.  Gilt and black lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket reproducing color plate of ferruginous pygmy owl. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, (1975). 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright, stated first edition of 1975; v, dedication to Louis Agassiz Fuertes; vi, blank; vii, prólogo by Enrique Beltrán; ix, foreword by Beltrán; xi, preface; xii, blank; xiii, contents; 1, half-title; 2, text; 103, a word from the author.  Contains 50 unnumbered colored plates on recto with apposite page of text so each leaf has a colored plate on its recto with the text for the next species on its verso. Duplicate color plate of blue-crowned motmot laid in loosely.  Also contains five unnumbered half-tone photographs in text.  Original price of $35 designated on upper jacket flap.

Sutton had a great feeling for Mexican bird life and made various expeditions to explore it from1938-1975.  The results were described anecdotally and artistically in three books, Mexican Birds First Impressions (1951), At a Bend in a Mexican River (1972), and the present work.  Some of the plates in this work appeared originally in its two antecedents, however, most are here published for the first time.  The descriptive text for each plate relates a field experience associated with the painting and makes the work a very personal presentation.  The final section contains Sutton's own thoughts about the process of painting birds.

This work is present in the libraries of the AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982)

High Arctic / An Expedition to the Unspoiled North  27.2 x 21.0 cm.  Pp.  [i-iv]v-viii[ix-xiv][1-2]3-116[117-120]; 67 ll.  Original cream cloth-covered boards, printed spine.  Pictorial dust jacket.  New York, Paul S. Eriksson, (1971), First edition. 

i, Half-title; ii, list of books written and/or illustrated by Sutton; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, dedication; vi, foreword; ix-xii, colored plate; xiii, list of colored plates; xiv, blank; 1, half-title; 2, blank; 3, text; 117, birds mentioned in text; 118, mammals mentioned in text; 119, index of English names.  Contains 11 unnumbered colored plates by Sutton (6 double-page) printed on one side only and included in pagination.  Also contains 16 unnumbered text photographs (14 full-page) by David F. Parmalee, Stewart D. MacDonald, David R. Gray and Philip Taylor and one text line drawing by Sutton.  There are also five different text vignettes that appear a total of 12 times.  Promotional leaf laid in.

Sutton was a fine writer, ornithologist, and above all, artist who maintained life-long special interests in Mexico and the Arctic.  In 1969, at the age of 70 or 71, he joined a museum expedition to Bathurst Island in the Arctic.  This book is a written and pictorial narrative of that expedition.

The book is listed by the AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1988)

Oklahoma birds / their ecology and distribution, / with comments on the avifauna / of the southern great plains  23.5 x 15.5 cm.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii-xlv(1).  Publisher's blue cloth with ornithological designs on upper cover, spine, gilt and black lettering to spine.  Top edge sprinkled blue.  Pictorial dust jacket with printed price of $9.95 on upper flap.  Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, (1967).

i, Half-title; ii, letter-press for frontispiece; iii, title; iv, copyright 1967; printed at Norman by the University of Oklahoma Press; first edition; v, in memory; vi, blank; vii, concerning the book; ix, acknowledgments; xiv, blank; xv, abbreviations; xvi blank; xvii, introduction; xliii, contents; xliv, blank; xlv, list of illustrations; 1, half-title; 3, species accounts, Gavia immer-Calcarius ornatus, species 1-394; 643, bibliography (44 entries); 647, index of common, generic and specific names.  Contains colored frontispiece printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination, 28 unnumbered text line drawings and two text line maps.

Sutton joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma in 1952 and spent the remainder of his professional life there.  Here, he describes in detail the status and distribution of Oklahoma's birds providing dates of arrival, breeding and departure, significant changes in populations and subspecies with their measurements.  The basis for reference is the revised, 1931 edition of Margaret Morse Nice's The birds of Oklahoma.  An important asset of the present book is the fairly extensive introduction to each order and family.  The fine text line drawings make another agreeable feature.

Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.


Sutton, George Miksch (1898-1982)

Portraits of / Mexican birds / Fifty Selected Paintings  35.6 x 27.7 cm.  Pp.  [i-vi]vii-xi[xii-xiv][1]2-106; 60 ll.  Original blue patterned boards with white cloth backing.  Gilt and black lettering on spine.  Pictorial dust jacket reproducing color plate of ferruginous pygmy owl. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, (1975). 

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright, stated first edition of 1975; v, dedication to Louis Agassiz Fuertes; vi, blank; vii, prólogo by Enrique Beltrán; ix, foreword by Beltrán; xi, preface; xii, blank; xiii, contents; 1, half-title; 2, text; 103, a word from the author.  Contains 50 unnumbered colored plates on recto with apposite page of text so each leaf has a colored plate on its recto with the text for the next species on its verso. Duplicate color plate of blue-crowned motmot laid in loosely.  Also contains five unnumbered half-tone photographs in text.  Original price of $35 designated on upper jacket flap.

