Archives & Special Collections C
Skip to Main ContentSoffer Ornithology Collection Notes (alphabetical by author)
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Cabanis, Jean Louis (1816-1906), and Ferdinand Heine. Museum Heineanum Verzeichniss....
Cade, Tom J. (paintings by R. David Digby). The falcons of the world.
Calburn, Simon (1938-). Calburn's birds of Southern Africa.
Caldwell, Harry, R., and John C. Caldwell. South China birds.
Campbell, Archibald James (1853-1929). Nests and eggs of Australian birds.
Cantwell, Robert (1908). Alexander Wilson naturalist and pioneer.
Capen, Elwin A. Oölogy of New England.
Carriker, M(elbourne) A(rmstrong), Jr. (1879-1965). An annotated list of the birds of Costa Rica including Cocos Island.
Cassin, John(1813-1869) Illustrations of the birds of California..cancelled PartI
Cassin, John (1813-1869). Birds (of Chile).
Cassin, John (1813-1869). Birds (collected in Japan and China).
Cassin, John (1813-1869). Illustrations of the birds of California, Texas....
Cassin, John (1813-1869). United States exploring expedition....
Castañeda, Porfirio. A portfolio of Philippine birds.
de Castelnau, Francis (L. de Laporte) (1812-1880), and ({Marc Athenase Parfait} O{eillet} Des Murs [1804-1878]). Animaux nouveaux ou rares.
Catalogs, Booksellers'. Boston Bird Book Company. List K Books on birds and natural history.
(Catesby, Mark[1683-1749]), and Urban Sylvanus (Pseudonym for Cave, E.). The gentleman's magazine.(two issues)
Cave, Colonel Francis O., and James D(avid) Macdonald (1908-) (illustrated by D. M. Reid Henry). The birds of the Sudan.
Cayley, Neville W(illiam) (1887-1950). Our birds.
Cayley, Neville W(illiam) What bird is that?
Cayley, N. W. Second copy of the first printing of What bird is that
Cayley, Neville W(illiam) Australian birds A beautiful coloured series
Chalmers, Patrick R(eginald) (1872-1942)(illustrated by Winifred Austen [1876-1964]). Birds ashore and a-foreshaw.
Chansigaud, V. The history of ornithology
Chapin, James P(aul)(1889-1964). The birds of the Belgian Congo.
Chapman, Abel (1851-1929). Retrospect reminiscences and impressions of a hunter-naturalist in three continents.
Chapman, Abel (1851-1929), and J(ohn) Walter Buck. Unexplored Spain.
Chapman, Abel (1851-1929). The borders and beyond Arctic.
Chapman, Abel (1851-1929). Memories of fourscore years less two....
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). The distribution of bird-life in Colombia....
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador....
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). Bird-Life A guide to the study of our common birds 1897(first printing)
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). Bird-Life A guide to the study of our common birds. 1898 (first colored edition)
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). Handbook of birds of eastern North America....
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). On the birds of the island of Trinidad.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945), and Chester A(lbert) Reed (1876-1912). Color key to North American birds.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). The economic value of birds to the state.
Chapman, F. M. Bird-Lore
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). The warblers of North America.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945), Ernest Seton Thompson or Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946), and John Bacon. Portfolio of colored plates....
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945). The birds of the vicinity of New York City....
Charletoni, Gualterie (Charleton, Walter) (1619-1707). Exercitationes de Differentiis.
Chase & Sanborn North American birds
Chasen, F.(rederick) N.(utter )(1896-1941) Notes on the birds of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
Cheng, Tso-hsin (1906-1998). Economic birds of China (in Chinese)
Chenu, J(ean) C(harles) (1808-1879), (Marc Athanese Parfait) O(eillet) Des Murs (1804-1878), and J(ules) Verreaux (1807-1873). Leçons élémentaires....
