W | Soffer Ornithology Collection

Soffer Ornithology Collection Notes (alphabetical by author)

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(Wagenbauer, Max Joseph [1774-1829) Bilder von Saugethieren zum Unterricht in der Naturgeschichte

Walden, Viscount Arthur (Arthur Hay, Marquis of Tweedale[1824-1878]) Contributions to the ornithology of the Philippines

Walden, Viscount Arthur (Arthur Hay, Marquis of Tweedale[1824-1878]). A list of birds known to inhabit the Island of Celebes

Walden, Viscount Arthur (Arthur Hay, Marquis of Tweedale [1824-1878]). A list of the birds known to inhabit the Philippine Archipelago.

Wallace, Alfred, Russel (1823-1913). The Bucerotidae, or hornbills

Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913). The Malay Archipelago: The land of the orang-utang, and the birds-of-paradise.

Walpole-Bond, John (Arthington) (1878-1958). A history of Sussex birds.

Walters, Frank (Bookseller's catalog). Catalog of a large and interesting collection of books relating to natural history especially 0rnithology including the ornithological library of the late Eugene P. Bicknell, and numerous rare and unusual items from recent purchases.

Warren, B(enjamin) H(arry) (1858-1926). Report on the birds of Pennsylvania with special reference to the food-habits, based on over four thousand stomach examinations.

Warren, Michael (1938-). Shorelines birds at the water's edge.

Watanabe, Shôtei (Seitei) (1851-1918). Seitei Kachô Gafu.

Waterton, Charles (1782-1868). Wanderings in South America, and the North-West of the United States, and the Antilles, in the years 1812, 1816, 1820, and 1824. With original instructions for the perfect preservation of birds &c. for cabinets of natural history.

Watson, Donald(1918-2005), Campbell, Bruce(1912-1993) The Oxford book of birds

Watson, (A) D. (1918-2005). Birds of moor and mountain.

Watson, Donald (1918-2005) A bird artist in Scotland

Watson, George E.(lder)(1931-) Teach me about birds flash cards in full color

Watson, George E.(lder)(1931-) (in collaboration with J. Phillip Angle, Peter C. Harper; illustrated by Bob Hines. Birds of the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic.

Wayne, Arthur Trezevant (1863-1930) Birds of South Carolina

Webber, C(harles) W(ilkins) (1819-1856). Wild scenes and song-birds.

Weber, Walter Alois (1906-1979) Birds (12 loose prints from "Traveling with the birds" by Rudyerd Boulton)

Weidensaul, Scott Of a feather A brief history of American birding

Westerman, G(erardus) F(rederik) (1807-1890). Beschrijving van drei weinig bekende soorten van het geslacht pitta.

Wheaton, J(ohn) M. (?1841-1887). Catalogue of the birds of Ohio.

Wheaton J(ohn) M. (1841-1887). Section II. / Report on the birds of Ohio.

Wheelwright, Horace W. (“An Old Bushman”). A spring and summer in Lapland.

Wheldon & Wesley Catalogue of works on ornithology...

Whitaker, J(oseph) I(saac) S(padafora) (d. 1932). The birds of Tunisia being a history of the birds found in the Regency of Tunis.

White, C. M. N., Bruce, Murray D. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, The Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia).

White, Adam (1817-1879). A popular history of birds comprising a familiar account of their classification and habits.

White, Adam (1817-1879). The instructive picture book, or a few attractive lessons from the natural history of animals.

White, Gilbert (1720-1793) A naturalist’s calendar, with observations in various branches of natural history, extracted from the papers of the late Rev. Gilbert White...

White, Gilbert, (1720-1793)(edited by R.[ichard] Bowdler Sharpe[1847-1909]). The natural history & antiquities / of Selbourne & a garden kalendar.

White, S(amuel) A(lbert) (1870-1954). In the far North-east / A scientific expedition.

White, John (1750-1832). Journal of a voyage to new South Wales.

Whitehead, John (1860-1899). Exploration of Mount Kina Balu, North Boreo.

Whittell, Hubert Massey (1883-1954). The literature of Australian birds: a history and bibliography of Australian ornithology.

Whymper, Charles (1853-). Egyptian birds for the most part seen inthe Nile valley.

Wild Bird Society of Japan. A field guide to the birds of Japan.

Wilder, George D(urand)(1869-1946), Hubbard, Hugh W(ells). Birds of northeastern China a practical guide based on studies made chiefly in Hopei Province.

Wilhelm, G(ottfried) T(obias) (1758-1811). Unterhaltungen aus der Naturgeschichte der Vögel.

Wilkinson, E(dward) S(heldon) (1883-1950). Shanghai birds a study of bird life in Shanghai and the surrounding districts.

Williams, J.(ohn)G.(eorge)(1913-1997 A field guide to the birds of east and central Africa

Williams, John G[eorge](1913-1998). African Birds.

Williams, John (1913-1998), and Rena Fennessy. Birds of Africa.

Danton, Iris (artist) and Williams, John G. (1913-1998)(author) African sunbirds and flowers

Williams, C(harles) (1796-1866). Child's natural history of birds.

Williams, John G(eorge) (1913-1996[?]) (illustrated by Rena Fennessy). A field guide to the national parks of East Africa.

Willughby, Francis (1635-1672) (edited by Ray, John, [1628-1705). The ornithology of Francis Willughby.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813). American ornithology; or, the natural history of the birds of the United States. 18008-1814

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857). American ornithology; or the natural history of the birds of the United States. (1878)

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813). The foresters: a poem descriptive of a pedestrian journey to the falls of Niagara, in the autumn of 1804. 1838

Wilson, Alexander, Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (Jardine, William [1800-1874], editor). American ornithology; or, The Natural History / of the / Birds of the United States. 1876

(Wilson, Alexander) Grosart, Alexander B. (1832-1899). The poems and literary prose of Alexander Wilson.

(Wilson, Alexander)Wilson, James Southall. Alexander Wilson poet-naturalist A study of his life with selected poems.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857) (Robert Jameson, editor). American ornithology; or the natural history of the birds of the United States. 1831

Wilson, Alexander and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (Jardine, William[1800-1874]). American ornithology; or the natural history of the birds of the United States. Jardine edition, 1832.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) (Brewer, T. M.[1814-1880]). Brewer edition, 1840 Wilson's American ornithology, with notes by Jardine: to which is added a synopsis of American birds, including those described by Bonaparte, Audubon, Nuttall, and Richardson

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) Wilson’s American Ornithology, with notes by Jardine: to which is added a synopsis of American birds, including those described by Bonaparte, Audubon, Nuttall, and / Richardson. 1854, Magagnos issue of Brewer edition.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) (Ord, George [1781-1866]). American ornithology; or the natural history of the birds of the United States. Ord edition, 1828-1829

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813), Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857). Illustrations of the American ornithologyof Alexander Wilson, and Charles Lucian Bonaparte. "Royal Octavo" edition

Wilson, Scott, B(archard) (1864-1923) assisted by Evans, A(rthur) H(umble) (1855-1943). Aves Hawaiienses: the birds of the Sandwich Islands.

Wilson, James (1795-1856). Illustrations of z oology, being representations of new, rare, or remarkable subjects of the animal kingdom, drawn and coloured after nature, with historical and descriptive details.

Wolf, Edwin [1911-]. A flock of beautiful birds the ornithological collection of Louise Elkins Sinkler.

Wolf, Joseph (1820-1899). Feathered favorites Twelve coloured pictures of British birds from drawings by Joseph Wolf.

(Wolf, Joseph) (1820-1899) The poets of the woods Twelve pictures of English song birds

Wolf, Joseph (1820-1899)(text by Tümler, B.). Thierleben. Kriegs- und Friedensbilder aus der Thierwelt.

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

Wood, Neville (fl. 1830s). British song birds; being popular descriptions and anecdotes of the choristers of the groves.

Wood, Casey A.(lbert)(1856-1942) The birds of Fiji

Wood, Casey A.(lbert)(1856-1942). An introduction to the literature of vertebrate zoology based chiefly on the titles in the Blacker Library of Zoology the Emma Shearer Wood Library of Ornithology the Bibliotheca Osleriana and other libraries of McGill University, Montreal.

Wood, William (1774-1857). Zoography; or, the beauties of nature displayed in select descriptions from the animal, and vegetable, with additions from the mineral kingdoms systematically arranged.

Wood, T.(homas)W.(illiam)( 1833-1882). Curiosities of ornithogy with beautifully-coloured illustrations, from drawings by T. W. Wood, and other eminent artists. Printed by R. Barrett and Sons

Wood, T.(homas)W.(illiam)( 1833-1882) Curiosities of ornithogy. With beautifully-coloured illustrations, from drawings by T. W. Wood, and other eminent artists Printed by Simmons and Botten

Woodcock, Martin W.(1935-)(designed by Heinzel, Hermann). Collins handguide to the birds of the Indian sub-continent …

Woodward, R. B., and J. B. S. Natal bird including the species belonging to Natal and...Cape Colony

Worm, Olao (1588-1554). Museum Wormianum…

Wright, Mabel Osgood (1859-1934), Coues, Elliott (1842-1899). Original 1897 printing. Citizen bird scenes from bird-life in plain English for beginners

Wright, Mabel Osgood (1859-1934). Birdcraft a field book of two hundred song game, and water birds

Wright, Mabel Osgood (1859-1934), Coues, Elliott (1842-1899). 1923 issue Citizen bird scenes from bird-life in plain English for beginners

Wright, M.(agnus)v.(on) (1805-1868) and Wright, W.(ilhelm)v.(on)(1810-1887). Svenska foglar efter naturen och på stem ritade

(Wagenbauer, Max Joseph [1774-1829)

Bilder / von / Saugethieren / zum / Unterricht / in der / Naturgeschichte Wove paper watermarked M de L. A. Huber. Eight oblong lithographed plates of mammals varying from 26.7 x 38.0 cm to 31.5 x 45.5 cm, a lithographed title leaf printed on recto only (26.7 x 39.8 cm) and tattered gray wrappers, approximately 31 x 48 cm. The upper wrapper is lithographically printed similarly to title leaf with title and with München, / in der lithographischen Kunstanstalt / 1807.

These are among the first zoological illustrations to be printed by lithography. The suite is exceedingly rare, not listed by AMNH, BMNH, Cornell, Engelmann, Harvard, Linnaean Society of London, Zoological Society of London, Melvyl, Oxford, NYPL, Smithsonian, Yale, Wood and all listings of the Karlsruhe Virtual Library save for a copy listed by the Union Catalog of Bavaria. That copy is said to contain 24 leaves, presumably of text, and 24 lithographed plates. OCLC locates only that copy as well. The work is listed under Wagenbauer's name although the listing does not specify whether as author, artist, or both. Wagenbauer's name does not appear on the title page, wrappers or any of the eight plates in the present suite. The only designations on these plates are the German names of the mammals which are printed lithographically.

The work is listed (item 4299, page 422) in Nissen's Die zoologische Buchillustration (1969). The entry calls for 24 plates but no text is indicated. The publisher is given as "Lith. Kunstanst. Bei der Feiertagsschule, 1807". There is a note "Heinemann B II 2: Folge von 14 Bl. Tierdarstellungen in Landschaft, 1806. (München SB)" This suggests that either 14 of the 24 plates had been first published a year previously with 10 new ones added for the present suite, or the present suite is a new sequel to a set of 14 that had been issued the year before.

Wagenbauer was a highly regarded German painter best known for his landscapes.

Walden, Viscount Arthur (Arthur Hay, Marquis of Tweedale[1824-1878])

Contributions to the ornithology of the Philippines (Sammelband,Collection of 12 numbered articles under this overall title from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society as well as two unnumbered articles on the same subject by the author) 22.0 x.15.8 cm. Binder’s ochre cloth with double lined blind frame on covers, gilt letteredd “Ornithology of Philippines” on spine. London, 1877-1879. In total, contains 19 lithographs by Hanhart after J. Smit of which 12 are colored.

I. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Island of Luzon Pp. 686-703. Read Nov. 6, 1877. Contains plates LXXII. and LXXIII., hand-colored lithographs.

II. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Island of Zebu Pp. 755-769. Nov. 20, 1877. Colored plates LXXVI.-LXXVIII.

III. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Island of Mindanao Pp. 816-834. Dec. 4, 1877. Colored plates LXXXII.-LXXXV. Uncolored ext figures 1-2.

IV. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Islands of Dinagat, Bazol, Nipah, and Sakuyok. 106-114. Jan. 15, 1878. Uncolored plates VI-VIII.

On a new Philippine genus and species of bird 114-115. Jan. 15, 1878. Uncolored plate IX.

On a new species of the genus Buceros 277-280. Feb. 19, 1878. Text figures 1-4.

V. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Island of Negros 280-288. Feb. 19, 1878.

VI. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the island of Leyte 339-346. Mar. 19, 1878.

VII. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Island of Panaon 379-381. April 2, 1878.

VIII. On some Luzon birds in the museum at Darmstadt 429-430. April 16, 1878. Uncolored plate XXVI. (Koch’s pitta).

IX. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Island of Palawan 611-624. May 21, 1878 Uncolored plates XXXVII., XXXVIII.

X. On the collection made by M. A. H. Everett in the Island of Bohol 708-712. June 18, 1878.

XI. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett at Zamboanga,in the island of Mindanao 936-954. Nov. 19, 1878. Colored plates LVII.-LIX. Text figure 3.

XII. On the collection made by Mr. A. H. Everett in the Island of Basilan 68-73. Jan. 14, 1879. This article is in Xerox copy and page 70 is mistakenly bound after 73.

These articles continued Tweedale’s early characterization of Philippine ornithology and ended with his premature death. They also must have established Everett’s reputation as a courageous collector.

Walden, Viscount Arthur (Arthur Hay, Marquis of Tweedale[1824-1878])

A List of Birds known to inhabit the Island of Celebes 31.0 x 24.4 cm. Extract. Transaction of the Zoological Society of London, Vol. VIII,-Part II, read May 2^nd, 1871 including Appendix to the List of Birds known to inhabit the Island of Celebes, read May 7^th, 1872. F⁴(-F1-3)G-Q⁴R²S⁴T²(-T2)[$1, 2 signed]; 48 ll. Pp. 23-118. Later mottled calf-backed marbled boards by J. Macdonald Co. Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in second, fourth and sixth compartments. London, for the Society, May 1872 (sic).

i, introduction and overview of Celebes ornithology; 30, systematic accounts of 193 species; 107, description of plates III- X (numbered with Arabic numerals on plates); 109, Appendix to a list of birds known to inhabit the island of Celebes; discussion of collection by A. B. Meyer; 114, list of (12) species to be added to the Celebean avifauna; 119 description of plates XI-XIII. Contains one hand-colored, engraved (?) map by Edward Weller(plate 3) and 10 (plates 4-13) hand-colored plates, drawn and lithographed by J. Smit, printed by M. & N. Hanhart. Also contains uncolored, wood-engraved text figures 1-8.

Walden, president of the Zoological Society, had a special interest in the birds of the southwest Pacific islands and their relationship to Indo-Malaysian and Australasian forms. Knowledge of the birds of Celebes (now Sulawesi) stemmed largely from the Dutch collectors Forsten, Von Rosenberg and Bernstein, and from A. R. Wallace who estimated the number of species at 191. Walden's research, presumably through the skins at the British Museum and perhaps the Zoological Society, enabled him to add two more and he presents a systematic account of 193 species. The accounts provide original nomenclature, an original citation for Celebes, distribution, and a discussion focusing on the relationship of Celebes specimens with those from nearby areas including the Greater Sundas, the Malayan peninsula, India and Australasia.

While Walden was writing this work, Adolf Bernhard Meyer (1840-1911) was collecting in northern Celebes and allowed Walden to work up and describe some of his material. Walden found 12 new birds for the island, four of which were completely new. This extraordinary collaboration between the two men was to continue and comprise the Philippines the as well. Meyer was a great admirer of Wallace and translated some of his works into German. He later (1898) coauthored with Lionel Wiglesworth, his English assistant at the Dresden Musuem, the great regional monograph, The Birds of the Celebes and the neighboring Islands.

The present article may be considered the basis of modern ornithology for Sulawesi

This is an extract, that is, an article which has been removed from the journal and, therefore, has no title page, wrapper or separate pagination. It is to be distinguished from an author's off print or a separate. Most major ornithological libraries possess the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, the journal in which this article appeared.

Walden, Viscount Arthur (Arthur Hay, Marquis of Tweedale [1824-1878])

A List of the Birds known to inhabit the Philippine Archipelago 31.0 x 24.5 cm. S-2I⁴2K-2L²[$1, 2 signed]; 64 ll. Pp. 125-252. Later maroon pebbled cloth, gilt lettering to spine. Marbled edges. From Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, Vol. IX.-Part II. Read, June 3^rd, 1873. London, for the Society, April 1975.

125, introduction; 132, systematic list and accounts of 219 species; 248, description of plates; 248, appendix, index of distribution of Philippine species in other areas of southeast Asia and Australasia. Contains plate XXIII, an engraved (?) colored (by stencil ?) map by Edward Weller and plates XXIV-XXXIV, colored plates drawn and lithographed by J. Smit and printed by M. & N. Hanhart.

Walden, the president of the Zoological Society, here extends his area of expertise from Celebes about which he published a major article in 1872, to the Philippines. Early information on Philippine birds had been published by Brisson and by Sonnerat but the only systematic list up to the time of publication of this article was that by Eduard v. Martens which was published in the Journal für Ornithologie in 1866 (pp. 8-31) and contained 194 species. Bernhard Meyer, who had made part of his collection of Celebese birds available to Walden, had also collected in the Philippines and again allowed Walden to work up some of his material. Based on this, Walden was able to add 49 species to the list of Martens from which he deleted 24 to give an updated total of 219 of which he considered 106 to be endemic. The text accounts provide original nomenclature and synonymy; distribution; specific measurements of numerous specimens from Meyer and other sources; and some quite extensive discussions concerned with the relationship of Philippine forms with those in nearby islands and the mainland. The index showing the distribution of all Philippine species in various other land masses is quite interesting, disclosing, as it does, an Indo-Malayan connection. Walden later worked up the Philippine collection of A. H. Everett and published (1877-1878) the results in a series of (11) articles in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

The present article may be considered the basis of modern Philippine ornithology, at least in the English language.

This is an extract as opposed to an author's off print or separate. It contains neither a title page, a wrapper nor separate pagination and, presumbly, has been extracted from the journal and bound. Most major ornithological libraries possess the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, the journal from which this article was extracted.

Wallace, Alfred R.(ussel) (1823-1913)

The Bucerotidae, or hornbills 22.0 x 14.0 cm. Y⁸(-Y6-8)($1 signed); 5 ll. Pp. [309]310-317(318, first page of next article “Dartmoor and the Dart” by Philip Henry Gosse). Old thin added wraps with some designations in ink and pencil. The Intellectual Observer, Vol. III., No. V., (London), June 1863.

Contains one color-printed hand-finished wood-engraved plate afterT.(homas)W.(illiam) Wood (1831-882), probably printed by Benjamin Fawcett, and one uncolored unnumbered text woodcut.

This extract is from “The intellectual observer”, a journal published by Groombridge and Sons in 12 volumes, 1862-1868. The work is a small monograph covering the anatomy, life history and classification of these extraordinary birds. Wallace considered them most closely related to kingfishers and puff birds. In addition to being a great naturalist, Wallace was also a wonderful writer.

The colored plate is similar or identical to one that appeared in Wood’s “Curiosities of ornithology…” that was published in about 1871.

OCLC does not list any off prints or extracts of this article. However, “The intellectual observer” is present in many major libraries.

Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913)

The / Malay Archipelago: / The Land of the / Orang-Utang, and the Birds-of Paradise. / A Narrative of Travel, / with / Studies of Man and Nature Two volumes. 18.9 x 12.5 cm. Later fine gilt-ruled half blue morocco and marbled boards. Spine with four raised ridges, gilt red calf lettering pieces in second and fourth compartments, the other three with gilt design. London, Macmillan and Co., 1869 (first edition).

Vol. I. [a]⁴b⁸B-HH⁸A⁸B₂-C₂⁸D₂²[$1, 2 signed]; 278 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xxiii[xxiv][1]2-478(2, publisher's advertisements)[1₂]2₂-51₂[52₂]. i, Half-title; ii, Macmillan logo; iii, title with vignette of magnificent bird-of-paradise after Keulemans; iv, printer designation: London: R. Clay, Sons and Taylor; v, dedication to Charles Darwin; vi, blank; vii, preface; xvii, contents, first volume; xix, contents, second volume; xx, illustrations, first volume; xxii, illustrations, second volume; xxiv, vignette of six-shafted bird-of-paradise after Keulemans; 1, physical geography; 31, Indo-Malay islands; 234, the Timor group; 331, the Celebes group; 448, the Moluccas; 1₂-52₂, more publisher's advertisements dated December, 1868. Contains folding, chromolithographed map by Sanford's Geographical Establishment, mostly uncolored folding map by Sanford's with volcanic belt in red, these not included in pagination, and three other unnumbered maps as text wood engravings. Also contains two unlisted wood engraved vignettes after Keulemans (title and p. xxiv) that are repeated and listed in second volume and wood-engraved illustrations 1-27 (so numbered only in list). Three of these, including the frontispiece, are printed on one side of special heavy paper and are not included in pagination. The other 24 are text figures. The artists for these listed illustrations include, amongst others, Joseph Wolf (2), Keulemans (2) and Walter Fitch (7).

Vol. II. [A]²B-KK⁸LL⁶[$1, 2 signed]; 264 ll. pp. (4)[1]2-524. A1r, Half-title; A1v, Macmillan logo; A2r, title; A2v, printer designation; 1, the Moluccas; 157, the Papuan group; 439, races of man in the Malay Archipelago; 465, appendix on crania and languages; 503, index. Contains four unnumbered wood-engraved text maps; unlisted title vignette of orang-utang after Wolf that is a listed text figure in first volume; and wood-engraved illustrations 1-24, so numbered only in the list in volume I, including five, the frontispiece among them, that are printed on one side only of thick paper and not included in pagination. The other 19 are included in the text proper. Keulemans was the artist for six of the listed illustrations in this volume.

From the perspective of natural history, this work and Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle are the most significant of all travel narratives and their two authors shared the concept of natural selection that emerged from these efforts. Wallace spent eight years on this voyage after having spent almost as much time in South America, his collections from which were mostly lost at sea. He traveled 14,000 miles within the Malay Archipelago (now comprised within the nation of Indonesia) where he amassed a collection of 125, 660 specimens of which 8,050 were birds comprising around 1,000 species. The work contains an incredible amount of first-hand ornithological observation including a chapter devoted to birds-of-paradise. It is by far the single most important contribution to the ornithology of the former "East Indies". The magnitude and scope of the achievement is reflected by the fact that Wallace was primarily interested in entomology with ornithology a rather distant second!