Sutton had a great feeling for Mexican bird life and made various expeditions to explore it from 1938-1975.  The results were described anecdotally and artistically in three books, Mexican Birds First Impressions (1951), At a Bend in a Mexican River (1972), and the present work.  Some of the plates in this work appeared originally in its two antecedents, however, most are here published for the first time.  The descriptive text for each plate relates a field experience associated with the painting and makes the work a very personal presentation.  The final section contains Sutton's own thoughts about the process of painting birds.

This work is present in the libraries of the AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Swainson, William (1789-1855) and Richardson, Sir John (1787-1865)

Fauna / Boreali-Americana; or the / Zoology / of the / northern Parts / of / British America: / containing / descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late northern land / expeditions  under the command of Sir John Franklin, R. N. / Part second / The Birds  28.2 x 22.2 cm.  π[a]4b-h4i2(-i2)B-3U43X2[$1, 2 signed]; 296 ll.  Pp.  (2)[i-ix]x-lxvi[1]2-523[524].  Later quarter brown mottled calf and marbled boards by James Macdonald Co.  Spines with five gilt-ruled raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments.  Original publisher's brown paper labeling piece mounted to upper pastedown.  London, John Murray, 1831.

  πr, Half-title: Fauna / Boreali-American / Part Second / containing / The Birds; πv, blank; i, second half-title; Fauna / Boreali-Americana / The Birds / Vol. II. ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: London, printed by William Clowes; v, advertisement; vi, location of specimens; vii, contents; viii, lists of plates and wood-cuts; ix, introduction by Richardson; xli, introductory observations the natural system by Swainson; lvii, preface by Swainson; lxv, list of authors; 1 systematic text covering species1-238; 481, appendix No. I, characters of genera and subgenera hitherto undefined; 498, appendix No. II, additional generic characters and one added species; 503, index  524, errata.  Contains hand-colored lithographic plates 24-73 after Swainson, each designated " London Printed for John Murray, Bookseller to the Admiralty, Jan 1st, 1829 (or Jan 1st, 1831)".  Also contains 41 unnumbered, uncolored text wood-cuts.

This is an important book in the history of ornithology in North America.  The division of responsibility between the authors must have been a point of some contention.  Swainson's contribution is specifically identified in the "advertisement" and by use of his initials in the text.  In general, he was concerned with synonymy and matters of classification, whereas Richardson, who actually participated in the expeditions, wrote the actual accounts of the species.  Swainson was the first individual sought by Audubon to assist in the writing of his Ornithological Biography so his contemporary reputation as an ornithologist must have been outstanding.  However, he and Audubon failed to reach an understanding on the division of credit and responsibility causing Audubon eventually to select MacGillivray for the job and suggesting that attribution of credit was very important to Swainson.  Perhaps that is why it is so carefully elaborated in this work.  Richardson was the author of the entire four-volume series and this volume is usually cataloged under his name, even though Swainson appears as the first author on the title page.

This work appeared at the time when a great many new birds were being named and priority was important in the assignment of these names.  The date of appearance of the book is, therefore, important. Browning and Monroe, Arch. Nat. Hist. (1991) 18 (3): 381-405, have provided evidence (p. 392-393) that it may actually have been issued on 4 February, 1832 rather than in 1831, as indicated on the title page.

The book covers 239 species that were collected on the expeditions of Sir John Franklin including some that were newly named.  The treatment of each species includes synonymy, distribution, dates of passage, a description with measurements and some general comments.  There is a good deal of material by Swainson concerned with taxonomic principles and criteria.  Swainson was one of the earliest  to portray birds artistically yet  accurately with regard to shape, posture and color.  He was also one of the first ornithological artists to employ lithography.  In general, his role as an artist has not received the recognition that it should as judged by the high quality of his plates.  Those in this work are excellent and a fair representation of his ability.

Wood, p. 536; Zimmer, p. 520.  The work is also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Swainson, William (1789-1855)

(Zoological Illustrations.  Series 1.  Birds)  A volume containing some general preliminaries and Vertebrosa ,Parts I-III, comprising  Ornithology and Icthyology. 21.9 x 14.1 cm.  Late 20th century half red morocco with gray buckram sides.  Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartment.  London, for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, Paternoster Row: and W. Wood, Strand, (1820-1823). Much of the material did not appear consecutively and is, for the most part,  unpaginated.  This volume contains the entire ornithological text and 68 of the 70 ornithological plates of the first series, although one of these is here uncolored.  It also contains the short, but complete icthyological text with two colored plates.  The contents are as follows:

Six preliminary leaves (PL): PL1r, full title page for Vertebrosa, Part I:  Zoological Illustrations, / or / Original Figures and Descriptions / of / New, Rare, or Interesting / Animals, / selected chiefly from the classes of / Ornithology, Entomology, and Conchology, / and arranged on the Principles of Cuvier and other modern Zoologists ///; Vertebrosa. / Part I.  PL1v, blank; PL2r, dedication; PL2v, blank; PL3r-6r (numbered [iii]iv-ix), preface; PL6v, list of references.