(Chenu, Jean Charles [1808-1879], (Marc Athanese Parfait) O(eillet) Des Murs [1804-1878], and Jules Verreaux [1807-1873]). (Musée ornithologique...). Contains 131 different colored lithographs birds of prey
(Chenu, Jean Charles [1808-1879], (Marc Athanese Parfait) O(eillet) Des Murs [1804-1878], and Jules Verreaux [1807-1873]). Second example of Musée ornithologique with 372 different colored lithographs of birds of prey
Chernel (von) Chernalházy, István (1865-1921). Magyarország madarai....
Childs, John Lewis (1856-1921). The distinguished collection....
Chinese, anonymous Selected bird and flower paintings from the palace museum
Ching, Raymond (Harris) (1939-) (text by Snow, D., Chisolm, A. H., Soper, M. F.). Raymond Ching the bird paintings....
Ching, Raymond (Harris) (1939-) New Zealand birds. An artist's field studies
Ching, Raymond (Harris) (1939-) Voice from the wilderness
Cholodkovski, N. A., and A.A. Silantev. The birds of Europe.
Christie’s. The Godman collection of watercolors for John Gould’s "The birds of asia”.
Christie's. The Marcel Jeanson collection Part IV.
Christy, Patrice, and William V. Clark. Guide des oiseaux de la Réserve de la Lopé.
Christy, Patrice, and William V. Clark (illustrator). Guide des oiseaux de São Tomé et Príncipe.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001). Gamebirds of Southern Africa....
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001). A handlist of the birds of southern Moçambique.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001). Kingfishers of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001). The Birds of southern Mozambique.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001). The birds of Natal and Zululand.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001). The rare birds of Southern Africa.
Clem, Robert Verity (1933-). Pine warbler .
Coates, Brian J., and K. David Bishop. A Guide to the birds of Wallacea....
Coates, Brian J. Birds in Papua New Guinea.
Coates, Brian J. The birds of Papua New Guinea....
Cobres, J. P. Deliciae Cobresianae.
Coe, James. White-faced Ibis, winter plumage.
Collaert, Adrien (Collardo, Adriano) (1560-1618). Avium vivae iconess....
Collaert, Adrian (circa 1560-1610). Avium Vivae Icones, in aes incisae & editae ab Adriano Collardo.
Compte, Achille Joseph (1802-1866). Musée d’histoire naturelle.
Compte, Achille (Joseph) (1802-1866) (translated by Benjamin Clarke). The book of birds edited and abridged from the text of Buffon.
Cook, A(lbert)J(ohn)(1842-1916). Birds of Michigan.
Cooke, W(ells) W(oodridge) (1858-1916). The birds of Colorado.
Cooke, W. W. (1858-1916). Report on bird migration in the Mississippi valley in the years 1884 and 1885.
Cooper, William T., and Joseph M. Forshaw. Cockatoos a portfolio of all species.
Cooper, William T(homas)(1934-) (Text by Forshaw, Joseph M.(ichael), Cooper, William T.(homas). The birds of paradise and bower birds.
Cooper, J(ames)G(raham)(1830-1902) (edited by Baird, S(pencer)F(ullerton)(1823-1887). Geological survey of California.
Cooper, Willam T. (1934-), plates, Hindwood, Keith (1904-), text A / portfolio of / Australian Birds
Cooper Ornithological Club Vol I. 1899 Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club of California
(Cooper, S. F.)"A lady", Rural hours
Corti, Ulrich A.(lfred) or A.(lfred)(1904-)(illustrated by Walter Linsenmaier; translated from German by Giuseppe Gemnetti). Ucelli covatori d'Europa ucelli cantori.
Cory, Charles B.(arney)(1857-1921). The birds of Haiti and San Domingo.
Cory, Charles B.(arney)(1857-1921). Birds of the Bahama Islands.
Cory, Charles B(arney)(1857-1921). The birds of the West Indies.
Cory, Charles B(arney) (1857-1921). A naturalist in the Magdalen islands.