This original edition was followed by a second British edition and a first American edition in the same year. The American edition was condensed into one volume.

Wood, p. 617. Zimmer, unlisted. Original edition listed for AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Cornell lists NY imprint.

Walpole-Bond, John (Arthington) (1878-1958)

A history of / Sussex birds Three volumes. 24.6 x 18.7 cm. Original publisher's beveled brown cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Ochre endpapers. TEG. Pictorial wrappers with title printed in red and mounted colored plate, different for each volume. London, H. F. & G. Witherby, 1938.

Volume I / (Raven to Eastern Great Reed-Warbler) [π²A⁸]B-2B⁸(-2B8)[$1 signed]; 201 ll. Pp. [I-iv]v-xix(1)1-381(1). i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title printed in red; iv, year of publication; printer designation: J. & J. Grey, Edinburgh; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, list of illustrations; viii, blank; ix, dedication; x, blank; xi, preface; xv, introduction; xviii, blank; xixi, abbreviations; 1-381 systematic accounts. Contains 12 unnumbered plates in color half-tone after Philip Rickman, printed on one side only and not included in pagination.

Volume II / (Reed-Warbler to Teal) [A]⁴B-2B⁸; 196 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-vii(1). I, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, year; printer designation; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, list of illustrations; 1-384, systematic accounts. Contains 19 colored plates.

Volume III / (American Blue-winged Teal to Red-legged Partridge) [a]⁴B-2B⁸; 196 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-vii(1)1-384. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, year; printer designation; v, contents; vi, blank; vii, list of illustrations; 1-357(1), systematic accounts; 359, addendum I; 363, addendum II; 365, index of Latin and English names. Contains 22 colored plates.

Sussex has a distinguished history of ornithological publications concerned with its avifauna beginning with a 30 page article by William Markwick in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of 1798 and continuing with widely known books by Arthur Knox and William Borrer in the mid and late 19^th century respectively. The present work is a kind of ne plus ultra for the ornithology of the county. It is quite unlike most regional ornithologies in that its emphasis is on the life histories of the local species. The author goes into the most extraordinary detail concerning aspects that are rarely covered in any book such as the materials used in construction of the nest by various species, the dates that they begin to sit, the length of the incubation period, clutch size, the varieties of vocalization etc. He claims to discuss about 450 species and sub-species of which he admits about 405 to the Sussex list. Records and opinions of others are meticulously referenced in foot-notes and carefully analyzed. Walpole-Bond, who is quite dogmatic, makes his points in fine precise prose.

This is the only work of its type that Philip Rickman illustrated. Most books with his illustrations are either collections of his paintings or books that are related to hunting. He was not at all drawn to graphics with the objective of facilitating identification and his pictures are invariably tableaux that evoke the ambiance of the environment in which the birds he is painting are found. Ducks were his favorite subjects and he rarely figured passerine birds. Thus, the beautiful pictures in the present work are a veritable feast for those who admire the ornithological art of this talented man.

This work was extremely well produced, no doubt because the ornithologist-publisher, Harry Forbes Witherby (1873-1944), took a special interest in it. In A Century of Bird Books (1979), Peter Tate remarks (p. 95) about this work "…the last county avifauna in what might be called the grand style" and on page 96 "A splendidly illustrated three volume work…" Books of this caliber became extremely rare after World War II.

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

Walters, Frank (Bookseller's catalog)

Catalog of a large / and / interesting Collection / of / books / relating to / natural history / especially / ornithology / including the ornithological library of the / late Eugene P. Bicknell, and numerous rare / and unusual items from recent purchases 21.5 x 14.0 cm. Pp. 1-60; 30 ll. Original printed brown wrappers. No. 20. New York, 1926.

This is an interesting bookseller's catalog from an era when there were many important auctions of ornithological libraries including those of Braislin, De Bas and Gallatin. The catalog lists 1351 items including 723 that are specifically and exclusively concerned with birds. The Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum is described as "scarce" and offered for $225 whereas a "magnificent copy" of Gould's Birds of Great Britain is available for $275.

Annual bargain list / of interesting / books / relating to / natural history and sport / including selections from the splendid / ornithological library of the late J. / Parker Norris, Jr., recently purchased by us. / also / standard books in various fields 23.0 x 15.2 cm. Pp. [1]2-95[96]; 48 ll. Original printed ochre wrappers. No. 36. New York, ca., 1937.

Contains 1226 listings including #s 194-566 devoted to birds. This ornithological section comprises almost all the late 19th century monographs as well as many of the important earlier English works.

Annual bargain list / recent purchases, never before catalogued, of / books / relating to / natural history and sport 23.0 x 15.3 cm. Pp. 1-36; 18 ll. Original printed tan wrappers. No. 37. New York, ca., 1938.

This catalogue does not contain as many ornithological listings as the ones above but
does include some by Elliot and Gould as well as other fine works.

Warren, B(enjamin) H(arry) (1858-1926)

Report / on the / birds of Pennsylvania / with special reference to the food-habits, based on over four / thousand stomach examinations 23.8 x 15.5 cm. π⁷1-27⁸28²(-28₂)[$1 signed]; 224 ll. Pp. [i-ii]iii-xiv[1]2-434. Contemporary green half-calf, marbled boards. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Flat spine divided into five compartments by gilt double-rules and roll. Gilt red and black morocco lettering pieces respectively in second and fourth compartment. AEG. Second edition, revised and enlarged, Harrisburg, E. K. Meyers, State Printer, 1890 .

i, Title; ii, copyright; iii, letter of transmittal; iv, extract from enabling act allowing printing of 19,000 copies; v, contents; vii, list of plates; x, wood-engraved eagle vignette; xi, introduction; 1, systematic accounts, Podicipidae-Turdidae; 332, different eagle vignette; 333, birds of prey and the "scalp" act of June23, 1885; 346, food of hawks and owls by A. K. Fisher; 367, food of crows by Walter B. Barrow; 394, the english sparrow; 400, some nocturnal migrants at Absecom light-house by Maj. A. G. Wolf; 402, protection of birds, an act; 404, list of authorities; 411, glossary of technical terms; 425, index of English and Latin names. Contains: lithographed plates 1-100, the first uncolored of bird topography, 2-99 copied from Audubon octavo and printed by chromolithography. Lithographer/Printer not designated.

For each species the work provides; a brief description; status with dates of arrival and departure and with some nesting details; a considerable discussion of food habits as determined from stomach examinations.

The first edition of 1888 was lacking some of the specialized text and had 50 fewer plates.

Wood, p. 619; Zimmer, p. 663. Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.

Warren, Michael (1938-)

Shorelines / birds at the water's edge 33.8 c 23.4 cm. Pp. [1-5]6-128. Publisher's gray cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $25.00 on upper flap. New York, Times Books, (1984).

1, illustrated half-title; 2, frontispiece; 3, illustrated title; 4, colored illustration; copyright 1984 by Michael Warren (pictures) and Cameron Books; edited and designed by Ian Cameron; printed in Holland by drukkerij de Lange/van Leer bv, Deventer; ISBN 0-8129-1133-4; first printing; 5, contents; 6, index of pictures; 7-10, plates; 11, foreword; 14, Britain: winter-spring; 32, United States: spring; 59, Portugal: autumn; 67, Britain: winter; 70, Holland: winter; 76, Britain: winter-spring; 85, France: spring; 92, Britain: spring-autumn; 111, United States: autumn; 125, Britain: autumn-winter. Contains about 137 colored illustrations (eight double-page, 16 full-page) printed in half-tone, about 70 being finished paintings, the remainder sketches. All included in pagination.

This a verbal and graphical diary of various trips made by the author to see birds. I have been to some of the places he visited. This is a happy book. The bold pictures convey an ambiance that evokes pleasant days spent birding. When I look at the double-page spread of black-bellied plover in the Wellfleet reserve, years melt away and I am back on Cape Cod on a warm, late summer day.

The book is attractively printed by Lange/van Leer.

Hammond, pp. 213-216. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell. Not listed by Harvard, Trinity and Yale.

Watanabe, Shôtei (Seitei) (1851-1918)

Seitei Kachô Gafu 17 x 25 cm. Three volumes, each containing 24 leaves comprising two leaves of introductory text as well as two single- and 21 double-page colored plates. Contemporary tan, stiff, decorated wrappers, stitched Japanese style, with tan lettering pieces on upper (right) covers. Printed endpapers. Red upper endpapers. Tokyo, Okura Magobei, Meiji 23, 24 (1890-1891)

Seitei Watanabe was a pupil of Kikuchi Yosai and studied in France. He is regarded as a pioneer in the kachô genre. Amongst the other turn-of-the-century practitioners of this art form including Kôno Bairei, Keinen Imao and Kashû Numata, Seitei Watanabe was the most abstract and the least oriented to birds. Indeed, about half of the pictures in the present work do not show birds and amongst those that do only a few species, particularly crows, are represented. Perhaps that is why this work is not listed in any of the standard ornithological bibliographies. This work is printed in subdued colors including pink, red, orange, green blue, black and gray. The pictures are artistically interesting and the work is very well known, highly regarded, and quite often encountered.

Bartlett & Shohara, p. 238.

Waterton, Charles (1782-1868)

Wanderings / in / South America, / and the North-West of the United States, / and the Antilles, / in the years 1812, 1816, 1820, and 1824. / With original instructions for the perfect preservation of birds &c. / for cabinets of natural history 28,5 x 22.0 cm. πa²B-2S⁴2T⁴(-2T4)[$1, 2 signed]; 166 ll. Pp. (2)[iv]v-vii(1)[1]2-326 (apparently lacking half-title or contents leaf). Later brown, paper-covered boards with black lettered paper labeling piece on spine. Uncut. London, printed for J. Mawman, 1825.

π1r, Title; π1v, blank; iv, preface; 1, first journey; 77, remarks; 85, second journey; 152, third journey; 244, fourth journey; 307, on preserving birds; 326, printer's designation: London, A. Applegath. Contains uncolored engraved frontispiece of "A Nondescript" (man-like monkey) drawn by T. H. Foljambe, engraved by I. W. Lowry and two text woodcuts.

Waterton was a controversial and eccentric English traveler who was a published enemy of Swainson, and an ally of Ord in the championing of Wilson as opposed to Audubon. This book is regarded as a "natural history classic" by Casey Wood (p. 620). The four voyages were to the Guianas and Brazil with one of them including visits to Philadelphia, New York, Niagara Falls (the "north-west" of the United States of that era, at least to Waterton) and Montreal as well as Antigua, Guadelupe, Martinique and Barbados. Most of the narrative concerns the Guianas in which Waterton was doubtless an intrepid traveler. He seems to have been particularly obsessed with Indian blow pipes and bows and arrows, and even moreso with the poison applied to them. There are some original observations on natural history with snakes as a favorite subject. In the description of the second voyage, there is an interesting section (pp. 113-146) devoted to birds. Usually, he employs only the Indian name for the species so it is difficult to be certain to what species he is referring. However, there are some engrossing comments on various cotingas including the "Campanero" (White Cotinga) and the Cock-of-the-Rock which he characterizes as "one of the gallinaceous tribe." Waterton never uses a Latin designation rarely even a recognizable common name in English, and it is quite clear that he had no disciplined ornithological training. None-the-less, pages 307-326 contain a sort of appendix on preserving birds and he may well have obtained a useful collection, although he certainly doesn't characterize it for us in this book.

The work was issued in several later editions.

Wood, p. 620. This original edition also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale but not by Trinity, Zimmer.

Watson, Donald (illustrator)(1918-2005), Campbell, Bruce (text)(1912-1993)

The Oxford book / of birds 23.8 x 17.8 cm. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xvi1-207(1). Original publisher’s red cloth with white printing and bird designs. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of 42s. London, Oxford University Press, 1964.

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright Oxford University Press, 1964; printed in Great Britain by Jesse Broad & Co. Ltd., Old Trafford, Manchester; v, contents; vi, Acknowledgements; vii, introduction; viii, a classification of British birds; ix, an introduction to the main orders and families of British birds; xv, the main parts of a bird; xvi, systematic text, Great Northern Diver-Tree Sparrow; 192, North American Passerine families; 194, special features of the bird’s anatomy; 196, flight; 200, behaviour and breeding; 202, migration, numbers and age; 204, suggestions for future reading; 205, index of English names. Contains 96 unnumbered color half-tone plates with facing text and text for next plate on verso, all included in pagination. Also contains nine uncolored line text illustrations most containing several figures.

This work is a good example of an attractive and authoritative British bird book that was inexpensively produced and marketed. It provides contemporary information on the status 452 British birds and, for those of regular appearance, supplies, in addition to a description, a brief life history including song and nidification. Major ornithological topics such as avian anatomy and migration are also briefly discussed. The artist, Donald Watson, is clearly familiar with the birds in the wild and has beautifully captured their “jizz”.

This is a common book. OCLC locates 360 examples of this original edition and several subsequent reprints and editions (1965, 1973, 1980 to name a few).

Watson, (A) D. (1918-2005)

Birds of Moor and Mountain29 x22.5 cm. π4[A]4B-U4(including last blank). 84 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xvi1-150 (2, blank). Original cloth with dust jacket. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh and London, 1972. i, half-title; iii, title; v, introduction; xi, acknowledgments; xiii, contents; xv, list of illustrations; 1-140, text; 141-142, list of English and scientific names; 143-150, bibliography. Contains unpaginated plates I-XXXVIII (24 colored) printed in half-tone on one side only. Also contains 29 scratch board sketches, most of which are tail pieces.

This is a delightful book by a fine artist, ornithologist, observer, writer and lover of Scotland. Although the pictures are not particularly well reproduced, several of them are still amongst my favorites including a family of Dotterels and another of Merlins. In addition to these superb graphics, Watson also provides many original and interesting field observations. The Scottish countryside for him is clearly what Sherwood Island is for me.

Trinity, p. 252.

Watson, Donald (1918-)

A bird artist / in Scotland 28.0 x 20.8 cm. Pp. [1-8]9-144. Original publisher's brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. London, H. F. & G. Witherby Ltd, 1988.

1, Half-title; 2, books by same author; 3, title with scraperboard vignette; 4, acknowledgements; first published 1988; copyright 1988; ISBN 0-85493-167-8; typeset at the Spartan Press Ltd, Lymington, Hants.; printed and bound in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frome; 5, contents with scraperboard vignette; 6-7, uncolored half-tone map; 8, list of illustrations; 9, birds in childhood; 13, a view of the Firth of Forth; 20, artist in wartime; 30, becoming a bird artist; 5, landscape and bird painting in Galloway and the western isles; 47, diary for 1987; 140, annotated list of birds of Galloway, 1900-1988. Contains 20 colored (one full-page) and 26 uncolored text illustrations, all unnumbered, most printed in half-tones, a few uncolored scraperboard.

This is an ornithological autobiography by a highly regarded and cerebral Scottish bird artist. The diary section is remarkably like my own unpublished diary for Sherwood Island ("Sherwood Island Diary 1994"). The annotated list of about 260 species provides concise summaries of their local status. The illustrations are very attractive and noteworthy for the fine landscapes of which the birds appear as a natural component.

Watson illustrated The birds of the Balearics (1983) by the Bannermans the pictures of which project vividly the Mediterranean ambiance of these islands. His Birds of moor and mountains (1972) was also beautifully illustrated in a way such that the reader could virtually breathe the air of the Scottish highlands.

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

Watson, George Elder (1931-)(Mason, James illustrator)

Teach me about / birds / flash / cards / in full color 15.2 x 7.5 cm. 48 Unnumbered colored portraits of birds and a tan paper leaflet of “Suggestions / for use in / home and classroom”. In original pictorial box (15.7 x 15.7 cm). St. Louis, Gelles-Widmer Company, 1962

These agreeable flash cards comprise 48 species, most quite common North American birds, but some extinct (Great Auk, Carolina Parakeet), or very rare (California Condor, Whooping Crane). On the back of each card, Watson has supplied authoritative information on appearance, voice, breeding including nest and eggs, diet, habitat and range. The half-tone colored portraits are quite appealing.

My friend George Watson was Curator of Ornithology at the Smithsonian Institute and is the author of “Birds of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic” (Washington, 1975)

The Gelles-Widmer Company specialized in “Learn-by-play” products and and, in addition to these, issued flash cards on the: “Presidents of the United States”; “United Nations flags and facts”; and “The 50 United States”.

The same set of bird cards was issued in 1968 by Renwal which had acquired Gelles-Widmer.

Watson, George E.(lder)(1931-) (in collaboration with J. Phillip Angle, Peter C. Harper; illustrated by Bob Hines

Birds / of the Antarctic / and Sub-Antarctic 18.3 x 11.4 cm. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvii(1)1-350. Original publisher's decorated and printed white boards. Blue pictorial dust jacket. Washington, American Geophysical Union, (1975).

i, Half-title; ii, frontispiece uncolored map; iii, title; iv, copyright 1975; ISBN 0-87590-124-7; printer designation: The William Byrd Press, Inc., Richmond, Virginia; v, note on The Antarctic Research Series of which this volume is a component; vi, blank; vii, preface by George A. Llano, Chief Scientist, Polar Programs; x blank; xi, acknowledgments; xiv, blank; xv, contents; 1, introduction with general considerations; 63, systematic accounts of approximately 128 species, Aptenodytes forsteri-Passer domesticus (vagrant); 249, geographic accounts of various land masses and tabular distribution of birds on these land masses and on adjacent seas; 308, analysis of references; 315, references (more than 400 entries); 339, variant names referenced to English; 346, index of English and scientific names. Contains: colored half-tone plates 1-11, each with many figures, and single page of legends, printed on both sides of six leaves not included in pagination; unnumbered, uncolored line text illustrations of about 55 species, mostly vagrants; text figures 1-9 including topography of a bird, silhouettes etc; numerous unnumbered distribution maps.

Of approximately 128 species that are listed in the text, about half are vagrants or introduced and these are figured in text line drawings and covered mostly from the perspective of identification. The remaining species, almost all breeders, are very comprehensively discussed. Amongst the categories for which information is provided are: identification; flight and habits; voice and display; food; reproduction; arrival dates; eggs; hatching; fledging; molt; ectoparasites; and distribution; Not many ornithological books of this type include specific ectoparasites!

The work may thus be regarded as a handbook of breeding birds in the Antarctic and nearby land masses and seas. The bibliography is extensive.

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

Wayne, Arthur Trezevant (1863-1930)

Birds / of / South Carolina 23.7 x 16.3 cm. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xxi[xxii][1]2-254. Unpaginated Corrigenda leaf laid in loosely. “Old Stratford” watermark on several leaves. Original tan printed wrappers. Uncut. Contributions from the Charleston Museum edited by Paul M. Rea, Director I. Charleston Museum, Charleston, 1910. Stamp of Cordes P. Langley on front free endpaper and two ephemeral items addressed to him laid in loosely.

i, Series title page: Contributions from the Charleston Museum ii, blank; iii, volume title page; iv, printer designation: The Dagget Printing Co., Charleston, S. C.; v, dedication to William Brewster; vi, blank; vii, preface dated April 30, 1910; ix, contents; xi, introduction by the editor (Rea); 1, birds of the coast region (species and subspecies 1-309, Colymbus auritus-Sialia sialis); 205, additional species from the interior (1-28, Uro lomvia-Hyocichla fuscescens salicicola); hypothetical list (1-22); 227, bibliography comprising about 204 references; 247, index, the bird names listed alphabetically in English and Latin generic order. Unpaginated, uncolored bifoliate map inserted between pp. ii and iii.

This is one of the more important and less common state bird books. It is based largely on Wayne’s own personal observations and describes in detail the status of all species with a particularly interesting section on Bachman’s Warbler. The introduction by Rea concerns the topography of the state and the history of its ornithological exploration. Interestingly, one of the earliest (1868) comprehensive state bird lists was compiled by Coues who was apparently stationed in South Carolina as a young man. Both Rea and Wayne are exceedingly critical of Coues and many species he recorded are considered by them to be “hypothetical”.

Wood, p. 621; Zimmer, p. 666. Also listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by AMNH.

Webber, C(harles) W(ilkins)(1819-1856)

Wild Scenes / and / Song-Birds 24.8 x 16.7 cm. π⁶[1]⁸2-21⁸22⁶[$1 signed]; 180 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-x[xi-xii)[1]2-347[348]. Original publisher's blue cloth with panel gilt rolls and corner decorations surrounding central gilt mockingbird vignette on both covers. Spine with gilt lettering and elaborate gilt design. Yellow endpapers. AEG. New York, George P. Putnam & Co., 1854.

i, Title; ii, registration notice dated 1853, stereotyped by Thomas B. Smith, printed by Billin Brothers; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, preface; ix, contents; xi, list of illustrations; 1, text; 345, technical index. Contains 20 unnumbered chromolithographic plates, 13 ornithological, two floral, five of indians. Most plates designated L. N. Rosenthal Chrom Lith, (Alfred) Miller designated as the artist for the plates of Indians, Mrs. C. W. Webber for most of the others although M(?) Rosenthal for at least two. The signature of M(?) Rosenthal, presumably as lithographer, appears on the images of several plates with Miller and Mrs. Webber as the designated artist.

This work contains some of the first chromolithographic illustrations to appear in an American book, very likely the first depicting birds although preceding by only one year those that appeared in Cassin's account of the ornithology of the Gilliss expedition. These chromolithographs, printed by Rosenthal are richly colored, very distinctive and replete with panache. This is actually the second issue, distinguished from the first of the same year by correction of the designation of the number of plates from 25(incorrectly stated on title page of first issue) to 20. The work also appeared with an 1855 Riker, Thorne imprint and as a second Putnam edition in 1858. Some of the pictures appeared subsequently (1858) in a serial publication, "Leaflets of memory".

The author describes himself as a "Hunter-Naturalist" and writes flamboyant essays with considerable ornithological material including observations on the life histories of various species. Apparently he met J. J. Audubon on a Rocky Mountain tour and in New York. "The two men became close friends, and Audubon's influence is to be plainly seen in much of Webber's literary work." He explored the Colorado and Gila rivers and died prematurely in battle in Nicaragua. (Dictionary of American Biography fide Peacock Books, Catalog 32, item 292 ( a different work by the same author), 1991.

Wood, p. 621. Also present at Harvard, Yale, Trinity. Cornell lists 1855 imprint. Zimmer lists 1858 edition.

Weber, Walter Alois (1906-1979).

Birds 30.5 x 25.5 cm. 12 Loose prints from “Traveling with the birds” without the text by Rudyerd Boulton. In original tattered envelope from M. A. Donohue & Co. Chicago, 1933.