Vertebrosa. / Part I. One leaf containing systematic index.  26 leaves of text, one for each plate.  The plates are, save one,  hand-colored lithographs, drawn and lithographed by Swainson.  A single species of bird is depicted on each of 24 plates with one, Alcedo asiatica, plate 50, uncolored. There are also two colored plates showing three species of fish.  The plates are not consecutive or in order.  They are enumerated in the systematic index, on the leaf of corresponding text, and sometimes on the plate, itself.

Vertebrosa, Part II.  Two preliminary leaves, a half-title and a systematic index.  20 Leaves of text describing 20 species of birds.  19 Colored plates (of 20), that for Trochilus ensipennis, plate 107, lacking.

Vertebrosa, Part III.  Two preliminary leaves, a half-title and a systematic idex.  25 Leaves of text covering 25 species of birds.  One leaf of text is associated with the two plates, 130 and 131 showing the male and female of Trochilus latipennis.  25 Colored plates(of 26), lacking that for Malurus garrulus, plate 138.

Some of the plates are initialed, some have water marks from at least three different firms that are dated 1817-1822.

If I had to select a single person who initiated the modern scientific study of ornithology, William Swainson would be high on my list.  He was, however, more than an ornithologist.  In fact, he may be better known as a conchologist.  He participated in the Koster expedition to Brazil which encouraged an interest in neotropical zoology.  His descriptions of new species are precise and systematic.   Most important, his illustrations are amongst the first, if not the first, to combine complete accuracy of color, shape and posture with general artistic presentation.  He was also an early exponent of lithography which is particularly well suited to ornithological iconography.  According to Christine Jackson in her book, Bird Illustrators  Some Artistst in Early Lithography (p. 20), "The first English bird book to have lithographs was Swainson's Zoological Illustrations, 1820-1823,  the lithography being done by Swainson himself."  There were hand-colored lithographs of birds in Oriental Memoirs by James Forbes (1913) but that work does not qualify as a "bird book".  There were many uncolored ornithological lithographs in Karl Schmid's Beschreibung der Vögel (1818) but that work is not in English.  There were uncolored lithographs of birds by Sarah Bowdich in her husband Thomas's An Introduction to the Ornithology of Cuvier… (1821) but that work has a Paris imprint although it was written in English and sold in London.

There are two series, 1820-1823 and 1829-1833, of the Zoological Illustrations, each comprising six volumes.  They contain a total of 318 colored lithographs of which 119 are ornithological, 70 and 49 in the first and second series, respectively.  Many of the species were new to science and described here for the first time.  Of the 69 species of birds described in the first series and depicted on 70 plates, 39 are said to be found in South America, 13 in Africa, 8 in Australia and/or New Zealand, eight from India, Sri Lanka or Java, and one is unassigned.  For each species, Swainson provides the generic and specific characters, a description with measurements and its origin.  Where they exist, he gives antecedent references.

This work is exceedingly important in ornithology because it provides the first descriptions of many new species and because it presents the first accurate colored picture of virtually every species that it includes.

Wood, p. 588; Zimmer, p. 612.  Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.


Swainson, William (1789-1855)

The / Ornithological / Drawings / of / William Swainson / / The Birds of Brazil  (Parts 1-4, of 5) 22.9 x 14.2 cm.  Two preliminary leaves containing contemporary (?) calligraphic title in red and black on recto of first leaf, its verso blank, and calligraphic "Contents" with English and Latin names and plate numbers on both sides of second leaf. Fine twentieth century antique style mottled brown calf with gilt rule and gilt panel design on covers.  Five gilt ruled and raised ridges on spine with gilt lettering in second and fourth compartment, gilt design in other four.  London, Baldwin & Cradock (1834-1835). 

Contains hand-colored lithographic plates 1-50 after Swainson, about 15 of which are initialed and dated 1832-1834.  The plates usually contain the English name italicized and the Latin name in ordinary print with only an initial for the genus. 

There has always been some confusion between this work and a later one entitled A Selection of the Birds of Brazil and Mexico that was published by Henry Bohn in 1841 that contained 78 plates.  According to Browning and Monroe ( Archives of Natural History [1991], 18 [3], p. 391), fide McMillan, (J. Soc. Biblio. Nat. Hist., [1970], 5, [5]: 366-368), Swainson's Ornithological Drawings contained 62 plates (part 1, plates 1-13, 15 Jan., 1834; Part 2, 14-25, 1 April, 1834; part 3, 26-38, 10 July, 1834; part 4, 39-50, 2 Jan., 1835 and Part 4, 51-62. 27 June 1835.)  Presumably, plates 63-78 contained Mexican birds and were added (by Bohn[?]) specifically for the later work.  Distinguishing between the two works is important because many new names date to this one, the original.  In the absence of wrappers, how can one distinguish between the original and an incomplete copy of the later work?  The best way is to examine the hummingbird plates which, in the Bohn edition, are embellished with elemental gold that is lacking in the original.  Some of the names were apparently altered for the Bohn edition.  For example, according to Sclater in his Monograph of the Jacamars and Puff-Birds, the T(amatia) leucotis of plate 10 is said to be C(aputo) leucotis in the 1841 edition.  Zimmer mentions that the Latin name is absent from plate 48 of his copy of the later work.  That name is present in this book.