Cory, Charles Barney (1857-1921). Alca Impennis.
Cotton, John (1801-1849). The song birds of Great Britain.
Cotton, John (1801-1849)(edited by Robert Tyas (1811-1879) Beautiful birds described edited from the manuscript of John Cotton F. Z. S.
Coues, Elliott (1842-1899). A check list of North American birds.
Coues, Elliott (1842-1899). Key to North American birds.
Coues, Elliott (1842-1899). (American [universal] bibliography of ornithology).
Coward, T(homas)A(lfred) (1867-1933). The birds of the British Isles and their eggs Three volumes.
Cramp, Stanley (chief editor). Handbook of the birds of Europe.
Craveri, MicheleAtlante Ornitologico ucelli italiana.
Crawshay, Richard (fl. 1900-1910). The birds of Tierra del Fuego.
Cuvier, Georges [L. C. F. D.](1769-1832) (Guérin-Méneville, Félix E. {1799-1874}). Les oiseaux déscrits et figurés d’après la classification.
Cuvier, Georges (1769-1832) (d'Orbigny, Alcide[Dessalines]d' [1802-1857]). Le règne animal....
Cabanis, Jean Louis (1816-1906), and Ferdinand Heine.
Museum Heineanum / Verzeichniss / der / Ornithologischer Sammlung / des / Overamtmann / Ferdinand Heine / auf / Gut St. Burchard / vor / Halberstadt, / mit kritischen Anmerkungen und Beschreibung der / neuen Arten, systematisch bearbeitet / von / Dr. Jean Cabianis, / erstem Custos der Königlichen zoologischen Sammlungzu Berlin / (und / Ferdinand Heine, / Stud. Philos)., the latter on title page of parts II-IV only. Four parts (Theile) in four volumes as described below. 21.0 x 13.0 cm. Half-leather and cloth bindings with marbled edges, those for parts I and II identical, those for parts III and IV different from I and II and from each other. Halberstadt, in Commission bei R. Frantz (parts I-III), in Commission der Frantz’schen Buchhandlung (G. Loose) (part IV). The texts of the first three volumes are interleaved with blank sheets. The fourth volume, containing part IV in two sections, is not interleaved. Many, but not all signatures in this work are dated.
I. Theil, / die / Singvögel / enthaltend 1850-1851 π51-294c[$1 signed]; 122 ll. Pp. (2)[I-III]IV-VIII1-233[234].π1r, Title; π1v, blank; I, half-title; III, foreword; 1, text; 233, errata; Describes 1070 species in the text.
II. Theil / die / Schreivögel / enthaltend 1859-1860 π21-224; 90 ll. Pp. (4)[1-3]4-176. π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r-v, foreword; 1, half-title; 2, blank; 3, text; 176 errata. Describes 481 species.
III. Theil / die / Schrillervögel / und die Zusammenstellung der Gattungen und Arten des 1-3 Theils / entaltend 1860 π1-124134(-134)14-284; 112 ll. Pp. (2)[1-3]4-220[221-222]. πr, Title; πv; blank; 1, half-title; 2, blank; 3, text describing 231 species; 103, index generum; 120, index specierum; 221, errata.
IV. Theil / die / Klettervögel / enthaltend / Heft I: Kuckuke und Faulvögel 1862-1863 π21-284294(-294); 117 ll. Pp. (4)[1-3]4-229(1). π1r, Volume half-title (Scansores); π1v, blank; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, sectional (Heft) half-title; 2, blank; 3, text. Heft 2 (sic): Spechte 1863 π1-224232; 91ll. Pp. (2)[1-3]4-179[180]. πr, Title; πv, blank; 1, sectional half-title; 2, blank; 3, text; 180, errata. The two sections (Hefte) cover 290 species that are numbered consecutively even though the pagination and signatures are not consecutive.