The plates are unnumbered. They are identified on their versos as follows in random order: Old Squaws, Goldeneyes; American Egret, Little Blue Heron (adult), Little Blue Heron (young); Golden Plover, Ruddy Turnstone; Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow; Blue Jay; Hooded Warbler, Redstart, Black-Throated Green Warbler; Cape May Warbler, Golden-Winged Warbler; Blackburnian Warbler; Magnolia Warbler; Baltimore Oriole; Bobolink (summer), Bobolink (early spring); Scarlet Tanager (female), Scarlet Tanager (male); Evening Grosbeakk, Slate-Colored Junco, Cardinal; Redpoll, American Crossbill (female), American Crossbill (male).

Walter Weber was a depression era artist, well known for the book containing these prints, as well as for many plates in Robert’s Birds of Minnesota (1932) and in the National Geographic Society magazine. His work was the avatar of ornithological art during the depression. His birds are pretty and look happy; the backgrounds are inviting and occupy the entire sheet of paper. Examining the picture leaves the viewer, or at least leaves me, feeling good.

It seems that most popular books containing ornithological colored plates were issued not only as complete works, but also, in much smaller print runs, as sets of loose prints. To me, they always look better in the latter. The 12 prints in the present set are very attractive.

The book is very common. OCLC locates 269 copies. The set of loose prints is quite scarce.

Weidensaul, Scott

Of a feather / A brief history / of American birding 22.8 x 15.3 cm. Pp. Five PL, [1]2-358. Original publisher’s red buckram-backed blue-patterned boards. Color pictorial dust jacket with red, blue and black printing on covers and spine. Orlando, Austin, New York, San Diego, London, Harcourt, Inc., (2007). First printing.

PL1r, half-title; PL1v, blank; PL2r, “also by Scott Weidensaul”; PL2v-PL3r, title; PL3v, copyright 2007; ISBN 978-0-15-101247-3; text set in Fournier MT; designed by Lydia D’moch; printed in United States of America; first edition; first printing. PL4r, dedication; PL4v, blank; PL5r, contents; PL5v, blank; 1, “birds…more beautiful than in Europe”;41, “except three or four, I do not know them”; 79, pushing west; 107, shotgun ornithology; 145, angry ladies; 187, becoming a noun; 337, death to miss Hathaway; 273, beyond the list; 315, acknowledgments; 317, notes and bibliography (separate for each chapter; index. Contains title page line drawing vignette; half-tone chapter head piece repeated for all 11 chapters; 25 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text photographs, some full-page.

This work is much in the style of Joseph Kastner, a pleasant and easy journey filled with colorful characters. It breaks some new ground in attempting to place the latter half of the 20th century in the perspective of ornithological history. Some of the photographs are very evocative, particularly that of Miss Wiley (whom I remember quite vividly) leading a group of birders in Central Park in the 1940s.

Westerman, G(erardus) F(rederik) (1807-1890)

Beschrijving / van drei weinig bekende soorten / van het geslacht / pitta 38.0 x 28.0 cm. Pp. [45]46-48. Loose in blue cloth portfolio with black printed white paper lettering piece on upper cover. Extracted from Bijdragen tot de dierkunde, Aflev. 6, 1854 (Amsterdam, M. Westerman & Zoon, 1854). Contains three unnumbered unsigned hand-colored lithographs.

According to Stresemann (p. 221) in Ornithology from Aristotle to the present (1975), Westerman was a close friend of Schlegel's and was one of three men who, in 1836, founded the Koninklijke Zoologische Genootschap "Natura Artis Magistra" (Royal Zoological Society) together with a zoological garden of which he was the first director. The Society published Bijdragen tot de dierkunde starting in 1848, as well as some fine books including Schlegel's Toerakos. The first eight volumes (11 years) were published in the large paper format of the present article and contained beautiful colored plates. Sometime later, the format was reduced and the colored illustrations omitted except for special issues such as Max Fürbringer's Untersuchungen zur Morphologie und Sysematik der Vögel(1888). The journal was still in print in 1994.

This article describes and illustrates three beautiful pittas, Pitta maxima, Pitta melanocephala, and Pitta celebensis, respectively obtained by Forsten from Halmahera, New Guinea and Sulawesi. Forsten (1811-1843) collected in the East Indies under the auspices of Coenraad Temminck until his premature death, a fate that befell several of Temminck's hired guns in these inhospitable tropics. This work illustrates these species for the first time although the first two had been briefly described several years earlier by Mueller and Schlegel. The artist and printer for the fine plates are not designated but are almost certainly Schlegel and P. W. M. Trap as they were for Schlegel's Toerakos which was published by the same organization a few years later. Pitta maxima, the Ivory-breasted Pitta, is amongst the world's most beautiful birds and was still common on Halmahera when I visited in 1996.

Anker, #41; Wood, p. 239. Journal also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale. Not listed by Trinity.

Wheaton, J(ohn) M. (?1841-1887)

Catalogue of the Birds of Ohio 23.4 x 15.3 cm. Pp. [359]360-398. Extract from (fide Coues) Fifteenth ann. Rep. Ohio State Board of Agric. for 1860, 1861 (Columbus) apparently often referred to (e. g. by Wood) as “Ohio Agricultural Report”.

359, introduction; 360, catalogue; 371, notes; 381, report of senate select committee (W. B. Woods, W. B. McClung, Abel Krum) upon senate bill no. 12 “for the protection of birds and game”; 397, an act for the protection of certain birds and game (passed 30 April, 1861).

This is certainly an early and important annotated list of the birds of Ohio. It is apparently not the first published list since the author refers often to an 1838 “Catalogue of Ohio Birds” by J. P. Kirtland although no formal citation is provided. Kirtland's list was apparently published as part of the Report on the Zoology of Ohio in the Second Annual Report on the Geological Survey of the State of Ohio, Columbus, 1838, pp. 160-166 and 177-187.

The present work lists 267 species with an additional 17 considered probable. It is described in the catalog of the 1923 Braislin sale (item 837) as “excessively rare”. Wheaton subsequently expanded this paper through various stages into a full work, Report on the Birds of Ohio, published in 1882 (see Zimmer, p. 669).

Coues, First instalment, p. 663; Wood, p. 624 (author’s separate offprint with special pagination). Listed in libraries of Harvard University and AMNH but absent from Ayer, Trinity and Yale catalogs.

Wheaton J(ohn) M. (1841-1887)

Section II. / Report on the birds of Ohio (from section title leaf). 23.8 x 16.0 cm. [12]⁸(-12_1-4]13-39⁸40²[$1 signed]; 222 ll. Pp. [187-189]290-628. Tan-backed unprinted blue paper wrappers. (Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. IV, Pt. I., Columbus. Nevin & Myers, State Printers. 1882)

187, Section title leaf; 188, letter of transmittal dated November 1, 1879; 189, title, introduction; 198, orders of birds, definitions; 204, specific accounts, Turdus migratorius-Podilymbus podiceps, comprising about 300 species; 579, check list of Ohio birds with dates of their occurrence; 585, list (113 species) of birds observed in or from author's Columbus garden; 588, additions, additional references, corrections; 594, bibliography of Ohio birds, arranged in temporal order, about 95 entries; 613, on the relation between latitude and the pattern of coloration in Ohio birds; 620, glossary.

This is an unusually scholarly state ornithology. The bibliography is arranged in the same style and with the same level of erudition as the ornithological bibliography of Coues and the author acknowledges the assistance of Coues in its preparation. Kirtland is credited with the first comprehensive list of Ohio birds published in 1838.

Each species account includes the following: list of Ohio citations; synonymy; description with measurements; habit; status; a general essay including personal observations, life history, nests and eggs if a breeder within the state.

Wood, p. 624; Zimmer, p. 669. Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity. Not listed by Cornell, Yale.

Wheelwright, Horace W. (“An Old Bushman”)

A Spring and Summer in Lapland Second edition. 20 x 13 cm. [A]⁴ B-CC⁸DD⁴ [$1 signed]; 208 ll. Pp. [1-v]vi[vii]viii[1]2-407(+1). Original cloth with decorative stamping in black and with gilt bird on upper cover. Spine with gilt lettering including “Ornithology of Lapland” and “Wheelwright”. Chocolate endpapers. London, Groombridge and Sons, 1871.

[i], title; [iii], dedication; [v], preface; [vii], contents; [1]-407, text. Contains six color-printed, wood-engraved plates.

The first edition was published in 1864 and lacked the colored plates. These plates had appeared previously in Bree’s A History of the Birds of Europe not Observed in the British Isles (1859-1863) which was also published by Groomsbridge. According to Anker (#59), they were drawn by Benjamin Fawcett and engraved on wood and printed in color at his establishment. Apparently, the publisher inserted them into the work without the author’s knowledge. How else to explain that on page 245 he refers the reader to Bree’s work for an accurate depiction of the “Norwegian Jer-Falcon”, when the very same plate is present opposite page 244 of his own book!

This work describes observations that the author made on a trip to Lapland in 1862. The stated purpose of the trip was to collect birds and eggs so virtually the entire book is relevant to ornithology. This is most systematic in chapters IX (pp. 243-370) and X (pp. 371-386) entitled respectively “On the Ornithology of Lapland” and “...on the Ornithology around Vardol, in East Finland....” The work also contains material on other wildlife and on the local inhabitants and their ways.

Wood, p. 624; Yale, p. 309; Zimmer, p. 671.

Wheldon & Wesley

Catalogue of works on / ornithology / including selections from the library formed / successively by the late Dr. J. L. Cabanis / and by Dr. A. Reichenow, / also / recent purchases from various sources, / comprising / books with coloured plates, sets of journals, / also systems and treatises, morphological / works, and avifaunas of various countries 21.1 x 13.7 cm. Pp. 1-60. New Series No. 9. London, Wheldon & Wesley, 1923.

Inner upper wrapper, announcements; 1-58, lots 1-1282; 59, a uniform set of the great ornithological works of John Gould; selection of publications from Wheldon & Wesley; 60, Mr. Dresser's publications; inner lower wrapper, further offerings.

This catalog was issued shortly after Harry Kirke Swann consolidated his firm that had been originally founded in 1857 by John Wheldon with that of an elderly Edward Wesley whose firm had been started by his father in 1840. Swann, an unusually versatile and dynamic man, was a publisher, bibliographer, ornithologist and author who died at the age of 56 in 1926 of pancreatic cancer. The firm was to be run by his wife and then by his two sons until the death of the younger one, Howard, in 1993 after which it gradually contracted. For most of its existence as the premier specialist in natural history books, the prices that it charged, became the standard of the natural history book market.

This catalog contains the equivalent of a great ornithological collection. The relative prices are interesting to compare with those now (2003). For example, Gould's Birds of Great Britain and Lilford's Coloured figures.. were comparably priced whereas today the former is about 20x as expensive.

Whitaker, J(oseph) I(saac) S(padafora) (d. 1932)

The / Birds of Tunisia / Being a History of the Birds found in / the Regency of Tunis Two volumes. 25.8 x 16.8 cm. Contemporary plain red cloth with gilt lettering on spine. London, R. H. Porter, 1905. The edition supposedly consists of 250 copies. The complete work covers about 365 species and contains two colored maps, two photogravure plates, two photographic plates, and 15 colored plates.

Vol. I. π¹⁶1-18⁸19⁴(-19₄)[$1 signed]; 163 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xxxii[1]2-294. i, Half-title; ii. limitation leaf: 250 copies, this one unnumbered; iii, title; iv, blank; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, introduction; xxi, contents of volume I; xxii, blank; xxiii, literature; xxiv, blank; xxv, list of plates, vol I.; xxvi, blank; xxvii, systematic index covering Turdidae-Alaudidae, 148 species; 1-294, systematic text. Contains folding map of Tunisia on extended leaf, colored partially by gravure, partially by hand and undesignated; one uncolored photogravure as frontispiece and one uncolored photographic plate both printed by Bale, Daniellson, Ltd; and 13 unnumbered hand-colored plates, drawn and lithographed by H. Grönvold, printed by Mintern Bros., and colored by Dora Bowdler Sharpe and Mr. G. Edwards.

Vol. II. π⁹1-25⁸26⁶; 311 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xviii[1]2-410[411](1). i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, contents of vol. II; vi, blank; vii, list of plates, vol. II; viii, blank; ix, systematic index, Sturnidae-Podicipedidae, covering 217 species; 1, systematic accounts; 397, index; 411, printer designation: London, John Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd. Contains colored map of North Africa; photogravure frontispiece; one uncolored photographic plate; and two colored plates.

This is a classical handbook on the birds of Tunisia based largely on the author's field observations and collection. It includes a historical survey, discussion of topography and a bibliography. The species accounts include synonymy; a description with measurements; status in North Africa; and a discussion covering habits, nesting dates, nest, and eggs. The plates are mostly of cryptically colored localized forms and are beautifully rendered within appropriate landscapes.

I am quite certain that more copies were printed than the 250 indicated by the limitation statement.

Wood, p. 624; Zimmer, p. 671. Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by Cornell

White, C. M. N., Bruce, Murray D.

The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, The Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia).

An Annotated Check-list 24.8 x 15.7 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-524. Original printed red wrappers. London, British Ornithologists’ Union, 1986. Title, 1; dedication, 3; contents, 5; editor’s forward, 7; preface, 8; introduction, 10; lists of maps and tables, 14; maps, 15; climate, 24; vegetation, 24; habitats, 26; national parks and conservation, 30; biogeography, 32; descriptive zoogeoraphy, 34; migration, 61; breeding season, 68; historical synopsis, 68; systematic list, 79; bibliography, 426; appendices I - IV, 483; indices, 508.

This is the first synthesis of the avifauna that exists on the islands of the seas between the Sunda and Sahul shelves, i. e. between Australia-New Guinea and southeast Asia. Unfortunately, it is not illustrated despite the fact that many of the 676 species with which it deals are endemic and poorly known. An illustrated field guide to the birds of the region by Brian Coates and David Bishop is scheduled to be published in Australia around June 1997.

This work is scholarly and difficult to read. I bought it in preparation for my own trip to Sulawesi and Halmahera in the summer of 1997. Wallace’s line, which runs between Sulawesi and Borneo, represents a limit of extension for the southeast Asian avifauna. Wallacea represents the transition of that avifauna to the one existing in Australia and New Guinea. The term Wallacea has apparently been recently coined to venerate A. R. Wallace whose explorations of these islands and of the Amazon led him to conclusions which he shared with Charles Darwin in their famous 1858 paper published in the Transactions of the Zoological Society.

White, Adam (1817-1879)

The / instructive picture book, / or a few attractive lessons from / the natural history of animals [1]²2-9²[$1 signed]; 18 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-30. Original printed chromolithographed pictorial card cover reproducing ornithological section of plate XIII, Shelduck etc. Red cloth backing. Eighth edition "with many new illustrations by Mrs. Blackburn, Gourlay Steell..." Edinburgh, Edmonston and Douglas, ND (inscription dated March 1870).

1, title; 2, blank; 3, dedication; 4, blank; 5, explanation of plates (double columns). Contains: extra hand-colored lithographic title page of gannets after JB (Jane Blackburn); double-page hand-colored lithographic plates I-XXVII (birds XIII-XXIV), a few with some blue chromolithography of sky. All ornithological and five mammal plates initialed JB, one mammal plate signed J. Stewart. A few plates with the designations A. Decker, Lith or C. Votteler, Lith.

According to Freeman (British natural history books, 1980), listing no. 3971, the first edition of this book was published in 1857 and there was a companion plant volume. I've seen a copy of the seventh edition, virtually identical to this one but with the dedication dated 1866, so the inscription here dated 1870 probably represents the year of publication.

The book covers the entire animal kingdom and is directed at a popular audience. White, the author of a number of scholarly as well as popular works including Popular history of birds (1855), does a remarkable job in presenting the most basic information entertainingly in such a short text. The artists that I could identify, Jane Blackburn and James Stewart, were also among the best. Stewart did many plates for Jardine's Naturalist's Library and Mrs. Blackburn's own Birds drawn from nature (1862, 1868) is well known for the beauty and liveliness of its birds. The lithography and printing of the plates fails to do them justice. The BM(NH) catalogue Supplement (p. 1424) lists a third edition of 1859 with the notation "(Stuttgart printed)" and the rather crude printing of these pictures reminds me of that in Schubert's Naturgeschichte, a contemporary and comparable German work produced in Esslingen.

Even the low quality of the reproduction cannot obscure the excellence of Mrs. Blackburn's picture of gannets around their nesting cliff that is used here as an additional title page. There are no less than 34 birds, most either diving or about to dive, and I wonder what the three nearby sheep are thinking.

Unlisted by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard (lists companion plant volume of 1857), Oxford, Trinity, Wood, Yale, Zimmer. BMNH holds the third edition and lists several others including the seventh and tenth as "wanting".

White, Gilbert (1720-1793)

A / naturalist’s calendar, / with / observations in various branches / of / natural history, / extracted from the papers / of the late / Rev. Gilbert White, M. A. / of Selborne, Hampshire, / Senior Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. 20.3 x 13.0 cm. Wove paper. Catchwords. A-L ⁸[$1, 2, 3, 4 signed]; 88 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[5-7]8-170[171-176]. Contemporary blue paper-covered board sides with lettered beige paper-covered spine. Uncut. London, B. and J. White, 1795. Some contemporary pencil annotations.

i, Title; ii, blank; iii, advertisement (preface) by J. Aikin; 5, half-title; 6, blank; 7, natural history calendar for 1768; 57, observations on birds; 92, observations on quadrupeds; 97, observations on insects and vermes; 124, observations on vegetables; 140, meteorological observations including a poem; 171, table of contents (index); 176, advertisement for White’s The natural history and antiquities of Selborne in the county of Southamton (1789), “….one guinea in boards”. Contains hand-colored frontispiece, “A Hybrid Bird”, drawn by Elmer and engraved by J. F. Miller

Gilbert White, the much venerated British Vicar and naturalist, was the brother of the publisher, Benjamin White, who published most of Pennant’s works. When Gilbert White died in 1793, he left a mass of unpublished notes including those prior to 1887 that he had omitted from his Natural history and antiquities… as well as all observations made after 1887. Aikin went through all these notes (at Benjamin White’s suggestion[?]) and extracted the material for this book. White was a keen observer of nature and his observations are interesting. His most important ornithological contribution was separating the three similar Phylloscopus warblers, the chiff chaff, wood warbler and willow warbler.

The present work was subsequently issued in numerous editions, usually combined with the Natural history and antiquities..

Wood, p. 625. This original edition also listed by Harvard, Yale, but not by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity nor Zimmer.

White, Gilbert, (1720-1793)(edited by R.[ichard] Bowdler Sharpe[1847-1909])

The natural history & antiquities / of Selbourne & a garden kalendar Two volumes 22.1 x 15.7 cm. Original publisher's green beveled cloth with Whites' coat of arms in gilt on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine. TEG, others uncut. London, S. T. Freemantle, 1900.

Vol. I (from half-title) [a]⁴b-c⁴A-3G⁴3H²[$1 signed]; 226 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxiii(1)[1]2-427[428]. i, Blank save printed asterisk; ii, blank; iii, half-title; iv, blank; v, title printed in red with vignette of Whites' coat of arms; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of full-page illustrations; xiii, list of smaller illustrations; xvi, blank; xvii, introduction by Sharpe; 1, letters to Thomas Pennant; 189, introduction to a garden kalendar by the very reverend S. Reynolds Hole; 199, a garden kalendar; 422, appendix one, comments by Reginald Innes Pocock of the BM(NH); 45, appendix II, geology of Selbourne by C. W. Andrews; 428, printer designation: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., Edinburgh and London. Contains 50 unnumbered full-page plates not included in pagination, including frontispiece portrait of White partially printed in color, others uncolored and comprising a facsimile letter, 24 photogravure reproductions of paintings by J. G. Keulemans and most of the others after Herbert Railton and Edmund J. Sullivan. Also contains 37 smaller unnumbered, uncolored illustrations including three by Keulemans, the others by Railston and Sullivan.

Vol II [a]⁴b⁴A-3I⁴3K²; 230 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xv(1)[1]2-443[444]. i, Blank save asterisk; ii, blank; iii, half-title; iv, blank; v, title; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of full-page illustrations; xiii, list of smaller illustrations; 1, letters to Daines Barrington; 209, antiquities of Selbourne; 315, more particulars regarding family tortoise; 319, appendix to antiquities (manuscripts in Latin); 349, bibliography of and about White by C. Davies Sherborn; 367, index; 443, errata; 444, printer designation. Contains 50 full-page uncolored plates including frontispiece portrait of Barrington, facsimile letter and 25 photogravures after Keulemans, the remaining plates mostly from Railston and Sullivan. Also contains 32 smaller illustrations by Railton and Sullivan save for title vignette of coat of arms.

As Curate of Selbourne, White made many observations concerning natural history which he communicated in letters. The most enduring of these, at least to British ornithologists, were his observations on the three Phylloscopus warblers now known as the Wood Warbler, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. His epistolary comments have been required reading for generations of English schoolchildren and this, his only major work, has appeared in more than 100 editions since it was first published in 1789 by his brother, Benjamin White.

This edition, edited by the ornithologist, Richard Bowdler Sharpe, is distinguished by the beautiful plates of Keulemans, superbly reproduced by photogravure. Here, Keulemans is portraying local birds and habitats with which he has first-hand experience. The pictures are highly unusual for his oeuvre in the attention that he devotes to background and ambiance. In their biography of the artist, Feathers to Brush (1982), T. Keulemans and C. J. Coldewey reproduce four of these plates and comment (p. 33) "His drawings for The Natural History and Antiquities of Selbourne reveal perfect composition and some charming touches in both foregrounds and backgrounds."

Anker, #526; Wood, p. 626. This edition also listed by Cornell, Harvard, Yale but not by AMNH, Trinity, Zimmer.

White, Adam (1817-1879)

A popular / history of birds / comprising / a familiar account of their classification / and habits 15.2 x 11.9 cm. [A]⁴B-Y⁸Z⁶[$1 signed]; 178 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-viii[1]2-347(1). Later blind-ruled quarter turquoise morocco and marbled boards by Starr Bookworks. Spine with five blind-ruled raised band, gilt red morocco lettering pieces in second and fourth compartments. Marbled edges. London, Lovell Reeve, 1855.

i, Title; ii, printer designation; John Edward Taylor; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, preface; vii, list of plates; 1, introduction; 9, order Acciptres, birds of prey; 33, order Passeres, incessorial birds; 166, order Scansores, climbing birds; 194, order Columbae, pigeons; 204, order Gallinae; 227, order Struthiones; 236, order Grallatores, wading birds; 268, order Anseres, web-footed birds; 331, index; 347, printer's designation. Contains hand-colored lithographic plates I-XX after the author by Bauerrichter & Co., lith.