These colored plates are amongst the best of the era being virtually flawless in their characterization of shape, posture and color. I have always felt that Swainson's pictures are a remarkable combination of accuracy and artistry.  He was his own lithographer which doubtless contributed to his successful presentations.

This book was consigned to Sotheby's by a dealer who claimed that its calligraphic title and contents was by Swainson, himself.  The leaves containing these appear to be paper similar to one of at least two types on which the colored plates are printed.  There are no water marks on any of the leaves.

The Ornithological Drawings of William Swainson.  The Birds of Brazil is extremely rare, much more so than is A Selection of the Birds of Brazil and Mexico.  The copy at Yale (Ripley & Scribner, p. 281) has wrappers and 49 plates, lacking part 4.  The authors also write that it lacks part 6, not realizing that part 6 was added later by Bohn to constitute the second work.  There is also a copy with wrappers at Oxford.  This example is cataloged under the later name but is described as being in parts with the earlier name and the last part designated 6/7.  The description is particularly confusing because it is not clear whence the later title was derived. The Ornithological Drawings.. is not listed by AMNH, Berkeley, BM(NH), Cornell, Harvard, Library of Congress, Smithsonian, Trinity, Wood and Zimmer.  Many of these do list the later work.

 

 

 

Swainson,  William (1789-1855)

 

On / the natural history / and classification / of / birds  Two volumes.  16.3 x 10.0 cm.  Contemporary half-calf, machine-marbled boards.  Spines with five raised ridges, worn gilt lettering in second compartment, worn gilt design in others.  Machine-marbled edges and endpapers.  London,  Printed for Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, Paternoster Row,

 

Vol. I., 1836.  [A]4(-A1?)B-Z8AA8(-A8)[$1-4 signed]186 ll.  Pp.  [iii-v]vi-viii[1]2-365[366].  [iii?] engraved title page; iv, blank; contents; vii, index to cuts; 1, part I, on the structure and natural history of birds in general; 192, part II, on the bibliography, nomenclature and preservation of birds; 279, part III, on the natural history and relations of the different orders, tribes, and families of birds; 363, general index; 366, printer designation: London, A. Spottiswoode.  Contains woodcut text figures 1-113 after Swainson.  The engraved title pages of both volumes are on thick paper and contain finely engraved vignettes designated “W. Swainson del” and “E. Finden, sculpt”.

 

Vol. II. (1837).  [A]4(-A1?)B-BB8CC8(-CC8)[$1-4 signed]202 ll.  Pp.  [iii-v]vi-viii[1]2-398. [iii?], engraved title page; iv, blank; v, contents; vii, author’s note; viii, blank; 1, part III, on the natural history and relations of the different orders, tribes, an families of birds; 201, synopsis of a natural arrangement of birds; 375, generic names not adopted; 377, index; 398, printer designation.  Contains text woodcuts 114-338 after Swainson.

 

The author explains, on page vii, of the second volume, that he has omitted a section, “Description of new species”, that he intended for publication in this volume but that it would appear elsewhere.  It appeared in Swainson’s “Animals in menageries”(1838).

 

This work was also issued as volumes in “The cabinet cyclopaedia” conducted by the Rev. Dionysius Larner.  The two issues probably differ only by an additional title page for the series issue. The series title leaf may be the absent "A1" in these volumes.

 

This work is a general treatise on the entire field of ornithology written by one of the most knowledgeable of natural history scholars of his era.  Swainson was an excellent draughtsman as well as a scholar and his numerous text woodcuts are a fine embellishment to these volumes.

Wood, 588.  Zimmer, p. 369, under “Lardner, Dionysius”. OCLC locates about 80 copies.

 

 

 

Swainson, William (1789-1855)

 

Animals / in / menageries  17.0 x 10.6 cm. [A]6(-A6)B-Aa8Bb4(-Bb4)[$1, 2 signed]192 ll.  Pp. (4)(i-v)vi[1]2-373[374].  Near contemporary leather-backed marbled boards.  Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in second, fourth and sixth compartments.  TEG.  Machine-marbled endpapers with upper flyleaf replaced by a sheet of ordinary paper.  London, Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, and John Taylor, 1838.