This scholarly work describes the collection of birds owned by a German magistrate. The author, Cabanis, was curator of birds in the Berlin Museum and was one of the early honorary members of the British Ornithologists’ Union. The work covers an astonishing 2,072 species, for each of which is given synonymy and location obtained. There are many references, notes and, according to Zimmer, descriptions of new species. The checklist of the Mathews Collection records this work (p. 52) and a seemingly related one (p. 114) by “Ferdinand Heine the younger” and Anton Reichenow entitled Nomenclator Musei Heineani Ornithologici: Verzeichniss der Vögel – Sammlung des Königlichen Oberamtmanns Ferdinand Heine…. Berlin, 1882-1890. This suggests to me that the Ferdinand Heine who formed the original collection had court connections and that the Ferdinand Heine who described the collection, probably with Cabanis, and certainly later with Reichenow, was his son.
This copy has an interesting provenance. The first two volumes contain, on the front pastedown, the stamp “F. Heine, Gut St. Burchard”, likely the original collector or his son. The first three volumes contain the stamp “Blasius” on the title leaf. This is probably Wilhelm Blasius (1845-1918) who wrote on Southeast Asian birds and did the catalog of the Homeyer collection 1893. All four volumes have stamps and/or book plates of Alfred Laubmann (1886-) who wrote on the birds of Paraguay (Gran Chaco Expedition) as well as on kingfishers. About two full pages of the Mathews Checklist are devoted to his writings. Finally, all four volumes have the book plate of Walter Wüst, author of Die Brutvögel Mitteleuropas (Munich, 1970) and Avifauna Bavariae (Munich, 1979-1986).
As one might expect, this privately published and highly specialized work is rare.
Mathews Checklist, p. 52; Zimmer, p. 121; Absent from Mengel, Wood, Trinity, Yale.
Cade, Tom J. (paintings by R. David Digby).
The / falcons / of the world 31.0 x 23.4 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-188[189-192]. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine; Blue endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Ithaca, New York, Comstock/Cornell University Press, 1982.
1, Half-title; 2-3, title with colored illustration; 4, acknowledgements; "First published 1982.."; copyright 1982; ISBN 0-8014-1454-7; designed and produced by London Editions Limited, London; printed in Great Britain; 5, contents; 7, preface; 9, part I, biology of falcons; 11, introduction; 12 special characters of the genus Falco; 14, classification; 17, distribution and migration; 29, feeding adaptations; 36, reversed sexual dimorphism; 39, social behavior and reproduction; 50, falcons and man; 57, part II, species descriptions, Falco peregrinus-Falco berigora, comprising 39 species; 184, distribution maps (31 for 39 species); 189, bibliography (around 300 entries); 192, index including English and Latin names. Contains 43 unnumbered plates (four double-page including title) printed in color half-tone with running text on obverse and included in pagination. Also contains uncolored text figures 1-13 (line drawings, graphs)
This is an outstanding monograph on the genus Falco written by the president of the Peregrine Fund and Professor of Ornithology at Cornell, and illustrated by an artist-falconer. Basic biological aspects are discussed in depth and each species account includes detailed descriptive parameters, distribution with a map, an extensive life history, and an analysis of status and population. The illustrations are attractive tableaux. The artist studied under D. M. Reid Henry and has a very similar style.
This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Calburn's / birds / of / Southern Africa / paintings, field sketches and field notes 30.4 x 22.8 cm. Pp. [1-5]6-248[249-256]. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt vignette of secretary bird on upper cover and spine, gilt lettering to flat spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, Purnell, 1969.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright 1969; credits: designed by W. S. Conradie; bound by Artistic Bookbinders; "lithographic reproduction" by Smith and Hirst; printed by Rufus & Joubert Johannesburg; 5, dedication; 6, acknowledgements; 7, contents; errata; 8, list of colour plates; 10, blank; 11, introduction; 13, birds of forest and bush; 83, birds of mountain and veld; 147, birds of marsh and vlie; 207, birds of sea and shore; 249, addenda; 251, index of common and scientific names. Contains colored half-tone plates 1-80, of which 16 are finished portraits printed on one side only on variously colored paper, the others multiple field sketches of one or two species, their obverses containing another plate or running text. All plates included in pagination. Also contains about 107 unnumbered, uncolored, half-tone field sketches, each displaying several figures.