This is one of the Reeve "Popular" series written by experts to popularize various facets of natural history. White was in the Zoology Department of the British Museum at the time he wrote this book but his career seems to have been based on writing for a popular audience. He authored the Mammalia volume for the Reeve series and later The instructive picture book (first published 1857) targeted to the same audience.

The scheme of classification of birds at the time was interesting in its differences from that in vogue at the present time. The most striking of these is that the order Passeres was much larger and included hummingbirds, swifts, goatsuckers, trogons, and coracids , all of which belong to their own orders today. It is hard to believe that finches and hornbills could have been considered as fairly closely linked, yet I suppose the economy of orders that prevailed squeezed unlikely couples together. Anseres was another order comprising much more then than it does today including gulls, albatrosses and pelicans. The book is written around classification as its central theme but many individual species are discussed in nontechnical terms.

The hand-colored lithographic plates, each depicting several species, are dreadful.

Wood, p. 625; Zimmer, p. 672. Also listed by Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard.

White, S(amuel) A(lbert) (1870-1954)

In the / Far North-east / A Scientific Expedition 14.8 x 11.8 cm. Pp. [1-3]4-144; 72 ll. Original publisher's printed gray wrappers. Reprinted from The Register. Adelaide, W. K. Thomas & Co., (1917) Contains text and 13 full-page, unnumbered, uncolored, scenic photographic plates printed on one side only and not included in pagination.

White was a distinguished Australian ornithologist of his era, the president of the RAOU and a corresponding member of the BOU and AOU. The son of an ornithological explorer also named Samuel, he was very active in the field and provided ornithological information from a number of expeditions. The present work is a popular narrative of one such expedition on which he participated. The expedition was mounted by the South Australian Museum to Strzelecki and Cooper Creeks in September and October, 1916. White published the scientific ornithological data in Trans. Roy. Coc. South Austr., 41, December 24: 441-466 (1917). The present popular account, according to the wrapper, was "Reprinted from The Register." Whittell (p. 761) informs us that The Register was an Adelaide newspaper.

The term "Far North-East" in the title refers specifically to the geography of the state of South Australia so the are covered occupies a portion of the south central portion of the continent of Australia and is temperate outback. The work is entertaining and includes observations on botany and all aspects of natural history as well as birds. Mainly, it is a travelogue of adventure.

As might be expected, the work is uncommon being absent from the Ayer and McGill collections as well as the libraries of the AMNH, BM(NH), Cornell, LOC, NYPL, Trinity and Yale. It is, however, listed for the Harvard, Oxford and Smithsonian libraries.

White, John (1750-1832)

Journal / of a / Voyage to new South Wales / with Sixty-five plates of / Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards / Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other / Natural Productions 28.8 x 23.0 cm. 4⁰ (Text on laid paper, title and plate leaves on wove paper, some watermarked JWhatman ). πA²a²X⁴[₂A]⁴B-2P⁴2Q²₂a⁴b-d⁴e²[$1, 2 signed]; 177 ll. Pp. (18)[1]2-299[300](36). Late 20^th century green half-morocco, marbled boards, spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering and gilt designs. Patterned edges. London, Debrett, 1890.

πr, Title; πv, blank; A1r-A1v, dedication to Thomas Wilson; A2r, advertisement; A2v, blank; a1r-X2r, list of subscribers; X2v, blank; X3r-X4r, list of plates; X4v, blank; 1-218, journal describing voyage; 219m, appendix, including description of natural history objects, deaths(298), departments of New South Wales(299) and diary of weather conditions (₂a1-e2). Contains hand-colored engraved plates 1-65, numbered only in list of plates by T. Milton after originals by Sarah Stone (33); F. P. Nodder (5); C. Catton Jr. (3); E. Kennion (2); Mortimer (2) and undesignated (20). Contains engraved title page vignette by T. Milton after John White. Contains bookmarks of Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson (? Descendent of dedicatee) and William Beebe, the ornithologist.

White sailed on the convict transport, Charlotte, to Botany Bay where he assumed the post of surgeon, and later surgeon general of New South Wales. He was commissioned by Thomas Wilson to send Wilson a diary of the voyage as well as any interesting natural history specimens. These specimens were kept in the Leverian Museum where they were drawn by the artists mentioned above. Wilson obtained the services of George Shaw to describe the birds, James Edward Smith for the botany, and John Hunter for the mammals. These descriptions, found in the appendix, were often the first for the species in question as were the pictures. The plates are exceptionally finely done for the 18^th century considering the limitations of taxidermy with which the artists had to deal.

This book is not rare. The subscriber list has close to 300 names accounting for almost 750 copies. Most copies, however, were not colored. This book is amongst the most important that deal with the natural history of Australia. It was contemporary with that of Governor Arthur Phillip which contained illustrations of new birds done by John Latham and his daughter, Anne. The present copy differs from the Bradley Martin copy in that it has no correction in the list of plates. Like that copy, however, leaf 2H4 appears to be a cancel since it describes the female Wattled Bee-Eater rather than the male. It does not bear the words "Merops carunculatus" as does a (later) edition described by Gregory Mathews.

White subsequently returned to England with a cache of pictures of objects of natural history that had been done in Australia. He gave these to Aylmer Bourke Lambert and they became known as the "Lambert Drawings".

Bradley Martin 231; Whittell, p. 26, 756; Wood, p. 626 (uncolored); Yale, p. 310 (uncolored); Zimmer, p. 672. Unlisted in Trinity catalog.

Whitehead, John (1860-1899)

Exploration / of / Mount Kina Balu, North Boreo 35.8 x 25. 4 cm. a⁴b²B-2R⁴2S⁴(-2S4)[$1, 2 signed]; 165 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-x[xi-xii][1]2-317(1). Original polychrome pictorial green cloth with partly gilt exotic tropical scenery and gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Chocolate endpapers. TEG. London, Gurney and Jackson, 1893.

i, Title; ii, printer's engraved imprint: Taylor and Francis; iii, introduction; vi, blank; vii, contents; xi, list of plates; xii, list of woodcuts; errata; 1, Malacca; 19, North Borneo; 85, Java; 97, Kina Balu; 127, Palawan; 149, Kina Balu, second expedition; 193, appendix of zoological collections; 309, scientific index. Contains 32 unnumbered lithographed plates, 11 colored, 21 uncolored or tinted; 21 unnumbered figures and a map in the text; and pictorial initial letters for chapters.

This great travel book describes a four-year voyage to the South Pacific by Whitehead during which he not only mounted two expeditions to Kina Balu, but also carried out significant ornithological explorations in Malacca, Palawan and Java. The main objective of the trip was ornithological although other facets of zoology wre not neglected. The success of his ornithological work is attested by the fact that his collections from Borneo, Palawan and Java numbered more than 300, 150 and 60 varieties respectively including more than 50 new species. The book consists of an interesting narrative and a lengthy appendix that describes the various zoological specimens. This appendix is extracted in amended form from the articles in which the collections were originally reported. Zimmer (p. 673) summarizes these as follows: " The ornithological matter occupies pp. 200-263 and comprises three articles: an account of the Birds of North Borneo, from various articles and descriptions by the author, R. B. Sharpe, and Ogilvie-Grant in The Ibis and Proc. Zool. Soc., London; a discussion of the birds of Palawan by the author and Sharpe from The Ibis and the Bull. Brit. Orn. Club; notes on a collection of birds from eastern Java from unpublished field notes, with Seebohm's descriptions of two new species first published in the Bull. Brit. Orn. Club." Whitehead's expeditions represented the first exploration of the avifauna of Kina Balu and the article on North Borneo in the appendix is a landmark in the history of Bornean ornithology.

There are six colored plates of birds by Whitehead. Two of them are original, whereas the other four were inspired by illustrations after Keulemans in The Ibis. The remaining colored plates depict butterflies and other insects as well as various aboriginal peoples and mammals. Most of these were colored by chromolithography unlike those of the birds which were colored by hand. The uncolored lithographed plates show reptiles and different interesting aspects of the voyage including artifacts and scenic views. Whitehead, who died prematurely, in addition to being amongst the most proficient of all ornithological collectors, was also a surprisingly good artist and lithographer. Indeed, the colored plates here of Whitehead's Broadbill and Whitehead's Trogon are absolutely unforgettable.

Wood, p. 626; Zimmer, p. 567. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard and Yale but not by Trinity.

Whittell, Hubert Massey (1883-1954)

The literature of / Australian birds: / a history and bibliography / of Australian ornithology 24.6 x 18.7 cm. Pp. [i-viii]ix-xi(1)[1-4]4-116[1₂-3₂]4₂-788; 458 ll. Later half blue buckram and marbled boards by Starr Bookworks. Gilt black paper labeling piece on spine. Original printed patterned brown wrappers retained. Perth, Paterson Brokensha Pty. Ltd., 1954. i-ii, Blank; iii, half-title; iv, "Published August, 1954"; v, title; vi, blank; vii, contents; ix, preface; 1-116, part 1, a history of Australian ornithology, 1618-1850; 12, part 2, bibliography, 1618-1950 with biographies of authors and collectors; 787, index to part 1. Laid in loosely is a smaller "Foreword" sheet printed on one side only, written by H. L. White, Librarian, Commonwealth National Library, dated 9^th August, 1954, and eulogizing Whittell while regretfully noting his death before publication of this book. The book contains plates 1-32, including a frontispiece in color half-tone of a Lyre-bird and 31 uncolored half-tone photographs of pictures, manuscripts and personages, printed on both sides of 12 leaves with one or two images per page. These are not included in pagination.

Whittell was a British officer who migrated to western Australia in 1925, was active ornithology, and became president of the Royal Australian Ornithologists' Union in the early 1940s. In addition to the present work, he was co-author, with D. L. Serventy, of A handbook of the birds of western Australia (1948).

The present work is quite different from the usual bibliography. The first part contains a narrative history of Australian ornithology in its early stages (through 1850) with detailed sections on the great French voyages and on the contributions of Gould and Gilbert. The second part attempts to list alphabetically by author, every publication "containing information on Australian birds." The pertinent contributions of each author are presented in chronological order under that author's name.

Massey claims to have listed 2,300 authors and collectors and 10,000 titles. The amount of bibliographic information is very small, sometimes just the title and year of publication as for Seebohm's Charadriidae. But the author is very careful to elaborate on works that have described or illustrated Australian birds for the first time, devoting, for example, more than two full pages to listing and discussing the species described by Latham in his General synopsis and supplements, while referring the reader elsewhere for a collation of that work.

The work is most useful for its biographies and historical orientation.

This book was printed on paper of poor quality and high acid content. It was reprinted in small quantity in the 1990s.

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

Whymper, Charles (1853-)

Egyptian / birds / for the most part seen in/ the Nile valley 22.0 x 16.0 cm. π⁵1-28⁴[$1 signed]; 117 ll. Pp. [i-viii]ix-x1-221(1)(2, publisher's advertisements). Original publisher's tan vertically decorated gilt-paneled cloth with gilt title on upper cover within double red-ruled panel. Spine with polychrome illustration, gilt title within double red-ruled panel. TEG. London, Adam and Charles Black, 1909.

i, Half-title; ii, publisher's advertisement; iii, title; iv, blank; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, foreword; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations, plates 1-51, so numbered here only; 1, introduction; 13, systematic accounts of about 56 species, Gyps fulvus-Larus ridibundus; 203, list of Egyptian birds (356 species); 217, index; 221, printer designation: R. & R. Clarke Limited, Edinburgh. Contains 51 unnumbered plates, printed in color half-tone on recto only, each with tissue guard containing identifying letter-press; plates and guards not included in pagination. There are also 11 unnumbered, uncolored text line drawings.

Charles Whymper was an artist who contributed fine wood engravings to a number of late 19^th century ornithological books as well as all the colored plates of Charles Dixon's Game Birds and Wildfowl (1900). He was the brother of Edward Whymper a noted mountaineer and wood engraver. This book is written at a popular level "for the wayfaring man who, travelling this ancient Egypt wishes to learn something of the birds he sees." About 56 species are discussed in some detail with a description, an essay, and usually an illustration. There is an appended list of Egyptian birds adapted from Shelley and updated with the assistance of Michael Nicoll.

This volume is one of two bird books among the A. & C. Black "20 Shilling Series" known for its attractive plates and decorative covers. The other was J. Lewis Bonhote's Birds of Britain (1907). Many of the works in the series concerned foreign countries. Of the present work, 3000 copies were printed. In addition to this trade volume, there were 100 copies printed on large paper with the plates mounted. Unlike some of the others in the series including Bonhote's, this one was not reprinted.

Whymper has received considerable praise for his artwork in this book. Zimmer, a difficult man to impress, remarks that " the illustrations are interesting and artistic". David Lank, in Nature Classics compiled by Anna Perrault (1987), includes the picture of the Barn Owl and credits Whymper (p. 69) with introducing the use of human artifacts in ornithological tableaux ( a device used successfully in the late 20^th century by Raymond Ching.) I prefer W. H. Riddell's depictions, in Abel Chapman's books, of Nile birds in their natural settings to these.

Wood, p. 636; Zimmer, p. 673. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.

Wild Bird Society of Japan (text by Joseph A. Massey, Shogo Matsui, Tsutomu Suzuki, Elizabeth P. Swift, Akira Hibi, Noritake Ichida, Yozo Tsukamoto, Koichiro Sonobe; illustrations by Shinji Takano; distribution maps by Nobuyuki Monna; editor in chief, Koichiro Sonobe; editor, Jane Washburn Robinson)

A field guide / to the birds / of Japan 18.2 x 11.5 cm. Pp. [1-4]5-336. Original printed and decorated white boards. Upper endpapers with "quick reference" bird figures; lower endpaper map. Tokyo, Wild Bird Society of Japan and New York, Kodansha International, 1985.

1, Half-title; 2, about Wild Bird Society; 3, title; 4, copyright 1982; first edition 1982, third printing 1985; distributed in the United States by Kodansha International/USA through Harper & Row Publishers; ISBN 0-87011-746-7; 5, contents; 8, foreword by Sir Peter Scott; 9, introduction by Seiichi Yamashita, President, Wild Bird Society of Japan; 15, checklist of Japanese birds; 21, identifying birds with this book; 24-305, systematic accounts, Gavia stellata-Corvus corax, comprising about 524 species; 306-307, escapees; 308, bibliography (48 entries); 310, bird watching guide to Japan; 321, index of scientific and English names; 332, index of Japanese names. Contains: 143 unnumbered plates printed in color half-tone with facing text and included in pagination; color-coded distribution maps for all species; 26 uncolored half tone sketch illustrations in preliminaries and text, some with several figures; 12, unnumbered text half-tone photographs of birding areas; one page with four line diagrams of bird plumage and parts; one text map.

This work is strictly a field guide with brief notes on size, field marks, similar species and status and a distribution map for each species. Several views and plumages are shown for each bird on the numerous and well done colored plates.

This printing listed by Cornell. First printings listed by AMNH, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by Harvard.

Wilder, George D(urand)(1869-1946), Hubbard, Hugh W(ells)

Birds of Northeastern China / a practical guide based on studies made / chiefly in Hopei Province 19.0 x 15.2 cm. Pp. (2, decorated half title with authors and blank verso)[i-iv]v[vi][1]2-700 (2, listing other special publications of the Peking Natural History Bulletin); 354 ll. (Original?) brown boards with title in gilt lettering vertically on spine and brown paper covering on upper and lower covers, that on upper cover decorated with the same illustration as on half-title. Peking, The Natural History Bulletin, Handbook, No. 6, April, 1938.

i, title; ii, blank; iii, dedication "to bird lovers"; iv, blank; v, contents; vi, blank; 1, explanatory introduction; 14, the region; geology, climate, ecology; 22, parts of a bird; 24, glossary; 31, abbreviations including references; 33, systematic index (classification); 35, introduction to orders and families; 66, keys to species of the larger families; 125, family and specific accounts; 629, index of Latin names; 662, Chinese names; 672, English names; 699, geographical names. Contains two unpaginated maps one folding; 300 unnumbered text line drawings of individual species; six line drawings by Hubbard to illustrate the keys; and many line drawings from from Frank M. Chapman's Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America to illustrate the introduction to orders and families adapted from that book

Wilder and Hubbard were missionaries who lived in China for most of their adult lives. Hubbard had a cottage at Beidahe and, according to Hemmingsen (Observations on Birds in North Eastern China, [1951], p.9), the present work was perhaps earliest in establishing the importance of Beidahe as a migration hot spot. The authors explain that they, themselves, have seen 405 of the 457 species recorded for Hopei province. In this work, they choose to describe 300 of these in some detail while mentioning all but 12 of those remaining. For each of the 300 which they cover, there is a line illustration, most of which were drawn by Li Chü-nung Paotingfu, Richard Mather and Gertrude S. Wilder. A few were copied from antecedent works but most are original and remarkably good considering the difficulties which must have been encountered in finding antecedent illustrations and in printing the book. The species descriptions include a measurement of length; English, Latin, and Chinese names, the latter in both characters and Romanized; habitat; habits including vocalization; time of occurrence and abundance in Hopei; breeding in Hopei and complete breeding range; food; nest and eggs; references for Hopei occurrences; and common synonyms.

This is a rare book which is certainly not surprising considering that it was printed in English in Peking during the Japanese invasion of China. It is one of a handful of ornithological books printed in English in small numbers in China during the first two thirds of the 20^th century. These books are important as the source of first-hand information for modern knowledge of Chinese ornithology.

Trinity, p. 256; Cornell and Harvard on-line catalogs.

Wilhelm, G(ottfried). T(obias). (1758-1811)

Unterhaltungen aus der Naturgeschichte der Vögel. Neue Ausgabe. Two volumes. 12o (text on laid paper). 17 x 10 cm. Contemporary green cloth with paper labels on spine. Augsburg, Schlosser, 1834. Erster Theil. 1-20^8/4 [$1,2 signed]; 120 ll. Pp. [I-III]IV-XXI[22]23-239[240]. Notice to reader dated Nov. 1794, I; introduction, III; species accounts, 22-239. Contains uncolored engraved title leaf and hand-colored engraved plates I-XLIV. Zweiter Theil. 188/4; 108 ll. Pp. [1]2-216 (entirely species accounts). Contains different uncolored engraved title leaf and hand-colored engraved plates I-XLVI.

This is the ornithological section of a late 18th century natural history encyclopedia of which it formed volumes four and five. I first became aware of the work through Kastner’s The Bird Illustrated (1988) in which the crude, but brightly colored plates are described as “..illustrations....have a charm of their own”. And I agree. The original edition, also produced in Augsburg, was published 1792-1802 with its ornithological volumes appearing in 1795. The work is definitely 18th century and should be judged in that context. The text for the present volumes is printed on laid paper and probably was printed far earlier than the date of issue. The plates and dated engraved title pages, however, are on wove paper and were probably reengraved and colored as required. The figures (121 in the first part, 171 in the second) on these 90 plates were loosely copied from various 18th century works and the responsible artists and engravers are not identified. The coloring, although inaccurate, is remarkably fresh and vibrant but much less carefully painted than in the original edition. Each species, in addition to its German name, is identified with a Latin name, a French name, a number relating it to its illustration, and a rather substantial text. There is no index in either volume.

Wood and the British Museum Catalogue cite only an edition of 1810 published in Vienna. Engelmann lists an Augsburg edition of 1817-1824. I find no record of the present edition..

BM(NH), p. 2322; Wood, p. 628. Ornithological volumes absent from AMNH, Trinity, Zimmer. Yale lists volumes 1-26, 1794-1824 (with no identification of volumes).

Wilkinson, E(dward) S(heldon) (1883-1950)

Shanghai birds / a study of bird life in Shanghai / and the surrounding / districts 26.3 x 17.5 cm. Three preliminary leaves, Pp. [i]ii-xxiii(1)[1]2-243(1). Original publisher's green cloth with black block ornithological design on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Shanghai, North China Daily News & Herald Limited, 1929.

First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; second: recto, title; verso, blank; third, recto, foreword; verso, blank; i, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of plates; x, blank; xi, glossary of special terms used by sportsmen; xii, blank; xiii, introduction; 1, identification; 11, short list of common birds; 21, vocalizations; 32, classification and names; 39, migration; 54, orientation and instinct; 62, systematic list and essays comprising approximately 120 species, Corvidae-Anatidae; 241, index of English names. Contains: unnumbered, uncolored half-tone photographic plate and color half-tone plates I-XXIII including VII as frontispiece after H. Grönvold printed on one side only and not included in pagination; one unnumbered text line illustration.

This is a rather early local Chinese ornithology, amongst a small group of ornithological books published in China and printed in English. The area covered is small and the author has not attempted to list every bird found within it, omitting rarities and species found near the sea. More than half of the birds are illustrated. The text on each species includes a section on field identification; description with length measurement; and notes on nesting habits. The information is relatively meager in the context of that found in comparable contemporary works such as those by the Caldwells and by La Touche. However, this book is better illustrated than those although the color printing is below European standards of the era.

Wood, p. 628. Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by Harvard.

Williams, J.(ohn)G.(eorge)(1913-1997)(illustrated by the author and Mrs. R.[ena] Fennessy)

A field guide / to the birds of / east and central / Africa 19.1 x 12.5 cm. [A]⁸B-S⁸[$1 signed]; 144 ll. Pp. [1-12]13-288. Original publisher’s aquamarine cloth with block black printing and flamingo vignette on upper cover and spine. Color pictorial dust jacket. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, the Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1964. First issue of first American edition.

1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, dedication; first American edition 1964; printed in Great Britain; copyright 1963; 5, introduction by Roger Tory Peterson; 7, contents; 10, illustrations; 12, topography of a bird; 13, how to use this book; 16, map; 17, preface; 18, species accounts, Ostrich-Cinnamon-breasted Rock Bunting; 272, appendix including bibliography (21 references); 274, index of English and Generic names. Contains half-tone plates 1-40(16 colored) on 20 glossy leaves that are not included in pagination.

Williams tells us in the preface that this work describes and illustrates 428 of the species most likely to be seen in East Africa and discusses an additional 324 under the heading of “allied species”. According to him, Kenya alone has at least 1033 species so a careful selection process was employed. Size, identification, habitat and distribution in Africa are given for those species that are illustrated.

The first English edition of this book was issued in 1963. The work was very influential because it made east African ornithology accessible to the bird watching community and therefore significantly increased ecotourism. Before its appearance, a massive two-volume set by Praed and Grant had been required to identify east African birds. An expanded version of the field guide illustrated by Norman Arlott was first published in 1980.

John Williams and I met when he led a group of birders including myself on a trip through Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. He was a prolific author and recognized authority on the natural history of east Africa. We remained friends until his death. Rena Fennessy subsequently published, with texts by Leslie Brown, two very artistic large-format books containing fine full-page colored plates of east African birds in appropriate habitats (Birds of the African Bush, London, Collins, 1975 and Birds of the African Waterside, London, Collins, 1979).