 

A1r, Half-title (The Cabinet Cyclopaedia); A1v, printer designation: London, A. Spottiswoode; A2r, title page for “The / cabinet cyclopaedia / conducted by the / Rev. Dionysius Lardner /// natural history / Animals in menageries / by / William Swainson / London ////1838; A2v, blank; /A3r, second title page for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia, this one identical save for absence of “natural history”; A3v, blank; A4r, engraved title page on thick paper “Animals / in / menageries” with vignette of animals engraved by E. Finden after Swaison; A4v, blank; A5r-A5v, contents; 1, part I, menagerie of quadrupeds; 147, part II, on living or domesticated birds suitable for aviaries or preserves; 281, Part III, two centuries and a quarter of birds, either new, or hitherto imperfectly described; 363, index to parts I and II, generic and popular.  Contains metal-engraved title vignette and wood-engraved text illustrations 1-71, all uncolored.

 

According to Zimmer (p. 371), …”a third part was added to include matter which had been omitted,  through necessity, from …’On the Natural History and Classification of Birds’……the paper is important since it consists of descriptions and notes on the habitat of 229 species, 1 genus and 1 subgenus of birds, most of which are new”.  Thus, part III of this volume completes On the Natural History and Classification of Birds.

 

Wood, p. 588; Zimmer, p. 370-371 (under Lardner, Dionysius, the editor of the Cabinet cyclopedia)  OCLC locates about 70 copies.

 

 

 

 


Swann, H.(arry) Kirke (1879-1926)

A dictionary / of / English and folk-names / of / British birds / with their history, meaning and first usage: / and the folk-lore, weather-lore, legends, etc., / relating to the more familiar species  21.5 x 14.0 cm.  [A]6B-R8S6X8[$1, 2 signed]146 ll.  Pp. [i-v]vi-xii[1]2-266[267, advertisement;268, printer designation: Witherby & Co. (16, memoranda of additional names)  Original publisher’s (?) blue cloth with blind frame.  Gilt lettering to spine.  London, Witherby & Co., 1913 Probably author’s copy as his name in pencil manuscript on upper endpaper. Laid in loosely is a letter (21.6 x 14.2 cm)  written in ink on both sides from J. A. Harvie-Brown to Swann as well as Swann’s business card.

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v,  preface; ix, bibliography (about 100 references); text covering almost 5,000 names; 267, ad for “Hand-list of British birds” by Hartert et. al; 268, “Printed by Witherby & Co…..”(16, each labeled “Memoranda of additional names”, several with extensive pencil manuscript notes). The book was reprinted in 1968 and again in 1977.

This work provides an annotated list of about 5,000 names for British birds. These names have been taken from close to 100 books starting with that by William Turner (1544) and going up to the “Hand-list of British birds” by Hartert et al. (1912).  The annotations are interesting and scholarly.  The author was a polymath, an  ornithologist, author, bibliophile, book dealer and publisher, the proprietor of Wheldon & Wesley, and the father of my friend Howard Swann (1919-1992).  He was particularly interested in birds-of-prey and wrote, with posthumous editing by Alexander Wetmore, A monograph of the birds of prey (order Acciptres)(1924-1945).

Wood, 589; Zimmer, 617. The book was reprinted in 1968 and again in 1977.

 

 

Swann, Harry Kirk (1879-1926)

A Synopsis of the Accipitres (Diurnal Birds of Prey) Comprising Species and Subspecies described up to 1920, with their Characters and Distribution  Second edition.  32 x 26 cm.  Pp.  (8, including: two blank leaves; a leaf containing half-title on recto and limitation statement[“No. 3 of twelve copies privately printed on large hand-made paper (watermarked ‘A. Millbourn & Co. British handmade’) having 55 (hand-)coloured plates of birds and 22 coloured plates of eggs”] on verso; and a leaf containing the author’s signature and a mounted photograph of him)[i-ii]iii[iv]v[vi]vii-viii[ix-xii][1]2-233[234](2, addendum to pp. 3-4)(6, Errata et Addenda comprising three leaves printed on recto only, the latter two designated ii and iii)(2, Errata et Addenda, apparently added later.  130 ll including the two preliminary blanks.  Original half-red morocco, gilt spine in six compartments with five raised band, gilt top, marbled endpapers by Riviere & Son.  Other edges deckled and uncut.  The four original printed and dated gray wrappers bound at the end.  London, privately printed for the author, 1921-1922. 

i Title,; ii, blank; iii preface to second edition,; iv, blank; v preface to the first edition,; vi, blank; vii, index to genera; ix, plates of birds; xi, plates of eggs; xii, blank; 1-233 text.  Contains 55 (hand-)colored plates of birds and 22 coloured plates of eggs.