This was Calburn's first published work and he viewed it (p.12) as a "pictorial record of bird-drawing expeditions." The accompanying text is an entertaining mixture of field anecdotes and information. Calburn later (1987) provided the illustrations for The owls of Southern Africa written by Alan Kemp.
Listed by Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by Cornell, Harvard.
Caldwell, Harry, R., and John C. Caldwell.
South China birds ///// A complete, popular and scientific account of nearly five hundred / and fifty forms of birds found in Fukien, Kwangtung, Kiangsi, / Iiangsu and Chekiang provinces //////// Stories and legends / by / Muriel E. Caldwell 23.4 x 16.0 cm. Pp. Eight preliminary leaves (PL), 1-447(1); total 232 ll. Original publisher's dark blue cloth, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Shanghai, Hester May Vandenburgh, [1931].
PL1r, half-title; PL1v, printer designation: printed at the sign of the willow pattern, Shanghai, China, 1931; PL2r, title; PL2v, blank; PL3r, dedication; PL3v, blank; PL4r-PL5v, preface; PL6r, authorities and references; PL6v, blank; PL7r-PL7v, index to families; PL8r, topography of a bird; PL8v, blank; 1-403, systematic accounts, crows-grebes; 405-409, stories and legends by Muriel E. Caldwell (also pp. 220-222, 269-270); 409, helps in field identification; 411, supplement of common North China birds; 424, supplement of common South China birds not described in main volume; 431, errata; 433, index of English and Latin nams. Contains six unnumbered color half-tone plates by Andrew Allison depicting 10 species; 31 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone photographic plates after the authors and Morris Caldwell, most with multiple images. All plates printed on one side only and not included in pagination.
The Caldwells were among the intrepid small coterie of English-speaking individuals who managed to study Chinese birds and publish ornithological books about them in English, mostly, save La Touche, using local Chinese presses. These people ( Gee, Moffett, Hubbard, Shaw, Wilder, Wilkinson, among others) did not have access to major ornithological libraries. The Caldwells treat around 500 species in this book and, for each, they provide the name in English and Latin, a description, recognition marks, nesting habits, range generally and locally, and personal anecdotal experience. They also list the "P. S. N. H. " number referring to the number assigned to the species by Gee and Moffett in their Tentative List of Chinese Birds (1926-1927) published by the Peking Society of Natural History. There are some interesting observations. I was particularly struck by the account of Nyctocorax magnifica (p. 305) " We have repeatedly found this bird singly or in isolated pairs…"
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Campbell, Archibald James (1853-1929).
Nests and Eggs / of / Australian Birds / Including the / Geographical Distribution of the Species / and / Popular Observations thereon 24.5 x 16.0 cm. π201-688698(-698)[$1 signed]; 571 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xl[1]2-1102. Original decorated tan cloth with gilt lettering on upper covers and spine. Sheffield, Pawson & Brailsford, for the author, 1901.
i, title; iii, dedication; v, introduction; xix, systematic index; xxxvii, list of illustrations; 1, systematic text; 1073, appendix; 1085, alphabetical index. Contains one unnumbered chromolithographic plate of Rose-breasted Robins and nest and chromolithographic plates 1-27 of eggs by Pawson & Brailsford after C. C. Brittlebank. Contains uncolored map and 116 leaves with 131 photographic illustrations including portraits of the author and of John Gould, all unnumbered, unpaginated, and printed on one side only. Contains bookplate of John Thayer, an important collector of ornithological books a catalog of whose collection was privately published in 1913.