Williams, John G[eorge](1913-1998)

African Birds Series I, II, III (? Nairobi, 1970).

African Birds / Series I / 1 Lilac-breasted Roller / 2 Doherty's Bush Shrike / 3 Beautiful Sunbird / 4 White-fronted Bee-eater / 5 Bar-tailed Trogon / 6 Superb Starling / From original paintings / by / Rena M. Fennessy / described by / John G. Williams 31.7 x 26. 2 cm (image size 23.8 x 18.6). Contains six loose, unnumbered colored plates and a tipped in leaf of explanatory letter-press contained in original gray brown printed cardboard portfolio from which the transcribed material is taken.

African Birds / Series II / 1 Fish Eagle / 2 Vulturine Guinea-fowl / 3 Fisher's Turaco / 4 Masai Parrot / 5 Sacred Ibis / 6 White-faced Scops Owl / From original paintings / by / Rena M. Fennessy / described by / John G. Williams 30.4 x 23.5 (23.7 x 18.3) Contains six loose, unnumbered colored plates and a tipped in leaf of explanatory letter-press in original gray printed cardboard portfolio.

African Birds / Series III / 1 Yellow Billed Hornbill / 2 Lilac-breasted Roller / 3 African Jacana or Lily-trotter / 4 Malachite Kingfisher / 5 Black-headed Oriole / 6 White-faced Scops Owl / From original paintings by C. E. Talbot Kelly / described by / John G. Williams 38.1 x 30.3 (31.6 x 25.2). Contains six loose, unnumbered colored plates and tipped in leaf of explanatory letter-press printed in sepia in original sepia printed cardboard portfolio.

The pictures in each series, in addition to differing in size, were quite differently produced although all were printed on fairly thick card. The half-tone color printing for the first series is not very good and is undesignated. That for the second series is also undesignated but is superb. This series has gray borders for its plates and seems to be modeled after Fuertes's Album of Abyssinian Birds and Mammals (1930). These plates are exceptionally attractive. The plates for the third series are also beautifully drawn and produced, although clearly by a different printer. Each is designated on the lower left: "Copyright: Wildlife Advisory Service Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya" and on the lower right, "Printed by Questa Colour Ltd. At the 'House of Questa', London, England".

There is no explicit indication of when or where these series were published. I have never heard of them and they are not listed in most of the usual on-line catalogs that I consult for recent publications. Each is signed and dated Nairobi, Dec. 1973 by its owner and Talbot Kelly dated one of her signatures 1969. The dealer from whom these were purchased listed the date 1970 in his catalog and that seems reasonable to me. I suspect that they were produced specifically for the Kenya Wildlife Advisory Service and were not marketed outside of Kenya.

The two series by Fennessy are listed by Yale. Unlisted by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity.

Williams, John (1913-1998), and Rena Fennessy

Birds / of Africa 30.4 x 20.3 cm. Unpaginated (15 ll including 12 colored plates). Original decorated card covers, decorated endpapers. London, Collins, (1966)1971. Includes title page with contents and publication data on verso, three pp. introduction by Williams, 12 unnumbered colored plates by Fennessy with facing descriptive letter-press by Williams. The page of letter-press is on the verso of the previous page containing either the introduction or the antecedent colored plate. Also contains a bill concerning related ornithological publications from Roland Ward, Nairobi, dated 18^th December, 1973.

This is an introductory brochure on the birds of Africa based on their habitat. Three plates are devoted to the African plains, three to the inland waters, two to the African bush, three to the great Congo forest and one to the Central African woodland. In all, 46 species are depicted and described.

The colored plates of this work, although attractive, were inexpensively produced and printed in England. The work provided the inspiration for two later beautiful books illustrated by Fennessy, Birds of the African Bush (1975) and Birds of the African Waterside (1979), which were also published by Collins but which contained colored plates printed to a much higher standard in Spain and Italy respectively.

The present work is listed in the on-line catalog of Harvard University but is not listed in those of the NYPL, AMNH and the Cornell and Yale libraries . It is also absent from the Trinity catalog.

Danton, Iris (artist) and Williams, John G. (1913-1998)(author)

The following is transcribed from the upper cover of the portfolio: African /sunbirds and flowers / 1 Malachite Sunbird on Chorisia / 2 Variable Sunbirds on Stictocardia / 3 Golden-winged Sunbird on Erythrina / 4 Scarlet-breasted Sunbirds on Odontadenia / 5 Collared Sunbirds on Bougainvillea / Red-chested Sunbird on Thunbergia / From original paintings by Iris Darnton / Described by John G. Williams 36.7 x 30.4 cm (image size 30.2 x 25.3). (?Nairobi, 1970).

Contains six loose, unnumbered plates on rather thick card and tipped in sheet of explanatory letter-press printed in lilac, the whole contained in a lilac printed cardboard portfolio.

There is no indication as to when or where this attractive series of prints was produced, however the overall format is identical, save for a minor difference in size,to African Birds, Series III written by Williams and illustrated by C. E. Talbot Kelly. As in that work which was probably published in 1970, each plate in this series is designated at the lower left: "Copyright: Wildlife Advisory Service Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya" and on the lower right: "Printed by Questa Colour Ltd., at the 'House of Questa' London, England".

Save for the present copy, I have never seen this album nor could I find it listed in OCLC. I suspect that it was probably produced about 1970 specifically for the Wildlife Advisory Service of Kenya and that it was not marketed outside of Kenya.

Williams, C(harles)(1796-1866)

Child's / Natural History / of Birds 7.7 x 6.4 cm. [1]⁸2-12⁸[$1 signed]; 96 ll. Pp. [1]2p3-4]5vi(sic)7-191(1, list of "miniature juveniles" in similar format published by Loomis and Peck). Original brown cloth, gilt lettering and designs on spine, gilt bird-of-paradise on upper cover, same blind-stamped on lower cover. AEG. Philadelphia, Loomis and Peck, 1847.

Contains title page woodcut vignette and 47 unnumbered, uncolored woodcut full-page woodcuts, each with blank verso and accompanied by two pages of text.

This is a book for children that describes and illustrates 47 species most of which are common European birds, the remainder interesting exotics. The information is variable for the different species but usually has superficial description, distribution and particularly noteworthy aspects of life history. The simple ornithological portraits are poorly engraved yet exhibit a certain charm. The book may be identical to The Little Book of British Birds, London, Printed by Charles Wittingham for C(harles) Tilt (ca. 1840) and I believe that both derive from The Natural History of 48 Birds by Alfred Mills published by Darton, London, 1810 with later printings in 1812 and 1815 (Freeman #2599).

The only places I could find reference to this title were the Harvard and Yale Libraries. The Harvard copy was undated and published in New Haven by Durrie and Peck. The Yale copy in the Beinecke was undated and published in New Haven by Durrie, and Peck and in Philadelphia by Smith and Peck. Each of these was clearly otherwise the same book as the present copy.

Williams, John G(eorge) (1913-1996[?]) (illustrated by Rena Fennessy)

A field guide / to the national parks / of East Africa 19.0 x 13.0 cm. [A]⁸B-Y⁸[$1 signed]; 176 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-352. Original publisher's turquoise cloth with giraffe decoration and black lettering on upper cover and spine. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968.

This copy warmly inscribed and signed on half-title. Laid in loosely are a signed manuscript letter, a signed manuscript card and a printed card from the author. 1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, "First American Edition 1968"; copyright 1967; 5, contents; 8, blank; 9, list of plates; 10, blank; 11, foreword by Roger Tory Peterson; 13, part 1, the national parks; 165, part 2, the mammals; 228, part 3, the rarer birds; 343, index of places; 344, index of common and scientific names. Contains: plates 1-32(16 colored), so enumerated in list and on facing letter-press, printed in half-tone on both sides of 16 leaves not included in pagination; the facing letter-press is paginated and contains running text on obverse; uncolored text line drawings 1-21; 23 unnumbered text maps of national parks.

This useful guide provides lists of birds and mammals for about 60 national parks in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as separate sections devoted to their identification. The author published his Field guide to the birds of East Africa in 1963 and this book was intended to supplement that one, which described only the commoner birds. The bird section contains about 230 formal entries, almost all of which are illustrated on the 19 (eight colored) ornithological plates. In addition, many more species are mentioned briefly in the "allied species" section for each entry.

I had the pleasure of birding in East Africa with John Williams for a month in 1968 and this copy shows evidence of how important and useful it was. Some items of memorabilia are laid in.

Later editions of the work were published in 1981 and 1988.

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

Willughby, Francis (1635-1672) (edited by Ray, John, [1628-1705)

The / Ornithology / of / Francis Willughby / of Middleton in the County of Warwick Esq; / Fellow of the Royal Society. / In Three Books. / Wherein all the / Birds / hitherto known, / Being reduced into a Method sutable (sic) to their Natures, / are accurately described. / The Descriptions illustrated by most Elegant Figures, nearly resembling / the live Birds , Engraven in LXXVIII Copper Plates. / Translated into English, and enlarged with many Additions / throughout the whole Work. / To which are added, / Three Considerable Discourses, / I. Of the Art of Fowling; with a Description / of several Nets in two large Copper plates / II. Of the Ordering of Singing Birds. / III. Of Falconry. Title printed in red and black 36.0 x 23.0 cm. Laid paper. 2^o. Catchwords. [A]⁴(a)²B-G⁴H⁴(+1, inserted table)I-Ll⁴Mm⁴(+1, inserted table)Nn-Ll⁴[$1, 2 signed];232 ll. Pp. (2)1-54(2)55-272(2)272-441[442-448]. Contemporary sprinkled calf, expertly rebacked to style. Spine with six raised ridges, gilt brown leather labeling piece in second compartment. London, printed by A. C. for John Martyn, Printer to the Royal Society, 1678.

A1r, title; A1v, blank; A2r-(a)2v, preface; 1, first book of ornithology of birds in general; 29, addition to the first book, the art of fowling; 55, second book of ornithology, land fowl, first part birds with hooked bills and talons; 121, second part, birds with "streighter" bills; 244, small birds with short, strong bills; 273, the third book of water fowl; 274, first part, cloven-footed waterfowl; 312, birds of a middle nature between swimmers and waders; 322, whole-footed birds with shorter legs; 385, appendix of dubious birds; 397, a summary of falconry; 443, index. Contains two unnumbered plates of snares between pages 28/29 with descriptive letter press on the verso of the first of these. Also contains, placed after the text, uncolored engraved Tab. I-LXXVIII by William Faithorne, William Sherwin and Frederick van Hove after various antecedent works. The John Evelyn Copy.

This work was translated with various corrections and additions from a Latin edition published two years before. Ray had edited it from Willughby's manuscript after the death of the latter. This English version contains three more plates (two of snares) than the earlier book. This is the first book printed in English and devoted solely to birds. According to Zimmer, Willughby and Ray's work is "The cornerstone of modern systematic ornithology, being the first book on the classification of birds without respect to geographical boundaries. Although the initial criteria, land and water birds, and the next levels concerning beaks and feet seem rather crude, the further classifications resemble more closely our present families and genera. The work attempts to encompass information on all species that had been previously described from the entire world. For species known well by the authors such as the Blackbird, the text is remarkably comprehensive and covers description, measurement, distribution, nidification, eggs and habits, albeit in a somewhat discursive manner. The appendix of dubious birds is said here to be mainly from Hernandez but was attributed to Nierember in the Latin edition.

Some of the pictures, probably the better ones, were copied from Leonhard Baldner from whom Willughby, the wealthy member of the duo, had purchased them. Baldner was a legendary naturalist from the Alsace area who compiled a manuscript of written notes on the wildlife of the area together with rather crude colored sketches that he had done. There are five copies of this manuscript, an original, a copy by his son, and three copies with the pictures redone by professional artists. It was one of the latter three that Willughby bought and that is now in the British Museum. I have had the pleasure of examining the original which came up for auction at Christie's London in the mid 1990s. It had disappeared from Strasbourg in the middle of the 19^th century.

Some of the pictures in the present book are rather amusing for historical reasons. The Great Auk has a white ring around his neck because it was copied from Worm whose pet bird had a collar. Birds-of-Paradise copied from Aldrovandi lack feet whereas those taken from Worm have them.

The present copy of this book comes from the library of John Evelyn (1620-1706), a well known diarist whose writings have been highly regarded for illuminating English Society of the era. Evelyn was known also for his fine garden and magnificent library. The locating mark for Evelyn's library, e2:11, is written in contemporary ink on the upper pastedown. There is also a contemporary inscription with Evelyn's name and motto (in Latin) on an initial blank leaf which I didn't include in my description above. Most importantly, there is an extensive manuscript note by Evelyn about the Condor on page 396.

Wood, p. 629; Zimmer, p. 677-678. This book (although not with such an interesting provenance) is present in all the major ornithological collections and institutional libraries.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813)

American Ornithology; / or, / The Natural History / of the / Birds of the United States Nine volumes. 34.6 x 27.0 cm. Contemporary red roan-backed and tipped marbled boards with gilt lettering on flat spines. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Philadelphia, Bradford and Inskeep. Printed by Robert Carr (R. & W. Carr, Vols. III and IV, Robert & William Carr, Vols. V-IX). Each volume signed in ink on title page by Edward Harris.

Vol. I. 1808. [a]²(-a1)b²B-2R²2S²(-2S2)[$1 signed]; 82 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[v]vi[1]2-158. i, Title; iii, preface dated September 1^st, 1808; v, (volume) index; 1, introduction; 11, species accounts. Covers 34 species. Contains colored plates 1-9 engraved and etched by A. Lawson (6) and G. Murray (3) after original drawings by Wilson. Hand-colored by A. Rider.

Vol. II. 1810. [A]²(-A1)B-2T²; 83 ll. Pp. (2)[v]vi-ix[x]xi[xii][13]14-167(1). A2^r, title; A2^v, blank; v, preface; xi, index; 13, species accounts. Covers 42 species. Contains colored plates 10-18 by Lawson (8) and Murray (1) after Wilson.

Vol. III. 1811. [A]²(-A1)B-2G²; 59 ll. Pp. (2)[v]vi-xiv[xv]xvi[17]18-120. A2^r, title; A2^v, blank; v, preface; xv, index; 17, species accounts. Covers 37 species. Contains colored plates 19-27 by Lawson (8) and Murray (1) after Wilson.

Vol. IV. 1811. [A]²(-A1)B-2B²; 49 ll. Pp. (2)[v]vi-x[xi]xii[13]14-100. A2^r, title; A2^v, blank; v, preface; xi, index; 13, species accounts. Covers 26 species. Contains colored plates 28-36 by Lawson (8) and B. Tanner (1, that including the Snowy Owl) after Wilson.

Vol. V. 1812. [A]²(-A2)B-2G²2H²(-2H2); 60 ll. Pp. (2)[v]vi-x[xi]xii[13]14-122. A2^r, title; A2^v, blank; v, preface; xi, index; 13, species accounts. Covers 26 species. Contains colored plates 37-45 (44 not numbered) by Lawson (4) and J. G. Warnicke (5) after Wilson.

Vol. VI. 1812. πa-d²D-2B²2C²(-2C2); 54 ll. Pp. (2)[v]vi-xviii[xix]xx[13]14-102(sic!). A2^r, title; A2^r, blank; v, preface including list / of the / land birds of the United States / with their generic characters, according to the arrangement of Latham; xix;index; 13, species accounts. Covers 25 species. Contains colored plates 46-54 by Lawson (4) and Warnicke (5) after Wilson.

Vol. VII. 1813. [A]²(-A2)B-2K²; 65 ll. Pp. (2)[v]vi-ix[x-xi]xii[13]14-132. A2^r, title; A2^v, blank; v, preface; xi, index; 13, species accounts. Covers 38 species. Contains colored plates 55-63 by Lawson (4) and Warnicke (5) after Wilson.

Vol. VIII. 1814. [A]²B-2N²2O²(-2O2); 73 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vii[viii-ix]x-xi[xii][13]14-146. i, Title; iii, preface in which Wilson’s death is divulged; ix, index; 13, species accounts. Covers 44 species. Contains colored plates 64-72 by Lawson (5) and Warnicke (4). Contains two text woodcuts.

Vol. IX. 1814. [A]²(-A1)B-2Q²; 77 ll. Pp. (2)[v]vi-xi[xii-xiii]xiv-lvii[lviii-lx][61]62-133[134](22). A1^r, title; A1^v, deposition statement; v, preface by George Ord (1781-1866) identifying himself as editor; xiii, biographical sketch of Wilson; xlix, list / of the / water birds of the United States / with their generic characters, according to the arrangement of Latham; lix, index; 61, species accounts; 2L2^r-2O2^r, general index; 2O2^v, blank; 2P1^r-2Q2^r, list of (449 plus nine extra copies) subscribers; 2Q2^v, blank. Covers 16 species. Contains colored plates 73-76 by Lawson (2) and Warnicke (2) after Wilson.

This is the first and most important ornithological book about North American birds that was written and produced in the United States. It is also the first natural history book with colored plates produced in the United States. General antecedent works concerned extensively with the birds of North America include Catesby’s very precocious work and Pennant’s Arctic Zoology. The first significant ornithological publication in the United States was Benjamin Smith Barton’s Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania issued in 1799. Wilson’s great work was also one of the early American books to contain colored plates, although not the first.

Wilson was a writer and poet as well as a keen observer of birds. According to Ord in Volume IX, Wilson’s work encompassed 278 species of which 56 were new. He was much influenced by William Bartram in whose garden he spent considerable time and whose copies of important books, such as those by Catesby and Edwards, he was able to peruse. While an admirer of English ornithologists (he followed Latham’s system of classification), he was extremely distrustful and contemptuous of the Eurocentric continental interpretation of ornithology as exemplified in Buffon’s work. Amongst the 449 subscribers to his work were Bartram and Benjamin Smith Barton as well as several signers of the Declaration of Independence including Jefferson and Madison. However, it is noteworthy that only 15 subscribers were from abroad, 14 from England and Scotland, and one from Russia. None of these were internationally prominent ornithologists.

Wilson died before the appearance of Volume VIII and Ord edited this volume, assembled the ninth from material that Wilson had prepared, and wrote a biography of Wilson that was included in it. Ord became a champion of Wilson’s in Wilson’s posthumous competition with Audubon for primacy in the field of American Ornithology.

The total print run of most or all of these volumes was 500. In the case of Volume I, the first issue comprised 200 copies and the second issue, 300. The present copy is of the second issue which, paradoxically, bears the preface dated earlier (September 1st, 1808) than the first issue(October 1^st, 1808). Another distinguishing feature concerns the distribution of the Wood Thrush in winter discussed on page 33. In the second issue, as here, Wilson says “I have myself searched the woods of Carolina and Georgia…” whereas in the first issue his information is second-hand (“Tho it is believed….”.) because he had not yet personally examined the area. Evidently he visited it in between writing the two versions. There are other differences between the issues but either of these criteria is itself sufficient to make the distinction. The pagination and signatures, actual and inferred, suggest that half-titles were envisioned for these volumes. Yet they are absent not only from this copy, but also from that in the Ayer library described by Zimmer, so I presume they never actually existed.

Edward Harris (1799-1863) was a gentleman farmer who traveled up the Missouri with Audubon in 1843. His diary for this voyage, Up the Missouri with Audubon… was published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 1951. Harris’ Hawk and Harris’ Sparrow are named after him and he owned one of three known assigned complete sets of the 13 composite prints that Audubon had made as supplementary plates for the folio edition of The Birds of America. It is hardly surprising that Harris is not among the subscribers to Wilson’s work since he was 15 when it was completed. Harris has signed the title page of each volume of this set in ink. In addition, he is likely responsible for the extensive pencilled notes with additions from Bonaparte and from Audubon on the pages containing the List of the Land Birds.. in Volume VI and the List of the Water Birds.. in Volume IX.

Trinity, p. 258; Wood, p. 630; Yale, p. 312; Zimmer, p. 678.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857)

American Ornithology; / or the / Natural History / of the / Birds of the United States ////// Popular edition. 26.0 x 17.6 cm. Three volumes in one. Total 584 ll. Original publisher’s brown cloth with gilt Bald Eagle and Orchard Oriole on upper cover. Partly gilt title on upper cover and spine. Philadelphia, Porter & Coates, (1878).

Vol. I. [A]⁶B-H⁸I¹⁰[1]⁸2-13⁸14⁴(-14₄)[$1 signed]; 179 ll. Pp. [iii-iv]v-vi, ix-cxxxii, i-xvi[1]2-214. iii, Title; v, contents; ix, preface to the life of Wilson; xi, sketch of the author’s life; i, catalogue of North American birds; xv, alphabetical index of genera; 1, introduction; 11, species accounts. Contains, on the rectos of 28 unnumbered leaves, uncolored, metal-engraved plates 1-76 and B, 1-B, 27 comprising all the plates from Wilson and from Bonaparte in reduced, uncolored format.

Vol. II. 1⁸(-1₈)2-24⁸25⁴(-25₄); 194 ll. Pp. [iii-iv]v-viii9-390. iii, Title; v, contents; 9, species accounts.

Vol. III. [1]⁶2-26⁸276(-27₆); 211 ll. Pp. [v-vi]vii-viii9-426. v, Title; vii, contents; 9, species accounts; 409, combined index.

According to Coues, this popular edition was “cheap” ($7. 50) and “substantially” the same textually as the Porter & Coates 1871 edition that contained three text volumes. That edition had a splendid folio colored set of plates here replaced by uncolored reduced versions. The Porter & Coates editions combined the texts from the Ord edition of Wilson including the “Life of Wilson” with the entire text of Bonaparte and with a Catalogue of North American Birds that had been published by Baird in 1858.

Despite the unusual of the preliminaries, this volume is complete and identical in pagination to those described explicitly by Coues and by Zimmer.

Coues, I, p. 746; Wood, p. 631; Yale, p. 312; Zimmer, p. 686.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813)

The / Foresters: / A Poem / Descriptive of a / Pedestrian Journey / to the / Falls of Niagara, / in the Autumn of 1804 13.7 x 9.3 cm. A-F⁸G⁴[$1 , 7 signed]; 52 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-104. Contemporary brown mottled calf. West Chester, Pa., printed by Joseph Painter, 1838. 1, title; 3, brief biography; 5, poem; 81, appendix containing explanatory notes.

Wilson’s best known poem. It was first published in 1818 and the present volume is the second edition although not so stated. The author of the brief biography is not identified. The explanatory notes may have been written by Wilson, himself.

Braislin auction catalgoue, #853; Thayer, p. 182 (first edition). Unlisted for Ayer, McGill, Trinity and Yale collections.