Swann was an ornithologist, author, bibliophile, book dealer and publisher, the proprietor of Wheldon & Wesley and the father of my friend Howard Swann (1919-1992).  Diurnal birds of prey were a favorite subject of his and this Synopsis  lists all 329 known species with description, distribution and subspecies for each.  The work served as a precursor for his great 16-part monograph finally completed by Wetmore in 1944.  The first edition of the Synopsis was published 1919-1920 to be quickly followed by this one.  The ordinary issue was octavo and unillustrated.  There were two large paper issues.  One of 28 copies containing the 22 coloured plates of eggs ( photographs printed by Andre and Sleigh using the three-color process) and this one of 12 copies containing an additional 55 hand-colored lithographs of birds.  These pictures were all from Dresser’s works on the Birds of Europe and the Eggs of the Birds of Europe, the remainders of which Swann acquired from John Wheldon & Co. when he formed Wheldon & Wesley.  The background washes of the colored lithographs are much darker than their versions in my copy of Dresser and there are other differences of coloration suggesting that Swann probably had the coloring done contemporary with publication using an uncolored stock of plates.  The lithographs were printed in the 1870s by Hanhart, Mintern Bros and Walter mainly from drawings by Keulemans with a few by Wolf and Neale.  Swann’s trinomial names are pasted over many of the Latin designations that Dresser had supplied.

This is an extremely rare and interesting volume.

Wood, p. 589.  This edition absent from Ayer, Trinity and Yale collections.


Swann, H.(arry)Kirke (1871-1926) (edited by Wetmore, Alexander [1886-1978])

A / monograph / of the / birds of prey / (order Acciptres)  30.8 x 24.5 cm.  Stipulated two volumes bound as five in binder's brown buckram, gilt lettering to spine, red speckled edges.  All 15 sets of original printed gray wrappers retained (Parts XV and XVI issued together) and bound in order without being reassembled.  The signatures and pagination are tabulated on the accompanying page which also includes the date of issue on the wrappers and the actual date of distribution as listed in part XV.  London, Wheldon and Wesley, 1924-1945.

 

Part    Date    Date    Vol    Signatures    Pagination    Spec. #        Col.     Grav.    Notes
    (wrapper)    (actual)        (fours)            Pl.       
I    11/15/24    11/22/24    I    [A]B-H    XI, 1-52    1--15    4    1   
II    1/31/25    2/3/25    I    K-S    53-124    16-40    3    2   
III    5/30/25    5/30/25    I    T-2C    125-196    41-64A    3    2   
IV    9/21/25    9/15/25    I    2D-2O    197-276    64B-97    4    1    Announces
                                    author's
                                    death
                                    4/14/26
V    1/25/26    2/2/26    I    2P-3A    277-364    97A-131    3    2    Notice slip of
                                    Wetmore as
                                    editor
VI    9/-/26    10/2/26    I    3B-3E    365-396    131B-138H    4    1   
VII    9/-/28    9/4/28    I    3F-3I    397-428    138I-147    3    2   
VIII    1/-/30    1/29/30    I    3L-3RXX    429-487    148-175    2       
IX    6/-/30    8/6/30    I    None    lxviii        2        Half-title,
                                    title,
                                    contents,
                                    errata,
                                    index
X    12/-/31    1/2/32    II    B-J(-I)    1--64    176-184A    2       
XI    4/-/33    5/10/33    II    K-X    65-160    185-219P    2       
XII    10/-/34    11/1/34    II    Y-Z A1-A2    161-256    219Q-255    2       
                A4-A11                   
XIII    12/-/35    1/1/36    II    B1-N1    257-352    255A-291    2    1   
XIV    10/-/36    12/31/36    II    O1-Z1    353-448    292-316B    2    2   
XV, XVI    1945    4/30/45    II    A2-K2    xx449-    317-326    1    3    Half-title,
                    537(3, blank)                title,
                                    foreword,
                                    contents,
                                    index

There are various peculiarities about the signatures including an alphabet that varies from 22-24 letters with, or without I and J.  There are 39 (including five of eggs) plates printed in color half-tone on thick stock after H. Grönvold and another 17 of various subjects printed in uncolored gravure.  All plates are unnumbered, printed on one side only and not included in pagination.  Their distribution is also presented on the accompanying page.  The work was limited to 412 unnumbered copies as indicated by a note on the verso of the upper wrappers.  The upper wrappers have the title on the recto and a note to the reader concerning the publication on the verso.  The lower wrappers, both recto and verso, contain advertisements for other books being sold by Wheldon and Wesley.  A price of 26 shillings is designated on the wrappers of the first seven parts with no indication on the later wrappers.  Assuming no increase for these, the total cost of the 16 parts can be estimated at almost 20 Guineas, a hefty sum for the prewar era.  The typography is slightly different in parts XV and XVI because the original type and print run were destroyed in an air raid during World War II.  According to printer designations on the versos of the title pages in parts IX and XVI, the first volume was printed by Geo. B. Flowers, the second by Robert Stockwell although one wonders whether the latter may just have been responsible for the 1945 parts using the new type.

This is a very fine ornithological monograph, beautifully written, produced and illustrated.  It provides complete coverage of synonymy, characters, distribution, life history and taxonomic relationships for each species.  Harry Kirke Swann died of pancreatic cancer shortly before the  sixth part was issued but he had apparently completed most of the manuscript which was edited by friend Wetmore over the ensuing years.  Swann had previously written A synopsis of the Acciptres (several editions, one very sumptuous of only 12 numbered copies, 1919-1922.)

Swann was an extraordinary man who lived a very full 55 years as ornithologist, author, bibliographer (the Swann of Mullens & Swann) and bookseller.  In 1916, he became the sole proprietor of the book-selling firm of John Wheldon (originally founded in the mid 19th century), and in 1921 he merged the business with one that had been founded in the mid 19th century by William Wesley.  After Swann's early death, his wife Emma maintained the firm through hard times until after the war when their elder son Charles assumed responsibility and ran it until his own death in 1980.  Howard, the younger brother of Charles, and my very good friend, then managed it until his own death in 1993.  Under their leadership, Wheldon & Wesley became the most important natural history book firm in the second half of the 20th century.  The story of the firm's history is recounted in their catalogue 191 of October, 1990.

Wood, p. 589; Zimmer, p. 619.  Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.


Swaysland, W.(alter, d. 1888[?])

Familiar / wild birds  Four volumes.  18.5 x 13.0 cm.  Four volumes.  Contemporary full black sheep with double gilt-ruled panels on covers.  Spines with five double gilt-ruled raised bands, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments.  Marbled endpapers.  AEG.  London, Cassell & Company, 1883 (first volume) and undated (-1888[?]).  Original edition.

First Series  π41-204[$1 signed]; 84 ll.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii[1]2-160.  i-ii, Blank; iii, title with kestrel vignette; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, contents; vii, blank; 1-144, species accounts (36); 145, eggs and egg collecting by R. Kearton.  Contains 40 unnumbered, chromolithographed plates, 36 of birds (24 after "E. T.",  (E. Turck or E. Twick), seven after A. Thorburn, five undesignated), four of eggs, each showing nine eggs, undesignated, but almost certainly by A. F. Lydon as later designated.  Also contains 37 unnumbered woodcut head-pieces, 37 unnumbered woodcut tail-pieces, and 37 woodcut initial letters.

Second Series  π421-404; 84 ll.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii[1]2-160.  i-ii, Blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, contents; 1, species accounts (36); 124, eggs and egg collecting by R. Kearton. Contains 40 colored plates, 36 of birds (after Thorburn (30, Lydon (3) E. T. (2), undesignated (1), four of eggs (two after Lydon, two undesignated).  Also contains head-pieces, tail-pieces, initial letters as first series.

Third Series  π441-604; 84 ll.  Pp.  [i-vii]viii[1]2-160. i-ii, Blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; 1, species accounts (36); 145, eggs and egg collecting by R. Kearton.  Contains 40 colored plates, 36 of birds after Thorburn, four of eggs undesignated but after Lydon.  Also contains head-pieces, tail-pieces and initials as above save that many now designated A. T. or A. Thorburn.

Fourth Series  π461-824; 92 ll.  Pp. [i-viii]viii[1]2-176.  i-ii, Blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; 1, species accounts (36); 145, eggs and egg collecting; 161, classified index (from Yarrell) with descriptive definitions of the families and generically indexed Latin names for species in each family; 174, general index of English names; 176, printer designation: Cassell and Company Limited, London.  Contains 40 colored plates, 36 of birds after Thorburn, four of eggs after A. F. L. (Lydon), head-pieces, tail-pieces and initials as above, many designated A. T. or A. Thorburn.

The four volumes comprise well written life histories of 144 species found in England, some common and well known, others rare.  Four pages of text, a colored figure, a colored figure of the egg, a woodcut head-piece, a woodcut tail piece, and an engraved initial letter are devoted to each species.  The vast majority of the colored plates were painted by Archibald Thorburn and this was his first major commission although he did a few uncolored wood engraved plates for James Harting's Sketches of bird life, also published in 1883.  Some of the plates in the first and second volumes are by a competent artist identified only as "E. T."  The plates of eggs as well as three of birds are by A. F. Lydon.  The text is embellished with fine woodcut vignettes as head and tail-pieces and most of these were executed by Thorburn.  The work, although accurate and authoritative, is clearly directed at a popular audience.

Swaysland was a taxidermist and the author, with William Blakston and August Wiener, of The illustrated book of canaries and cage birds…(1877-1880) also published by Cassell.

An interesting bibliographical feature of the present work is that the signatures are consecutive throughout the four volumes but the pagination is separate.  The first series was originally published in 20 parts, each containing two colored plates.  The work was issued in several later printings or editions, some or all of which contained the bird plates in color half-tone rather than the chromolithography of this original edition.