Wilson, Edward Adrian (1872-1912) (edited by Brian (Birley) Roberts[d. 1978])

Edward Wilson's / birds / of the / Antarctic // from the original illustrations in the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge. 30.2 x 24.6 cm. Pp. [i-iv]v[vi-ix[10]11-191(1). Publisher's blue cloth with silver lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Poole, Dorsett, Blanford Press, 1980.

i, Half-title; ii, uncolored half-tone frontispiece photograph of Wilson; iii, title; iv, copyright 1967; reprinted 1980; ISBN 0 7137 0459 4; printed and bound in Great Britain; v, acknowledgements; publisher's note: "The minor revisions to this second impression were carried out by Dr. Brian Roberts shortly before his death on 9^th October 1978"; vi, vignette; vii, contents; ix, introduction; 11, biographical memoir of Edward Wilson; 12, the Discovery expedition, 1901-1904; 22, the grouse disease inquiry and British birds and mammals, 1905-1910; 23, the Terra Nova expedition, 1910-1912; 29, epilogue; 30, Wilson as an artist; 36, systematic list (49 species) of illustrated birds; 37, the bird illustrations (10-307); 135, notes on the illustrations; 143, extracts from Wilson's journals; 180, publications by Wilson; 181, selected publications relating to Wilson (75); 184, original manuscripts and pictures; 187, index. Contains figures 1-315 not including frontispiece and vignette (approximately 165 colored), about 15 full-page (eight colored), most printed in half-tone and all included in pagination.

Wilson was a physician, naturalist and artist who accompanied Robert. Falcon Scott on his Antarctic expeditions and died with Scott on the second in 1912. This work reproduces his ornithological pictures from the two expeditions as well as a few other sketches from his journals. He was well regarded as an artist and ornithologist by England's ornithological elite including Sharpe and Sclater, both of whom published articles based on his specimens and drawings. The present copy is a reprint with minor revisions of the original book that was published in 1967.

AMNH, Cornell list this reprint and the original. Harvard, Trinity, Yale just list the original.

Wilson, Alexander, Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (Jardine, William [1800-1874], editor)

American Ornithology; / or, / The Natural History / of the / Birds of the United States 21.7 x 14.9 cm. Three volumes. Publisher’s quarter green leather with red cloth sides and embossed gilt eagle on spine. TEG. Chatto and Windus, London, 1876. Printed by Ballantyne and Company, Edinburgh and London.

Vol. I. [a]⁴b-g⁸h²A-2B⁸2C⁴[$1 signed]; 258 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-cvi(2)[1]2-408. I, Half-title; iii, title; v, contents; ix, life of Wilson; h2, title leaf “American Ornithology”; 1, text. Contains uncolored engraved frontispiece portrait of Wilson after John Watson Gordon and colored plates 1-27 engraved by Lizars after Wilson.

Vol. II. π⁴A-2H⁸; 252 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii][1]2-495(1). i, Half-title; iii, title; v, contents; 1, text. Contains colored plates 28-68 engraved by Lizars after Wilson.

Vol. III. π⁴A-2K⁸2L⁴2M²; 274 ll. Pp. [I-v]vi-vii[viii][1]2-540. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, contents; 1, text; 157, title leaf “Continuation / of / Wilson’s / American Ornithology. / by / Charles Lucian Bonaparte”; 159, text; 525, index of English and Latin names. Contains colored plates 69-76 by Lizars after Wilson, 1-21 by Lizars after T. Peale and A. Rider and 22-27 by undesignated printer after Peale and Rider.

This edition may well have been projected when Jardine was still alive. The work is essentially identical to the Jardine edition of 1832 except that it includes the text and plates (22-27) of the fourth and last part of Bonaparte which was issued in 1833 and the index is modified as well to accommodate this additional material.

Zimmer suggests that plates 1-76 and 1-21 were restrikes from the original engravings for the Jardine edition and that they were colored by hand but in much inferior quality to those in the Jardine edition. There may be some hand-coloring in this edition but most of it is clearly color printed, perhaps by chromolithography i.e. the plates were engraved and then subsequently colored using several stones. Plates 22-27 of Bonaparte were originally engraved on a much larger scale. They have been reduced here, probably by camera lucida, and printed in color, again probably by chromolithography. There is no designation on these six plates other than the names of Peale or Rider. While it is interesting to speculate on the procedure by which the plates in these volumes were reproduced and colored, it must be admitted that the final result was poor when compared with the original Jardine edition whose plates themselves were inferior to those from which they were copied in Wilson’s and Bonaparte’s works.

Wood, p. 681; Yale, p. 312; Zimmer, p. 685. Not listed in Trinity catalog.

(Wilson, Alexander) Grosart, Alexander B. (1832-1899)

The / Poems and Literary Prose / of / Alexander Wilson, / The American Ornithologist. / for the first time fully collected and compared with the original and / early editions, mss., etc. / edited, / with Memorial-Introduction, Essay, Notes, Illustrations, / and Glossary Two volumes. 20.0 x 13.6 cm. Original brown cloth with original printed paper labels on spines. Uncut and volume II unopened. Paisley: Alex. Gardner, 1876

Vol. I-Prose π[a]⁴b-g⁴[A]⁴B-S2⁴(-S2₄)[$1 signed]; 196 ll (24 letter alphabet lacking J and U only). Pp. (2)[i-iii]iv-x[xi-xiii]xiv-xvi[xvii]xviii-lv[lvi][1-3]4-333[334]. π Half-title; i, title; iii, preface; xiii, contents; xvii, memorial-introduction; 1, journal as a pedlar; 37, letters and letter journals in America; 237, essays of ornithology; 313, the solitary philosopher; 321, oration. Contains uncolored frontispiece engraved portrait of Wilson after James Craw. Contains a few wood-engraved head and tail pieces.

Vol. II.-Poems [a]⁴b-e⁴A-O2⁴P2²Q2-D3⁴E2²[$1 signed, X2 unsigned] ; 236 ll (25 letter alphabet lacking only J) Pp. [i-iv]v-xl[1-3]4-372, 375-433[434]. i, Half-title; iii, title; v, contents; ix, essay on life and writings of Wilson; 1, Scottish poems; 109, English poems; 317, poems here presented for the first time; 375, notes and illustrations; 413, glossarial index. A few wood-engraved head and tail pieces.

This is perhaps the most significant early biography of Wilson and appreciation of his many talents. The work appears to be complete despite the absence of the leaf containing pp. 373/374 which is probably the result of a printer’s error.

Braislin Auction, #855; Yale, p. 312 (incorrect title).

Wilson, James Southall

Alexander Wilson / Poet-Naturalist / A Study of his Life / With Selected Poems 20.8 x 14.5 cm. [1]⁸2-11⁸12²[$1 signed]; 90 ll. Pp. [1-9]10-179(1). Original green cloth with gilt-lettered title on upper cover and spine. TEG, others uncut. New York and Washington, the Neale Publishing Company, 1906. 1, Half-title; 3, title; 5, dedication; 7, contents; 9, preface; 13, chronology; 17, text; 151, bibliography; 155, selected poems. Contains uncolored frontispiece portrait of Alexander Wilson after Titian Peale.

“What this monograph attempts is to give a fuller record of the man’s life than has hitherto been written, and a real picture of the man himself”. “Especial acknowledgment is due, however, to Professor George M. Harper, of Princeton University, at whose suggestion this work was begun and whose advice throughout its writing has greatly influenced its present form”.

This biography of Wilson may have been the thesis for an academic degree.

Braislin Auction catalogue, #856. Unlisted Trinity, Wood, Yale, Zimmer, Gallatin, Thayer.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857) (Robert Jameson, editor)

American Ornithology; / or the / Natural History of / The Birds of the United States / / edited by / Robert Jameson Four volumes. 14.8 x 9.3 cm. Contemporary half-morocco with marbled boards and endpapers. TEG. Printed by Andrew Shortreed for Constable and Co., Edinburgh and Hurst, Chance and Co., London, 1831.

Vol. I. π⁶b-f⁸g²A-R⁸[$1 signed]; 184 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xcvi[1-3]4-271(1). π1r, Half-title; π2r, Constable’s Miscellany title, Vol. LXVIII with vignette of “Bald Eagle”; π3r, Wilson’s American Ornithology title; π4r, notice; π5r-π6v, contents; xiii, memoir of Wilson by W. M. Hetherington; lxxxvii, preface; lxxxix, introduction; 1, systematic text. Contains engraved frontispiece of Wilson by Lizars after James Craw.

Vol. II. π⁶A-U⁸X⁸(-X₈); 173 ll. Pp. (6)[v]vi-ix(1)[1-3]4-334. π1-3, as above with Vol. LXIX and vignette of “Night Hawk”; v, contents; 1, systematic text.

Vol. III. π5A-U8; 165 ll. Pp. (6)[v]vi-viii[1-3]4-320. π1-3 as above with Vol. LXX and vignette “Scarlet Ibis”; v, contents; 1, systematic text; 263, synonyms.

Vol. IV. π⁶A-Y⁸Z⁶(-Z₆); 187 ll. Pp. (6)[v]vi-x[1-3]4-362. π1-3 as above with Vol. LXXI and vignette “Wild Turkey” and Bonaparte’s instead of Wilson’s American Ornithology; v, advertisement; vii, contents; 1, systematic text; 219, synonyms; 238, appendix (with material from Audubon, Richardson and Swainson, and C. L. Brehm)

This is the first European edition of Wilson which appeared as part of the serial publication, Constable’s Miscellany. It is taken from the first edition of Wilson but Jameson has rearranged the species in systematic order and Ord’s memoir has been omitted in favor of that by Hetherington. In addition, the first three volumes of Bonaparte (all published to 1831) are included in volume IV as are extracts from Audubon’s Ornithological Biography and Richardson and Swainson’s Northern Zoology, both of which were published in the same year as this volume (1831). Indeed, the extracts from the latter are said to have been taken from proof pages and may have been printed before those in the actual publication for which they were intended. Some contemporary taxonomic classification by C. L. Brehm is also included. In short, this is considerably more than a reprint of Wilson’s American Ornithology….

It is interesting to note that the printer is “Andrew Shortreed”. The very rare royal octavo Wilson and Bonaparte has the printer on the title leaf listed as “Andrew Shortrede”.

Wood, p. 630; Yale, p. 312; Zimmer, p. 682.

Wilson, Alexander and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (Jardine, William[1800-1874])

American Ornithology; / or / The Natural History / of / The Birds of the United States 22.0 x 14.4 cm. Three volumes. Original publisher’s half-leather, marbled boards. TEG, others uncut. Whittaker, Treacher & Arnot, London; Stirling & Kenney, Edinburgh, 1832. Printed by Andrew Shortreed, Edinburgh.

Vol. I. [a]⁴(-a1)b-g⁸h²A-2B⁸2C⁴[$1 signed]; 257 ll. Pp. [iii-v]vi-cvii(1)[1]2-408. iii, Title; v, contents; ix, life of Wilson by Jardine; 1, text. Contains engraved portrait of Wilson after John Watson Gordon and colored plates 1-27 engraved by Lizars after Wilson.

Vol. II. π⁴(-π1)A-2A⁸2B⁴(-2B4); 198 ll. Pp. [iii-v]vi-vii(1)[1]2-390. Iii, Title; v, contents; 1, text. Contains colored plates 28-60.

Vol. III. π⁴(-π1)A-2H⁸2I⁶2K⁸; 265 ll. Pp.[iii-v]vi-viii[1]2-523(1). iii, Title; v, contents; 1, text; 259, title leaf: Continuation / of / Wilson’s / American Ornithology / by / Charles Lucian Bonaparte; 261, text; 509, index of English and Latin names. Contains colored plates 61-76 and 1-21, the latter by Lizars after T. Peale and A. Rider, with plate 9, the Wild Turkey, bound as frontispiece.

This is the second European edition of Wilson and Bonaparte, generally referred to as the “Jardine” edition after its editor. A major difference from the antecedent edition edited by Jameson is that Jardine has kept Wilson’s original serendipitous order of species instead of rearranging it systematically. Like Jameson, Jardine has included the available three parts of Bonaparte’s continuation and has made extensive editiorial notes taking other recent publications into account. It seems curious to me that two such similar editions adapted from the first edition of Wilson and from the first three parts of Bonaparte’s continuation should have been produced and published almost simultaneously in Edinburgh.

Although the pagination, real and inferred in these volumes, suggests that they each lack a half-title, the only other completely described copy, that by Zimmer, was identical

In the plates of this copy, the backgrounds as well as the birds themselves are colored. Many examples of this work contain the backgrounds uncolored. It should be noted that the plates in the work have been trimmed to the impressed margins of the engraved surface. Two copies of an untrimmed royal octavo version of the same plates engraved by Lizars but these specially colored by Thomas Brown were issued by Andrew Shortrede (presumably the same person as Andrew Shortreed) in 1832. I possess one of these copies.

Trinity, p. 259; Wood, p. 630; Yale, p. 312; Zimmer, p. 683. Not listed in Trinity catalog.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) (Brewer, T. M.[1814-1880])

Wilson's / American Ornithology, / with Notes by Jardine: / to which is added / A Synopsis of American Birds, / including those described / by / Bonaparte, Audubon, Nuttall, and / Richardson; 18.9 x 12.0 cm. A⁴1-62⁶63²(-63₁)[$1, 3 signed]; 377 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-viii1-746. Original publisher's green morocco (spine faded to brown) with blind ornamental paneling, central gilt design on upper cover, richly gilt ornamental spine with gilt lettering. Gilt dentelles, moiré end papers. AEG. Blindstamp Bradley Binder on front free endpaper. Boston, Otis, Broaders and Company, 1840.

i, Printed title page; ii, copyright, printer's designation; iii, advertisement (preface); v, contents; 1, text with species in the same unsystematic order as Wilson's original edition; 682, synopsis of the birds of North America (listing 491 species in systematic order). Contains additional, engraved, illuminated title page and 24 (of 25) unnumbered, engraved hand-colored plates containing figures 1-38, 53-315 (lacking plate containing figures 39-52). Also contains two unnumbered, uncolored text woodcuts and uncolored text woodcuts 316-318 and 322 (printer's error, should be 319).

This was an important book in its day, the first American edition of Wilson that was small format (third American edition after the first two folios) and available at a price affordable to the general public. The illustrations were much reduced and combined to compress the number of plates from Wilson's original 76 to 25. Brewer followed Jardine in using Wilson's original haphazard order of species rather than the systematic arrangement that had been adapted for the second American (Ord) edition. However, Brewer did add a systematic list as the synopsis at the end that he adapted from Audubon's synopsis. Furthermore, he included information not present in the original Wilson from the works of Bonaparte, Audubon, Swainson and Richardson, and Nuttall. Jardine had included some, but not all of this material. Brewer omitted the section on the life of Wilson which had been included in earlier American and British editions.

The Brewer edition is a common book, present in all major libraries and collections. However, the present copy is apparently one of a very small number that was issued with a special binding and with the plates colored. My friend Bob Braun has an identical copy. Amongst the major libraries and collections, the only one that contained a colored copy was the Gallatin collection. This de luxe issue is lacking from the libraries of the AMNH, BM(NH), Cornell, LSU, McGill, Oxford, Trinity and Yale as well as the Ayer, Braislin, Evans and Thayer collections and is apparently bibliographically unrecorded.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) (Brewer, T. M.[1814-1880])

Printed title: Wilson’s American Ornithology, / with / Notes by Jardine: / to which is added / A Synopsis of American Birds, / including those described / by / Bonaparte, Audubon, Nuttall, and / Richardson //// by T. M. Brewer //// MDIIILIV. L Chromolithographed and gold-illuminatedtitle: Wilson’s / American / Ornithlogy / with / Additions including the Birds / described by / Audubon, Bonaparte, Nuttall, / & Richardson /// Lithography of Bien & Sterner, 90 Fulton St. N. Y. 20.7 x 14.3 cm. π⁵1-62⁶63²(-63₂)[$1, 3 signed]; 378 ll. Pp. (6)[i-iii]iv[1]2-746. Contemporary half-leather, cloth sides, marbled endpapers. New York, T. L. Magagnos & Co., 1854.

π1r, Lithographed title page; π1v, blank; π2r-π3v, contemporary calligraphic alphabetical index; π4r, printed title page; π4v, copyright 1839 to T. M. Brewer; π5r-π5v, advertisement; 1, species accounts; 682, synopsis of the birds of North America. Contains 25 unnumbered engraved, uncolored plates with figures 1-315 after Wilson. The last of these plates has been modified to contain a chromolithographed and gold-illuminated decorative frame by Bien and Sterner, and has been used as a frontispiece. Also contains six uncolored lithographic plates by Bien and Sterner (Spoon Bill, Swan, White Pelican, Blue Ara, Great Horned Owl and Gyr Falcon). Also contains an unnumbered woodcut in the main body of the text and figures 316-318 and 322 in the Synopsis. Apparently, a printer’s error is responsible for the 322 instead of 319.

Brewer’s edition of Wilson used the Jardine edition (1832) as a framework but omitted the “Life of Alexander Wilson”. Many additions were made, based particularly on Audubon’s Synopsis which was published (1839) the year before the original issue of Brewer, but also on the last part of Bonaparte (1833) and on the Nuttall’s Ornithology (1832-1834) and Fauna Boreali Americana (1831). The present volume, unfortunately in bad condition, is apparently very rare and termed by Casey Wood “rarissima”. It differs from the original Brewer issue only by the addition of the material lithographed by Bien & Sterner: i. e. the illuminated title page; the illuminated frame for the frontispiece; and the six uncolored plates, some of which depict birds not native to North America. Bien, of course, went on to lithograph an incomplete and much desired folio edition of Audubon that was issued in 1860. I’ve seen another copy of this work in which the six plates by Bien were colored by a contemporary hand. The calligraphic index in the present volume is contemporary and probably done by an ornithologist since it represents considerable painstaking effort.

Brewer’s edition is the third American edition of Wilson after the original and “Ord” editions. At the time of its original publication, Brewer’s edition was remarkably up-to-date, accurate and authoritative.

Wood, p. 631. This edition,absent from Trinity, Yale, Zimmer, London Zoological Society, British Museum, Braislin, Gallatin, Thayer and Evans collections.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) (Ord, George [1781-1866])

American Ornithology; / or / The Natural History of the / Birds of the United States /// with a sketch of the author’s life, / by George Ord, F. L. S. &c. Three volumes text, Large Paper, 25.2 x 19.6. Contemporary half-black morocco with olive cloth sides, gilt spine with five raised ridges. Marbled endpapers and edges. Atlas, 38 x 28 cm. Later half-blue morocco, olive cloth sides. Collins & Co., New York and Harrison Hall, Philadelphia.

Vol. I. 1828. [A]⁴B-3H⁴($1 signed); 216 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-cxcix[cc][1]2-231(1). i, Title; ii, deposition statement; iii, contents; v, editor’s preface; vii, preface to the life of Wilson; ix, sketch of the author’s life; 1, introduction; 13, systematic text. Contains two text wood cuts.

Vol. II. 1828. [A]⁴(-A4)B-3L⁴; 227 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[9]10-456. i, Title; ii, depositon; iii, contents; 9, text.

Vol. III. 1829. [A]⁴(-A4)B-3D⁴3E⁴(-3E4); 202 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[1]2-376, 375-396. i, Title; ii, deposition statement; iii, contents; 1, text; 379, general (English) index; 393, list of (127) subscribers. Contains two text wood cuts.

Atlas 1829. One title leaf: American Ornithology; / or,[sic] / The Natural History / of the / Birds of the United States // Plates // Contains plates 1-76 with “44” printed in reverse.

This second edition of Wilson is usually called the “Ord” edition because Ord wrote the long sketch of Wilson’s life and because some of the editorial comments are attributed to him. However, he is thanked in the editor’s preface making it seem as though there were another editor in charge of the whole work.

This edition differs most importantly from the first in that the species are arranged systematically rather than haphazardly. In addition, there are editorial additions and the plates, although from the same engravings, are printed on superior paper and were perhaps colored with more stable pigments such that they are invariably in much better condition than those in the first edition.

Zimmer noticed the same printer’s error described above for Volume II, namely the absence of leaf vii/viii. Neither he nor anyone else seems to have noticed the printer’s error in Volume II such that, although the text is continuous and logical, there are consecutive leaves designated 375/376 and 375/[376] before 377.

Trinity, p. 259; Wood, p. 630; Yale, p. 312; Zimmer, p. 681.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813), Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857)

Illustrations / of the / American ornithology /of / Alexander Wilson, / and / Charles Lucian Bonaparte. / Engraved by W. H. Lizars, / and / coloured by Captain Thomas Brown, F. L. S. 25.4 x 18.0 cm. Contains three unpaginated leaves, printed on recto only, without signatures or pagination including volume title above followed by section title leaf: Illustrations / of the / American ornithology / of / Alexander Wilson and, following plate 76, a second section leaf, Illustrations / of the / American ornithology / of / Charles Lucian Bonaparte. Probably later full straight-grained black morocco with triple gilt fillet on covers, five gilt raised band on spine. Gilt lettering in second compartment. Red endpapers. AEG. Edinburgh, Andrew Shortrede, 1832.

Contains hand-colored (by Brown) engraved plates 1-76 and 1-21, all engraved by W. H. Lizars, 1-76 drawn by Alexander Wilson, the remaining 21 by Alexander Rider (12), Titian Peale (8) and Rider and John James Audubon(1).

One of only two known copies. This rare "Royal Octavo" edition of Wilson and Bonaparte has apparently only been described by Walter Faxon (Auk, XX: 236-241[1903] and XXXVI: 623-626 [1919], the latter here laid in loosely) whose copy in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard is the only other one known. Lizars apparently originally printed these plates for an atlas to be colored by Brown and to accompany Jameson's edition of Wilson and Bonaparte (1831). Evidently, after coloring only a few copies, Brown became diverted by his own large folio work. The remaining uncolored sets of plates were then appropriated by Lizars' friend William Jardine for his version of Wilson and Bonaparte. For this purpose, they had to be cut down to coincide with the text leaves which had already been printed and to be colored by Lizars' staff. Thus, the size of my copy of the Jardine edition of Wilson and Bonaparte is 21.8 x 14.2 cm. As one might expect, the coloring of the two editions is quite different. The only mention of this edition in the literature is a confusing aside by Zimmer (p. 683) in his entry on the Jameson edition.

Laid into this copy loosely, are a xerox of the 1919 Auk article; bookplates of Evan Morton Evans and his son Daniel Webster Evans; and a manuscript note in pencil, probably by Evan Morton Evans, describing the history of the book and adding that this copy came from the library of Ogden Mills.

This is the rarest edition of Wilson and also the most attractive of the smaller ones.

Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813) and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian (1803-1857)

American Ornithology; / or the / Natural History / of the / Birds of the United States ////// Popular edition. 25.5.0 x 17.7 cm. Laid paper in 40 configuration. Three volumes in one. Total 585 ll. Original publisher’s brown cloth with gilt Bald Eagle and Orchard Oriole on upper cover, black block lettering on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Olive green endpapers. Original off-white dust jacket with black printing. Philadelphia, Porter & Coates, (1878).