Wood, 590; Zimmer, 620.  This original edition also listed by Harvard, Trinity.  Cornell and Yale list the 1901 edition.  Not listed by AMNH.


 Sweet, Paul

Natural histories / Extraordinary birds / Rare book selections from the / American Museum of Natural History library 27.8 x 21.6 cm.  Pp.  [i-v]vi-ix[x][1]2-134.  Color pictorial flexible card cover with bird-of-paradise, printed title and author on upper cover and spine.  Presented in color pictorial solander box decorated with pelican on upper cover, leafbird on lower. New York, Stirling Signature, 2013.  First printing.

i, Decorated half-title; ii-iii, title and publication information; copyright 2013 by the American Museum of Natural History; ISBN 978-1-4549-0659-9; cover and book design by Chin-Yee-Lai; manufactured in China; iv, contents; vi, forward by Ellen V. Futter; vii, preface by Tom Baione; viii, introduction by Sweet; 1, part I, the history of ornithology by Peter Capainolo; 35, part II, essays and plates by Sweet; 131, works consulted (31); 132, acknowledgments; 133, index.

Each of the 40 essays is printed on the recto of a leaf facing the appropriate plate printed on the verso of the preceding leaf. Of the 40 such unnumbered half-tone plates, 34 are colored.  These plates are close-ups of a part of the original picture. Some of the essays contain additional text illustrations numbered with reference  only to the specific essay.  There are also three essays by Barbara Rhodes on the antiquarian techniques of book illustration(woodcut process, engraving and etching processes and lithographic process). Page 130 is a colored plate of a trogon that is not accompanied by an essay.  Finally, and most importantly, for each of the 40 illustrated essays, there is also a loose print (34 colored) of the complete illustration. Whereas the loose colored plates are finely printed on matt paper, those in the book are displayed on glossy paperIn this copy, there are five extra loose colored plates, which are not mentioned in the index, and for which there is no text or essay.  One of these is a nest with eggs from Nozeman. The others are an Asian jay from Gould; Wall Creepers from Martinet; tanagers from Descourtilz and a turkey from Huet.  These are also not indicated in a promotional sheet laid loosely into the book box, which advertises “forty ready to frame prints”

This is an interesting and attractive item that uses 40 ornithological titles from the American Museum’s library to touch upon the science of ornithology; its history; and its art.

 

OCLC lists more than 40 copies.

 

 

Sweet, R. (1783-1835)

The British Warblers.  An Account of the Genus Sylvia Illustrated by six Beautifully Coloured Figures Taken from Living Specimens in the Author’s Collection; with Directions for their Treatment According to the Author’s Method; in Which is Explained, how the Interesting & fine Singing Birds Belonging to the Genus may be Managed, and Kept in as Good Health as any Common Bird Whatever.25 x 16 cm: [A]2 B-C4D4  (2D1+ E1+ 1)2 E4-F4G2  (G2+1)[$1,2 signed; missigning 2E3 as 2E2]; 27 leaves, pp. [4, blank, title](1)2-5 (6-7)8(9)10(11)12(13)14(15)16(17)18[+4](19)20(21)22(23)24(25-44[+2].  Uncut.  Original paper-covered boards (damaged).  London, W. Simkin and R. Marshall, 1823(-1832 fide Mullens & Swann).

1-35, text; 38-44, additional remarks.  Contains 16 (sic) hand-colored plates drawn by E. D. Smith and engraved by Weddell.  Some offsetting from plates to text.

Sweet was a well known horticulturist who produced a number of fine and beautiful botanical works including a particularly nice one on geraniums that was illustrated by Smith, the artist for the present work.  Therefore, it’s not surprising that the plates here are very pleasing, especially because of the superbly delineated plants with which many of them are adorned.  Sweet kept songbirds and in this work describes the relevant avicultural details for their capture and maintenance as well as a good bit of the life histories of the various species.  Some of the birds, including the Whin-Chat, Wren, Wheatear and Stone-Chat, are not now considered of the genus Sylvia. 

This is quite a significant monograph since it is the first to concern itself with a taxonomic group that is not visually stunning such as parrots (Levaillant), pigeons (Temminck and Knip) or tanagers (Desmarest). 

Why does the title stipulate six plates when there are actually sixteen?  Some consider the six to be a misprint for sixteen but most, including Mullens & Swann, seem to feel that the original issue may have contained only six plates, and several such copies have been described.

The front blank, present in this copy, is allegedly often lacking.  The two-leaf insertion after page 18 is rather interesting.  Up to that point, six species numbered one through six had been exhaustively covered.  On those two leaves, species numbered 10-16 are briefly described.  These very same species are later covered in much more detail but are, in some cases, assigned different numbers than they were designated in the insert.

Mullens & Swann, p. 57; Trinity, p. 235; Wood, p. 590; Yale, p. 283; Zimmer, p. 620.

 

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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.