Vol. I. [A]⁸B-H⁸I¹⁰[1]82-138144(-144)[$1 signed]; 180 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-vi, ix-cxxxii, i2-xvi2[1]2-214. i.ii, blank; iii, Title; iv, blank; v, contents; vi, blank; ix, preface to the life of Wilson; xi, sketch of the author’s life; i, catalogue of North American birds; xv, alphabetical index of genera; 1, introduction; 11, species accounts. Contains, on the rectos of 28 unnumbered leaves, uncolored, metal-engraved plates 1-76 and B, 1-B, 27 comprising all the plates from Wilson (1-76) and from Bonaparte (1-27) in reduced, uncolored format. Also contains unnumbered, uncolored text woodcut.

Vol. II. 1⁸(-1₈)2-24⁸25⁴(-254); 194 ll. Pp. [iii-iv]v-viii9-390. i/ii, blank; iii, Title; v, contents; 9, species accounts.

Vol. III. [1]⁶2-26⁸27⁶(-27₆); 211 ll. Pp. [v-vi]vii-viii9-426. v, Title; vii, contents; 9, species accounts; 409, combined index. Contains one text woodcut.

According to Coues, this popular edition was “cheap” ($7. 50) and “substantially” the same textually as the Porter & Coates 1871 edition that contained three text volumes. That edition had a splendid folio colored set of plates here replaced by uncolored reduced versions. The Porter & Coates editions combined the texts from the Ord edition of Wilson including the “Life of Wilson” with the entire text of Bonaparte and with a Catalogue of North American Birds that had been published by Baird in 1858. I believe that this was the last edition of Wilson.

Despite the unusual pagination of the preliminaries suggesting that there is a (vii/viii) missing leaf, this is likely a printer’s error and the volume is probably complete since it is identical in pagination to those described explicitly by Coues and by Zimmer and since the signatures and sense are complete.

The dust jacket on this copy is a remarkable survival and is certainly amongst the earliest for an ornithological book. Zimmer dates this edition “1878” and states that it was reviewed in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 4, 53-54, 1879. There is no indication that this volume is a later reprint and it contains a loosely laid in card about hunting regulations for game birds that is dated 1889. Porter & Coates went out of business in 1895.

Coues, I, p. 746; Wood, p. 631; Yale, p. 312; Zimmer, p. 686.

Wilson, Scott, B(archard) (1864-1923) assisted by Evans, A(rthur) H(umble) (1855-1943)

Aves Hawaiienses: / The Birds / of the / Sandwich Islands 32.0 x 25.5 cm. π[a]⁴b-c⁴d-e²[$1, 2 signed]; Preliminiaries:17 ll. Pp. [i-iii](1)iiia-iiie(1)[v]vi-xxv[xxvi-xxvii](1). Text sections with individual signatures and pagination. Pagination is described in the table of contents as 1-257(1) and in the description below, I will follow that for convenience. However, this copy contains an extra leaf of text concerning Himatione aurea which appeared in Part IV but was cancelled and replaced by two leaves of text in Part VI dealing with Loxops aurea, as the species was reclassified. The Himatione aurea leaf here is bound just before the two leaves dealing with Loxops aurea. Thus, this copy has 130 instead of 129 leaves following the preliminaries. Fine full blue levant morocco binding by Starr Bookworks with inlaid colored leathers simulating the colored plate of Himatione parva on upper cover. Spine with five broad, gilt-ruled and decorated raised panels, gilt red calf lettering pieces in second, fourth and sixth compartments, gilt design in first, third, fifth and sixth. Gilt-paneled dentelles. Marbled endpapers. Uncut. Original gray or green printed wrappers for parts I-VIII(complete) bound at rear. London, R. H. Porter, 1890-1899.

I, title; ii, printer's engraved imprint: Taylor and Francis; iii, dedication to Alfred Newtan; iiia-iiic, contents; iiid, blank; iiie, list of plates; v, preface by Wilson; vii, introduction, quoting Newton extensively and referring to Wilson in the third person but with author (? Newton) unidentified; xxiv, table of distribution of Passeres in the Sandwich Islands; xxv, list of additional species; xxvii, errata and addenda; [1-217(1)], accounts of 83 species (an extra leaf with account of Himatione aurea in this copy); [219], remarks on the structure of Hawaiian birds, I., by Hans Gadow; 243, remarks, II. by Gadow; 251, index. Contains an uncolored lithographed map by Edwin Wilson, Cambridge; three uncolored plates with photographs of nests reproduced by collotype; three lithographed plates, one partly colored of anatomical parts, after Gadow by Lith. Anst. Julius Klinkhardt, Leipzig; and 64 hand-colored lithographed plates drawn and lithographed by F. W. Frohawk, printed by West, Newman, imp. All plates are unnumbered and mounted on guards. Also contains two uncolored text figures.

This work and The Avifauna of Laysan.. (1893-1900) by Rothschild and Palmer are the two magnificent works on Hawaiian birds that appeared at the turn of the century when there was still a slim possibility of finding many endemics that have subsequently disappeared or virtually so. Robert C. L. Perkins and Henry W. Henshaw also collected at the time and wrote excellent, if much less conspicuous accounts. Wilson was stimulated by Newton, the Chair of Zoology at Cambridge, to undertake studies of Hawaiian birds in the field and spent 18 months collecting in the islands. He discovered several new species and forms. The role of Evans in the development of the book is unclear although he was a highly regarded Cambridge ornithologist. The text covers synonymy/bibliography; description; measurements; distribution; and a discussion of whatever pertinent information was available. There seems to have been good communication amongst Wilson, Perkins and Rothschild.

The wrappers indicate that publication began with Part I in December, 1890 and ended with part VIII in July, 1899. The price of each part was one guinea (£1 1s) and about 120 copies were subscribed. Subscription copies such as this one can be identified by the presence of wrappers; by discontinuous pagination; and by the presence of the extra leaf of Himatione aurea in part IV that was replaced by a text for Loxops aurea in part VI. Most copies seem to have been bound from the parts so the total printing was probably around 200 copies. The book is important and beautiful. Many of the birds described in this book are extinct as are books of this quality.

Wood, p. 631; Zimmer, p. 536. Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Yale but original unlisted by Harvard which does list an Arno reprint. Zimmer and Trinity mistakenly describe the work as complete in seven parts. The eighth part contained the Table of Contents, List of Plates, and Index.

Wilson, James (1795-1856)

Illustrations / of / Zoology, / being representations of new, rare, or remarkable / subjects of the animal kingdom, / drawn and coloured after nature, / with historical and descriptive details. 40.0 x 31.0 cm. Non-sequential signatures[$1 signed] in twos for species accounts. 77 Leaves mostly unpaginated as follows: Title leaf; dedication leaf (to Robert Jameson); [i]ii, contents; [1]2-3[4], preface, dated 25 April, 1827; 71 ll covering accounts of 36 species. Contemporary navy cloth, marbled endpapers and edges. Later calf back and corners with gilt roll design at edges. Spine in six compartments with gilt lettering and designs. Edinburgh, William Blackwood and London, Thomas Cadell, 1831. Contains hand-colored plates I-XXXVI (not sequentially bound) of which 34 engraved by William Lizars and two lithographed by George Graves.

Wilson was cut from the same cloth, and close friends with Selby, Jardine and Lizars. Each was wealthy, knowledgeable in most areas of natural history with a special interest in ornithology, and each was a competent (or better) artist. Wilson wrote the ornithological section of the contemporary Encyclopedia Brittanica. In the present work, he describes interesting specimens from the collection of the Museum of the University of Edinburgh which was under the aegis of Robert Jameson He describes 36 species in some detail and also covers their respective classes and genera. Included are 11 mammals, 20 birds, two lepidoptera and single examples of fish, reptile and mollusc. These are not the original descriptions of for the various species although Wilson considers a gull new and designates it "Larus jamesoni". In reality, it was first described by Latham in 1824 as the "Crimson-billed Gull" and subsequently in 1826 by Shaw as Larus novaehollandiae, by which Latin designation it (the Silver Gull of Australia) is still known.

The specific descriptions are variable depending on what is known for the species in question. There is synonymy, a physical description including dimensions, and as much of a life history as is feasible. The artists include Wilson, himself for 22 plates including 19 of birds; Lizars (5); A. Mosses (3); Patrick Syme (2); Macgillivary (1); Howitt (1); William Thomson (1); and Benjamin W. Hawkins (1). The rendition of the Great Auk by Hawkins is the first really fine picture of that memorable and lost species and one of only two good representations of it while it was still extant. The other, in my view one of the finest of all ornithological pictures, was Lear's depiction for Gould's Birds of Europe several years later.

Bradley Martin, #235; Trinity, p. 259; Yale, p. 313. Not listed by Wood or Zimmer.

Wolf, Edwin [1911-]

A flock of / beautiful birds / the ornithological collection / of Louise Elkins Sinkler 22.7 x 15.2 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-43(1). Original printed thin card wrapper's with uncolored half-tone reproduction of Wolf's Wilson's bird of paradise from Elliot's Paradiseidae on upper cover. Philadelphia, The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1977.

1, Title; 2, blank; 3, preface; 5, text; 43 designated Edwin Wolf 2^nd / Librarian. Contains 14 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone plates with running text on obverses and included in pagination.

Mrs. Sinkler's brother William Elkins, was a collector who was a friend of A. E. Newton and A. S. W Rosenbach and perhaps his younger sister acquired her interest in books from him. According to Wolf, the Librarian at the Library Company of Philadelphia, she was a major buyer at the sale of the library of Dr. Evan Morton Evans in 1955. This booklet was written to honor her for the gift of her library to the Library Company but was not published until shortly after her death and thus became a memoriam to her. The few items described discursively rather than bibliographically by Wolf are all well known including works by Catesby , Albin, Levaillant, Gould, Elliot, Dresser and Brasher. However, he does provide a few relatively obscure points about distinguishing various editions of Catesby and of Wilson.

Wolf's name does not appear on the title page but is designated at the end of the text.

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

(Wolf, Joseph) (1820-1899)

The Poets of the Woods Twelve Pictures of English Song Birds 24.5 x 18.5 cm. [A]⁴(-A4)B-H⁴I²(-I2)[$1 signed]; 32 ll. Pp. [i-vi]1-37[38]39-53[54]55-56[57-58]. Fine full morocco with gilt spine in six compartments, gilt turn-ins and gilt paneling with rolled devices on upper and lower covers. AEG. London, Thomas Bosworth, 1853.

[i], title; [iii], contents. Contains 12 chromolithographs after Joseph Wolf.

This book and its companion volume of a year later, Feathered Favorites, represent a genre called “Victorian Gift Books” that is characterized by poems, decorative bindings and decorative illustrations. C. E. Jackson discusses both of these works on page 69 of her Bird Illustrators.... (London, 1975) and they are also described in some detail by Palmer on page 311 in his The Life of Joseph Wolf (London, 1895). Paul Jerrard did similar decorative bird books such as The Hummingbird Keepsake.. and The Hummingbird Offering at around the same time.

The Poets of the Woods was assembled and illustrated anonymously yet all bibliographers seem to know that Wolf was the illustrator and Mrs. Jackson tells us that the poems from various well known and highly regarded writers were selected by a Joseph Cundall. The twelve birds represented in this volume include Passerines, the Cuckoo, a Pigeon and a Dove. In this and the similar Feathered Favorites, they were selected by Cundall based on two criteria: they are found in the British Isles and they inspired and figured in the accompanying poetry. The pictures in Poets... are the first chromolithographs used to illustrate a British bird book. They are not the type of work Wolf liked to do and he accepted the commission only because of his relative youth. According to Mrs. Jackson, the lithography was done by the Hanharts and it is excellent. The pictures are circular and are mounted in the center of a decorative gilt design.

On 18 December, 1998, I noticed the following item advertised by Bow Windows Book Shop: Jones, Owen. Winged Thoughts. London, Longman & Co., 1851. …”comprising 12 fine chromolithograph plates of birds…printed verse….the drawings on stone executed by E. Bateman…printed under the direction of Owen Jones”. Perhaps this was truly the first British book with chromolithographs of birds.

Mullens & Swann, p. 659; Trinity, p. 260. Unlisted by Wood, Yale and Zimmer.

Wolf, Joseph (1820-1899).

Feathered Favorites Twelve Coloured Pictures of British Birds from Drawings by Joseph Wolf 24.5 x 18.5 cm. [A]⁴(-A4)B-G⁴H⁴(-H4)[$1 signed]; 30ll. Pp.[i-vi]1-53[54] with only odd numbers appearing as pagination. Fine full green morocco with gilt spine in six compartments, gilt turn-ins and gilt paneling with roll designs on upper and lower covers. AEG. This binding identical to that of my copy of The Poets of the Woods. London, Thomas Bosworth, 1854.

[i], title; [iii], contents. This copy has some foxing and water staining. Contains 12 chromolithographs by the Hanharts after Wolf.

This volume follows the format of The Poets of the Woods and, like that antecedent work, contains poems assembled by Joseph Cundall that were inspired by, and contain reference to, the illustrated British birds. Wolf’s name is mentioned on the title page of this work whereas it was absent in the case of the previous volume. Again, the fine chromolithographs are circular and mounted within a highly decorative gilt design. See my comments under The Poets of the Woods for additional information.

Mullens & Swann, p. 659; Trinity, p. 260; Wood, p. 633. Unlisted by Yale and Zimmer.

Wolf, Joseph (1820-1899)(text by Tümler, B.)

Thierleben. / Kriegs- und Friedensbilder / aus der Thierwelt 30.1 x 21.5 cm. [1]⁴2-20⁴[$1 signed]; 80 ll. Pp. [1-7]8-158[159-160]. All text and images framed by red rules. Original publisher's fine green cloth with highly decorative black and green floral decorative frame enclosing elaborate gilt design and title on upper cover. Gilt-ruled panel with vertical gilt title on spine. Fabric-coated white endpapers. Einsiedeln, New York, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Karl and Nikolaus Benziger, 1879.

1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, blank; 4, frontispiece; 5, title partly printed in red; 6, copyright; 7-158, plates and text; 159, contents; 160, woodcut vignette. Contains 20 unnumbered uncolored woodcut plates including frontispiece drawn by Joseph Wolf and engraved by (J. W.) and (E.) Whymper, printed on one side only but with both sides included in pagination.

This collection of dramatic woodcuts was originally published in 1874 as The life and habits of wild animals with text by Daniel Giraud Elliot. The plates in this German-language edition bear the signature "Whymper" as well as Wolf's initials so they were presumably not reengraved. The text is different and written by Tümler. There was also a French version Tableaux et scènes de la vie des animaux with text by E. Lesbazeilles (Paris,1877). This work was said by Elliot to contain " the last series of illustrations which will be drawn by Mr. Wolf, either upon wood or stone" (Anker, 540).

Anker, 540; Wood, p. 633. English version also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Trinity. German-language edition not listed.

(Wolf, Joseph (1820-18990) 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".

Wood, Neville (fl. 1830s)

British Song Birds; / being / Popular Descriptions / and / Anecdotes / of the / Choristers of the Groves. 17.2 x 10.7 (π, blank)[A]⁶B-Cc⁸Dd⁶χ ⁶[$1, 2 signed]; 219 ll. Pp. (2, blank)[i-vii]viii-xii[1]2-408[409-412](6, advertisements for other publications issued by John W. Parker). Original publishers patterned brown cloth, yellow endpapers, uncut. London, John W. Parker, 1836.

i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer's designation: Leighton and Murphy; v, dedication to Edward Blyth; vi, blank; vii, contents; ix, preface;1, text; 408, synoptical table of British song birds; 411, index; 412, printer's designation. Unillustrated.

Neville Wood seems a rather mysterious figure. He wrote one other ornithological book, The Ornithologist's Text-Book, being reviews of ornithologist's works… also published by Parker in 1836 and that work was somewhat controversial because he was critical of some iconic publications. The present work is dedicated to Edward Blyth, an important founder of Indian ornithology, however, the friendship between the two men seems to have been in England rather than India.

The present work deals with 73 Passerine species. In most instances the coverage begins with a relevant poem, often quoted from Waring's Minstrelsy of the Woods… (1832). There follows a classification, synonyms (not synonymy), and a meticulous life history that comprises resident status, habits, habitats, nests, eggs, and a large amount of anecdotal and useful information, much of it personally obtained, which is presented in an orderly, informed and intelligent way. Wood was clearly an able and articulate ornithologist and it surprises me that he is not better known.

This work is not common and is absent from such comprehensive libraries as those of Harvard, Yale, Cornell as well as the Ayer collection.

BM(NH), 2353; Trinity, p. 261; Wood, p. 635; on-line catalogs of AMNH, Smithsonian.

Wood, Casey A.(lbert)(1856-1942)

The birds / of Fiji 24.6 x 18.5 cm. Pp. [1]2-7[8]. Separately paginated offprint from “handbook of Fiji, 1924”, Suva, S. Bach, Government Printer, 1923. Inscribed “With the compliments of the writer” on title page.

1, Title; 2, text; 8, printer designation.

This is a narrative overview of the birds of Fiji of which, according to Wood, there were about 100 indigenous species, the best known and most attractive being the fruit doves and parrots.

Casey Wood was a Canadian ophthalmologist who worked for many years in Chicago. He wrote The literature of vertebrate zoology (1931) one of the best known zoological (mainly ornithological) bibliographies, and donated his collections of ornithological and ophthalmological books to his alma mater, McGill University. The Wood-Blacker library at McGill represents one of the world’s great collections of ornithological books.

Wood was a great traveler and a particular enthusiast and promoter of Fiji where he assembled an early collection of birds. The present pamphlet, printed in Fiji, is extremely rare. OCLC lists two copies including that at McGill.

Wood, Casey A.(lbert)(1856-1942)

An / introduction to the literature / of / vertebrate zoology / based chiefly on the titles in the / Blacker Library of Zoology / the Emma Shearer Wood Library of Ornithology / the Bibliotheca Osleriana / and other libraries of McGill University, Montreal 22.4 x 15.2 cm. π²[a]⁴b⁶B-4L⁴4M⁶[$1 signed]; 334 ll. Pp. (4)[i-ix]x-xix(1)[1]2-643[644]. Publisher's brown cloth, gilt lettering to upper cover and spine. Top edge dyed blue. Hildesheim and New York, Georg Olms Verlag, 1974(1931).

π1r, half-title for reprint edition; π1v, blank; π2r, reprint title page; π2v, "Nachdruck der Ausgabe London, 1931"; printed in U. S. A.; ISBN 3 487 05357 8; i, half-title (original edition); ii, uncolored half tone frontispiece of dodo after Charles Collins; iii, title; iv, "Oxford University Press"; v, dedication to "my colleagues in the Smithsonian Institution; vi, blank; vii, contents; ix, quotations; xii, blank; xii, preface; 1, beginning of zoological records; 8, medieval writers on zoology; 14, the renaissance; 22, literature of comparative zoology; 30, travelogues of explorers; 40, followers and successors of Linnaeus; 46, some fundamental titles; 54, from natural philosophy to modern biology; 58, some important 19^th century zoological treatises and serials; 73, some important treatises and monographs on ornithology and mammology during the 19^th and 20^th century; 96, literature of zoogeography; 103, treatises on icthyology; 109, herpetology and amphibiology; 114, oriental literature in vertebrate zoology; 116, periodicals; 127, unique and rare items at McGill; 147, index to author-title; 173, annotated catalogue, authors A-Z; 644, original printer designation: John Johnson, printer to the (Oxford) university.

A glance at the above will indicate that Casey Wood's anticipated scope was exceptionally broad. Unfortunately, most of these preliminary headings are only superficially treated and I have the impression that he wrote an outline of what he wanted to cover but then left it at that. The bibliography, more exhaustive and representational than selective, has the virtue that it covers a wonderful collection replete with very rare items. The bibliographic information on each is minimal and often innacurate. This bibliography and that by Zimmer (or Mengel) are almost polar opposites.

This work, or a reprint of it as here, is present in every library or collection with a major ornithological component.

Wood, William (1774-1857)

Zoography; or, the Beauties of Nature Displayed in Select Descriptions from the Animal, and Vegetable, with Additions from the Mineral Kingdoms Systematically Arranged Three volumes 21 x 14 cm. Full brown calf, rebacked in 20th century with gilt-paneled spines containing six compartments retaining original contemporary diced calf sides. Marbled edges. London, Cadell and Davies (printed by Richard Taylor and Co.), 1807.

Vol. I: π⁴a⁸ B-2N⁸ 2O⁶ [$s 1,2 signed]; 298 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-viii(3)viii-xix[xx][1]2-572. Blank (should be half-title ?)π1; title, π2; contents, π3; dedication, a1; preface, a2; 1-572, text. Contains 25 uncolored plates in aquatint drawn and engraved by William Daniell.

Vol. II: pp. viii, 618. Contains 20 uncolored aquatint plates.

Vol. III: pp. viii, 612. Contains 15 uncolored aquatint plates.

This is a general natural history which approaches its subject through specific examples selected from diverse areas that encompass the three realms of nature. Birds occupy pp. 351-572 of the first volume and are covered by descriptions of 32 species, 10 of which (Golden Eagle, Goshawk, Great Eared Owl, Cockatoo, King Fisher, Ostrich, Numidian Crane, Stork, Heron, Penguin) are illustrated. The text is derived from earlier sources such as Buffon and is unimportant but the pictures are quite attractive and special. The Daniells, William, Thomas and Samuel, were amongst the finest artists and engravers of their era and are particularly known for the pictures they did while traveling. Christine Jackson, in her book Bird Etchings (1985), lists this work as the earliest of the very few published in England with aquatint ornithological illustrations. The others are Daniell’s own version of this work, published in 1809 with the same ornithological plates; James Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs published in 1813 with plates by William Hooker, Charlotte Perrott’s British Birds (1835) and Audubon’s Birds of America (1827-1838), the latter two engraved by Havell. Aquatint is an exceedingly fine and demanding form of engraving that produces very subtle gradations of shading.

This work is not as rare as its absence from most ornithological bibliographies might suggest. It makes no claim to original ornithological description and is of ornithological interest only from the perspective of its graphic technology.

Wood, p. 635. Not listed in Ayer, Trinity or Yale catalogues.

Wood, T.(homas)W.(illiam)( 1833-1882)

Curiosities / of / ornithogy. / With beautifully-coloured illustrations, / from drawings by T. W. Wood, / and other eminent artists. 21.5 x 14,4 cm. [1]⁸2-4⁸[$1 signed]; 32 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-64. Original publisher's beveled henna pebbled cloth with black and decorative gilt frames enclosing gilt title on upper cover. Gilt lettering and design on spine. Yellow endpapers. AEG. Groombridge and Sons, London, (1871 fide Ripley and Scribner, p. 316).

1, Title; 2, printer designation: London, R. Barrett and Sons; 3, contents; 5, pinnated or prairie grouse; 10, birds of paradise; 15, horned pheasants; 21, blue-cheeked barbet; 26, hornbills; 34, king penguin; 41, bell-birds of America; 46, touracoes of Africa; 55, owl-parrot of New Zealand. Contains two uncolored text wood cuts, one designated T. W. Wood, and 10 unnumbered and unassigned fine chromoxylographic plates including two depicting touracoes.

This is really an anonymous book because it was clearly written by a highly informed student of natural history but is usually cataloged under Wood because his is the only name that appears on the title page, albeit specifically designated as artist. According to Christine Jackson, page 18 in her Wood Engravings of Birds(1978), Thomas W. Wood was he brother of the Reverend John George Wood, author of The Illustrated Natural History (1853) and Homes without Hands (1864-1865). However, in her entry (p. 497-498) on Wood in Dictionary of Bird Artists of the World (1999), she does not reiterate the filial relationship but does tell us that T. W. Wood did contribute ornithological illustrations to the bird section of J. G. Wood's Homes without Hands as well as to works such as Wallace's Malay Archipelago among others. She characterizes Wood as "…a competent and reliable illustrative artist for 20 years. A gentleman artist, rather than an illustrator driven to draftsmanship from necessity."

The illustrations in this book are excellent both from the point of draughtsmanship and quality of chromoxylography. In fact, these are the nicest pictures of birds that I have ever seen that were produced from wood by color printing. The printer is not identified but Benjamin Fawcett, the most prolific chromoxylographer of the era, had a long association with Groombridge and is a likely candidate. Yet the plates do not resemble in style those in any of the works he produced on birds that I have examined such as Morris' British Birds, (1851-1857)or William Greene's Parrots in Captivity (1884-1888).

The text of this little work is also exceptional, describing interesting contemporary aspects of these then little-known and exotic birds such as the displays of the birds of paradise and the chemical nature of the pigment "turacine" found in touracoes. The unidentified author is accurate and up-to-date and cites recent works by well known authorities, many quoted at considerable length.

The binding of this little-known gem is also attractive. There was a companion volume, sometimes bound with this one, "Curiosities of Entomology"

Wood, p. 635, incorrectly calling for nine plates. Also listed by Trinity, Yale but not by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard.

Wood, T.(homas)W.(illiam)( 1833-1882)

Curiosities / of / ornithogy. / With beautifully-coloured illustrations, / from drawings by T. W. Wood, / and other eminent artists. 21.5 x 14.2 cm. [1]⁸2-4⁸[$1 signed]; 32 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-64. Original publisher's beveled blue pebbled cloth with black and decorative gilt frames enclosing gilt title on upper cover. Gilt lettering and design on spine. Yellow endpapers. AEG. Groombridge and Sons, London, (1871 fide Ripley and Scribner, p. 316).

1, Title; 2, printer designation: London, Simmons and Botten; 3, contents; 5, pinnated or prairie grouse; 10, birds of paradise; 15, horned pheasants; 21, blue-cheeked barbet; 26, hornbills; 34, king penguin; 41, bell-birds of America; 46, touracoes of Africa; 55, owl-parrot of New Zealand. Contains two uncolored text wood cuts, one designated T. W. Wood, and 10 unnumbered and unassigned fine chromoxylographic plates including two depicting touracoes.

This, my second copy of this title, differs most obviously from the other in the following particulars: the printers are Simmons & Botten instead of R. Barrett and Sons; the identically patterned covers are blue not henna; the printer designation is repeated on page 64; the plates of the bird of paradise, tragopan and king penguin are dated 1862, 1863 and 1865 within the print instead of being undated; the background of the plate of the bird of paradise is colored quite differently. It seems unusual to me that the identical book would be printed by two different London firms, unless, perhaps, one copy is a reprint ordered after one of the printers went out of business. The printing of the two copies looks to be identical.

This is really an anonymous book because it was clearly written by a highly informed student of natural history but is usually cataloged under Wood because his is the only name that appears on the title page, albeit specifically designated as artist. According to Christine Jackson, page 18 in her Wood Engravings of Birds(1978), Thomas W. Wood was he brother of the Reverend John George Wood, author of The Illustrated Natural History (1853) and Homes without Hands (1864-1865). However, in her entry (p. 497-498) on Wood in Dictionary of Bird Artists of the World (1999), she does not reiterate the filial relationship but does tell us that T. W. Wood did contribute ornithological illustrations to the bird section of J. G. Wood's Homes without Hands as well as to works such as Wallace's Malay Archipelago among others. She characterizes Wood as "…a competent and reliable illustrative artist for 20 years. A gentleman artist, rather than an illustrator driven to draughtsmanship from necessity."

The illustrations in this book are excellent both from the point of draughtsmanship and quality of chromoxylography. In fact, these are the nicest pictures of birds that I have ever seen that were produced from wood by color printing. The printer is not identified but Benjamin Fawcett, the most prolific chromoxylographer of the era, had a long association with Groombridge and is a likely candidate. Yet the plates do not resemble in style those in any of the works he produced on birds that I have examined such as Morris' British Birds, (1851-1857)or William Greene's Parrots in Captivity (1884-1888).

The text of this little work is also exceptional, describing interesting contemporary aspects of these then little-known and exotic birds such as the displays of the birds of paradise and the chemical nature of the pigment "turacine" found in touracoes. The unidentified author is accurate and up-to-date and cites recent works by well known authorities, many quoted at considerable length.

The binding of this little-known gem is also attractive. There was a companion volume, sometimes bound with this one, "Curiosities of Entomology"

Wood, p. 635, incorrectly calling for nine plates. Also listed by Trinity, Yale but not by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard.

Woodcock, Martin W.(1935-)(designed by Heinzel, Hermann)

Collins handguide to the / Birds / of the Indian sub-continent / including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka / and Nepal 19.0 x 11.5 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-176. Original decorated and printed white boards. London, Collins, 1980. Manuscript letter from author to RLS laid in loosely;

1, title with colored peacock head; 2, dedication; "first published 1980"; ISBN 0 00 219788 X; credits: color reproduction by Adroit Photo Litho Ltd., Birmingham; printed and bound by Wm Collins & Co., Ltd., Glasgow; 3, contents; 5, introduction; 16, systematic text and figures, Tachybaptus ruficollis-Dicrurus adsimilis, comprising about 265 species; 124, synopsis of families with descriptions of 272 species not treated in text; 160-161, topography of a bird with figure; 162, glossary; 164, bibliography (about 70 entries, some 19^th century); 170, index of common and scientific names. Contains colored figures of virtually all species in main text and uncolored figurers of 71 of those in the synopsis of families. Illustrations, colored and uncolored, in text and plates, are printed in half-tone and continuous with text. There are 33 unnumbered colored plates included in pagination but colored pictures often extend from page to page and plate to text and many of the species in the text are figured more than once.

This work is intended for the beginner venturing on his own into India and served me well in that capacity when I went there on a lecture tour in 1983. Martin Woodcock began his career as an ornithological artist by illustrating King and Dickinson's A field guide to the birds of south-east Asia (1975) so he was very qualified to describe and paint these common Indian birds. The commentary on each species is minimal, providing size, habitat, habits and status.

The bibliography includes classical 19^th century works and is highly unusual for a guide of this kind. Woodcock is an ornithological bibliophile and collector.

This book was reprinted in 1984 and 1989, the latter under a different imprint.

Original edition listed by Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Later imprint by AMNH. Not listed by Harvard.

Woodward, R. B. and J. D. S.

Natal Birds / (including the species belonging to Natal and the / eastern districts of the Cape Colony). 21.6 x 14.0 cm. π4(-π4)[A]⁸B-O⁸ [$1 signed. The alphabet used contains J but lacks I]; 115 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-v[vi][1]2-215(1)[i₂]ii₂[i₃]ii₃-iv₃(2, notice to readers). Original publishers pebbled red cloth with undecorated impressed frames on both covers and short title in gilt on upper cover. Speckled edges. Pietermaritzburg, F. Davis & Sons, Longmarket and Church Streets, 1899.

π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r-π3r, introduction; π3v, errata;1-215, systematic text covering 386 species; i₂, appendix; i₃, index of English names. Contains hand-colored lithographic plate of Woodward’s Barbet drawn and lithographed by Keulemans, printed by Hanhart. This was plate X of the 1897 volume of the “Ibis”.

The authors intended this work to be a “cheap and handy guide” to the birds of Natal including Zululand. The essays for each of the 386 species are variable but at their most complete include a length measurement, description, life history including nidification, and local distribution.

The work is rather uncommon. OCLC locates 22 copies.

Worm, Olao (1588-1554)

Museum Wormianum. / seu / Historia / Rerum Rariorum, / Tam Naturalium, quam Artificialium, tam Domesticarum, / quam Exoticarum, quae hasiniae Danorum in / aedibus Authoris servantur 33.4 x 21.0 cm. Laid paper. 2^o. Catchwords. ^_*6A-Ccc⁴[$1, 2, 3 signed]; 202 ll. Pp. (12)1-389[390-392]. Contemporary diced brown calf sides, rebacked with later calf. Spine with five raised ridges. Gilt red morocco labeling piece in second compartment. Marbled endpapers. AEG. Three initial inserted blank leaves, one with a manuscript signature dated 1813; 15 inserted blank terminal leaves, one water-marked 1812. Amstelodami, Apud Ludovicum et Danielem Elzevirios, 1655.

*1r, Title; *1v, blank; *2r-*3v, dedication to Friderico III; *4r-*5r, note to reader; *5v, authors cited; *6r-*6v, contents;1, book I; 137, book II; 239, book III; 350, book IV; 390, index. Contains double-page, uncolored copper- engraved frontispiece "Museum Wormianum Historia…" , approximately 139 unnumbered, uncolored text woodcuts, and 13 unnumbered uncolored text copper engravings. Lacks a portrait of the author said to be present in some examples. Bookplates of Amos Binney, American Naturalist (1803-1847) and Boston Society of Natural History.

This book was probably rebound about 1812 with the original 17^th century sides laid down or retained.

Worm was a Danish archaeologist and this record of his collection was published posthumously by his son. The four "books" into which it is divided correspond roughly to mineral, vegetable, animal and fabricated items. It is one of the early illustrated descriptive catalogs of a collection (museum). The first catalog of a museum was F. Imperato's Historia Naturale… of 1599. Tradescant's Museum Tradescantianum was published a year after the present work. According to Elsa Allen (p. 412 in American Ornithology before Audubon[1951]), "The first succesfully made stuffed birds were those in the collection of Olaf Worm… ". Pages 290-312 of the present work are devoted to birds. Most of the ten ornithological illustrations are woodcuts from Nieremberg and from Piso and Marggraf. However there are superb copper engravings of the pet Great Auk with its misleading white collar and of an Arctic Loon. Both of these were reproduced in Willughby and Ray and more recently in Dance's The Art of Natural History (1978), whereas the former, and the fine frontispiece are shown in Lysaght's The Book of Birds (1975). The latter author comments (#68), " Ole Worm's museum was one of the few early ones in which birds were shown". Anker, (p. 15[1938]) remarks "After Worm's death, his museum was incorporated in the collection of the king, "Kunstkammeret", which was described in 1696 in a fine catalogue Museum Regium by Holger Jacobaeus". It is perhaps a sign of the book's rarity that it is lacking from the Copenhagen collection despite its Danish authorship and Anker's obvious interest in it. According to Junk Catalogue 257 (1990), the Museum Wormianum is discussed in some detail by Impey and MacGregor in The Origins of Museums, p. 123.

In addition to its section on birds, those devoted to the Lemming and to the Narwhal are considered of particular importance with respect to the origins of descriptive natural history. It is also noteworthy that Worm has added feet to the Bird-of-Paradise taken from Hernandez, finally putting the lie to the notion that these birds were without feet and perpetually flying. That idea arose because the New Guinea natives removed the feet from specimens that they sold to collectors. Willughby and Ray hedged on this matter as late as 1678, copying the illustrations from Worm as well as the earlier version.

Wood, p. 637. Also listed in libraries of AMNH, Cornell, Harvard and Yale but absent from Trinity.

Wright, Mabel Osgood (1859-1934), Coues, Elliott (1842-1899), (Fuertes, Louis Agassiz, illustrator, [1874-1927])

Citizen Bird / scenes from bird-life in plain / English for beginners 19.9 x 12.8 cm. [A]⁸(-A1)B-2D⁸2E⁸(-2E8)χ² [$1 signed]; 224 ll. Pp. [i-x]xi-xiv1-430(4, advertisements for Macmillan nature books). Original blue cloth with fine silver standard and red, white and blue shield design on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine. New York, the Macmillan Company, 1897.

i, Half-title; ii, Macmillan logo; iii, blank; iv, frontispiece of long-eared owl; v, title; vi, copyright and printer's designation: Norwood Press; vii, dedication, viii, blank; ix, cast of characters; x, blank; xi, contents1, text; 420, procession of bird families (classification);429, index of English names. Contains uncolored frontispiece and 107 additional unnumbered half-tone text portraits of birds, a text illustration of bird topography, two pages containing 16 figures (figs. 1-16) of bills and two pages containing 11 figures (figs. 1-11) of feet. The title page calls for 111 "illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes.

This is a masterful introduction to North American ornithology disguised as a story told by a naturalist-doctor to his youthful relatives. It covers general subjects such as anatomy and physiology in a chapter called "the building of a bird". Migration, nests, eggs and song are also covered in a general manner. In addition, approximately 110 conspicuous North American species are described in an imaginatively anecdotal, instructive way. A formal classification scheme is presented under the guise of a "procession of bird families".

The authors represent a combination of one of the outstanding popularizers of ornithology for young people, Wright, with one of the most prolific and scientific of 19^th century American ornithologists in Coues.

Although not the first book in which Fuertes' illustrations appeared, this was the work by which Coues introduced his young protégé on a grand stage. Coues remarked, in a letter to Fuertes quoted by Robert M. Peck on page 36 of his biography of Fuertes (A Celebration of Birds[1982]), "…the finest series of 108 bird portraits ever printed in black and white" and this high praise probably still holds true.

This original printing is not common and is lacking from fine libraries including the McGill, Ayer, American Museum and Yale holdings. It is listed for Cornell, Harvard, the New York Public Library and Trinity.

Wright, Mabel Osgood (1859-1934)

Birdcraft / a field book of two hundred song / game, and water birds 20.2 x 14.9 cm. [A]⁸B-U⁸X⁸(-X8)χ²[$1 signed]; 169 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xvi[1-2]3-317(1). Publisher's brown cloth with floral and bird design on upper cover, gilt lettering to upper cover and spine. Gift inscription dated June 1895 on upper endpaper. New York, Macmillan and Co., 1895.

i, Half-title; ii, Macmillan logo; iii, title; iv, copyright; printer designation: The Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.-Berwick & Smith, Norwood, Mass; v, dedication; vi, quotes from Emerson, Longfellow; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations; xiii, note to the reader; 1, introductory chapters (to ornithology); 35, how to name the birds; 43, synopsis of bird families; 57, bird biographies, Turdus mustelinus-Podilymbus podiceps, comprising about 200 species; 281, key to the birds; 309, index of English names; 315, index of Latin names. Contains double-page plates I-XV (10 colored) depicting about 145 species and printed in half-tone across two pages the obverses of which are blank. The two leaves are preceded by a tissue leaf containing printed letter-press. Neither the plate leaves nor the tissues are included in the pagination. The bird figures are from earlier works by Audubon (Warren), DeKay and Ridgway.

This is the first edition and printing of a very popular introductory book about the commoner birds of New England. Starting with the next, 1897 issue and continuing through at least 1936, the various printings or "editions" contained uncolored plates by Fuertes instead of those here. The work includes a brief essay and some information on appearance, song, status, nests and eggs (where appropriate) and range for about 200 species, most of which are, in this edition, badly illustrated. The plates are early examples of half-tone printing.

There are numerous years of issue for this title. The 1936 version is called the ninth edition but has pagination additional to this one only for the preliminaries.

Zimmer, p. 693. This original printing listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by AMNH.

Wright, Mabel Osgood (1859-1934), Coues, Elliott (1842-1899)(illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes[1874-1927]).

Citizen bird / scenes from bird-life in plain / English for beginners 19.0 x 12.9 cm. [A]⁸B-2E⁸(-2E8)χ³[$1 signed]; 226 ll. Pp. (8)1-2(2)xi-xiv1-435(1). Publisher's blue cloth with gilt eagle and standard designs on upper cover, gilt lettering to spines. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1923.

A1r, half-title; A1v, Macmillan logo; A2r, blank; A2v, frontispiece; A3r, title; A3v, copyright 1897; printer designation: Norwood Press, J. S. Cushing & Co.-Bewick & Smith, Norwood, Mass; A4r, dedication; A4v, blank; A5r-A5v, greetings from citizen bird dated January, 1923; A6r, cast of characters; A6v, blank; A7r-A8v, contents; 1, text; 420, procession of bird families (classification); 429, index of English names; 431, appendix: the old world starling; 435, the federal migratory bird law (signed in 1916). Contains uncolored half-tone frontispiece and 107 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone portraits, a line diagram of bird topography, pp. 37/38 with line figures 1-16 of bills and pp. 40/41 with line figures 1-11 of feet. Title page calls for "one hundred and eleven illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes".

This 1923 issue contains sheets identical to the original 1897 printing save for the following: A5, "greetings from citizen bird" has been inserted; two leaves concerning the starling and one leaf concerning the federal migratory bird law have been added at the end; the title page contains the date 1923; the two terminal advertising leaves for Macmillan nature books are not present. The incorrect designations xi-xiv for A7-A8 are the numerals from the original printing where they were correct. They are incorrect here because of the insertion of A5. The cover is less colorful because it lacks the red, white and blue shield that was part of the original eagle-standard design.

This printing listed by AMNH which does not list the original. Cornell, Harvard and Trinity list the original printings. Yale doesn't list any printing.

Wright, M.(agnus)v.(on) (1805-1868) and Wright, W.(ilhelm)v.(on)(1810-1887)

Svenska Foglar / efter Naturen och på stem ritade Oblong, 25.0 x 35.1 cm. Lithographed title leaf printed on recto only and 171 unnumbered, lithographed hand-colored plates, drawn and probably lithographed by the Wrights, printed by C. von Schéele, O. Sundel, and Gjöthstrom & Magnusson. Near contemporary half-brown calf and brown patterned cloth. Spine with four gilt-paneled raised bands, gilt black morocco lettering piece in second compartment, gilt lettering in sixth as well. Gilt emblem in first and sixth compartment. Marbled endpapers. Marbled edges. Stockholm, C. von Schéele, 1828(-1838). Bookplate of Johan.Larsen.

According to Anker (#543), this book was published in 30 parts from 1828-1838, appearing at almost the identical time as Audubon's folio. Each part had six plates save for the 26^th which had five so 179 plates comprise a complete copy. However, a 31st part with five plates was apparently printed but not distributed so as many as 184 plates might conceivably be found. The Copenhagen copy has 179.

The Wrights had emigrated from Scotland to Finland but were to spend most of their lives in Sweden. A third brother, Ferdinand, was equally gifted but was too young to contribute to the original edition of this book. Indeed, when it was begun in 1828, the authors were only 18 and 23 years old.

This work is the gold standard of Scandinavian ornithological iconography and 150 years after it first appeared, its plates are still reproduced for use in modern books concerned with Scandinavian ornithology. These plates are deceptively simple portraits with minimal backgrounds. They are profoundly beautiful and life-like because of the perfectly observed and depicted postures, proportions, textures and color. All the plates save two show only a single individual. For many species, the males and females are both illustrated so that the 171 plates in this copy depict 140 species.

A new edition of the work (Lönneberg, E., et al." Svenska Fåglar efter naturen och på sten ritade", 1917-1929) was produced using very fine chromolithography and contained additional plates after Ferdinand von Wright and Bror Halberg, a later Swedish artist.

The bookplate suggests that this copy belonged to Johannes Larsen, a distinguished Danish ornithological artist who did most of the fine plates for Lehn Schioler's Danmark's Fugle (1925-1931).

This work is extremely rare (vide infra)and almost never complete. In a 1976 catalog in which he offered a copy of the later edition, the bookseller David Evans estimated that only 25 copies of the original edition had been issued. However, four copies changed hands between 1984 and 2001. The Finn Salomonsen copy with 178 plates was auctioned by Sotheby's London in 1984; the Bradley Martin copy with 162 plates was auctioned by Sotheby's NY in 1989; I bought this copy with 171 plates from Sotheby's NY in 1992; and Sotheby's London auctioned a copy with 181 (180 colored) plates in 2001.

Anker, #543. This original edition is unlisted by the following: AMNH; Berkeley; BM(NH); Cornell; Harvard; LOC; Linnean Society (1925 catalog); Oxford; Smithsonian; Thayer; Trinity; Wood; Zimmer; Zoological Society (1902 catalog). OCLC locates two copies.

Wytsman, P(hilogène August Galilée [1866-1925]). (editor) with contributions by L. Brasil; A. Dubois; E. Hartert; C. E. Hellmayr; W. R. Ogilvie-Grant; C. Parrot; W. Rothschild; T. Salvadori; P. L. Sclater; R. Bowdler Sharpe

Genera avium 31.9 x 24.4 cm. Pp. first though 26th parts (all published) paginated individually ranging from 2-84 pp, each with title leaf not included in pagination. Total 360 ll(720 pp.). All 26 original upper gray-green printed (in red) wrappers bound in. No overall title page as expected in this uncompleted work. Later red quarter-morocco and red marbled boards by Potomac Bookbinding. Brussels, printed and published by V. Verteneuil & L. Desmet, 1905-1914.

Contains 43 very fine chromolithographic plates numbered individually for each part. The plates are printed on very thin paper which is affixed to thick stock. The wrapper for the fourth part calls for two colored plates but only one was issued.

This impressive but unfinished work treats the genera comprised within 26 families. The treatment includes synonymy, characters and distribution of the various families, subfamilies and genera and keys for the species comprising them. The authors were all authoritative and the plates are extremely good. The artists are not specified but, according to Coldewey and and Keulemans (1982), J. G. Keulemans was responsible for 10 plates which were reproduced from antecedent works. I’m quite certain that Grönvold also contributed significantly. The work was never completed although the editor did not die until 11 years after the appearance of the last part.

Zimmer (pp. 695-697) provides comprehensive information concerning the various parts. OCLC lists about 43 locations.Wood, p. 638. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard and Yale but not by Trinity.

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.

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