This work is a superb example of Victorian work ethic being a copiously illustrated exhaustive description of the nidification of 765 species. Cambell was a prolific author whose publications account for a full nine pages in Whittell’s bibliography (pp. 106-114). He was one of the founders of the Australian Ornithologists’ Union and his collection of eggs was given to the National Museum at Melbourne.
This work was issued in a single printing of 600 copies, however, at least three binding variants exist, at least according to a description I read in a catalogue put out by the Australian booksellers Andrew Isles and Hordern House. Pawson & Brailsford bound the work in one volume of tan decorated cloth as described for this example. An English dealer bought 100 copies and bound them in two volumes of olive cloth. And Cambell, himself, had a few copies bound in light green cloth for presentation.
Trinity, p. 52; Wood, p. 277; Yale, p. 52; Zimmer, p. 123.
Alexander / Wilson / Naturalist and Pioneer 30.2 x 22.8 cm. Pp. [1-14]15-319(1); 160 ll. Original green buckram with black buckram, gilt lettered labeling frames on upper cover and spine. Illustrated dust jacket. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1961.
1, Blank; 2, books by Robert Cantwell; 3, half-titel; 4, illustration by Robert Ball; 5, title; 6, copyright; 7, dedication; 8, blank; 9, contents; 10, list of plates; 13, text; 263, appendices including: 265, The Shark;or Lang Mills Detected; 267, court records of Willsons arrest; 277; subscribers to American Ornithology; and 306, bibliography; 311, index. Contains uncolored plates 1-16 on eight unpaginated leaves and unpaginated colored plates I-VIII on eight leaves. Also contains scattered decorative text drawings by Ball.
Another biography of this enduring figure of Americana. “…he was a key figure in the cultural history of the United States….”
LSU, #191; Trinity, p. 52.
Oölogy of New England: a description of the eggs, nests, and breeding habits of the birds known to breed in New England with Colored Illustrations of their Eggs 36 x 26 cm. [1]2 2-52 [$1 signed, signatures lacking after #5 on page 17]; 58 ll. Pp. [1-4]5-116. Contemporary half-red morocco with black buckram sides, the spine containing five raised ridges and gilt lettering. TEG. Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son, Printers, 1876.
Title, 1; preface, 3; text, 5-112; index, 113-116. Contains chromolithographed plates I-XXV.
This work is well done and deserves to be better known. It describes the eggs, nests and breeding habits of the 276 species known to breed in New England at that time. The author notes that the Passenger Pigeon “is becoming quite rare” though still “numerous in western Massachusetts” and the Heath Hen is “in no present danger of extinction”. The Golden Eagle is reported to nest in the three northerly states of New England.
Apparently, Capen drew these illustrations himself and had them chromolithographed by the Forbes Lithograph Company whom he acknowledges. He also gives special thanks to Baird, Boardman and C. J. Maynard. The plates are quite attractively printed on two types of tinted paper, one tan, the other gray.
Trinity, p. 53; Wood, p. 278; Yale, p. 53; Zimmer, p. 124.
Carriker, M(elbourne) A(rmstrong), Jr. (1879-1965).
An annotated list of the birds / of Costa Rica including / Cocos Island 23.2 x 15.2 cm. Pp. Errata leaf ("ix") printed recto only, [313]314-915(1). Binder's brown buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Vertically yellow-marbled endpapers. Blue sprinkled edges. Upper original printed gray wrapper included. "Reprinted from Annals of the Carnegie Museum, Vol. VI, Nos. 2-4, 1910 (Pittsburgh), August 29th, 1910.
Preliminary leaf: recto, errata et corrigenda; verso, blank; 314, geography and physiography; 327, habits of North American winter visitants; 331, habits, food and song as factors in nomenclature; 332, localities at which birds were collected; 357, history of Costa Rican ornithology; 365, brief resumé of author's collecting; 369, bibliography; 375, systematic annotated list, Tinamus robustus robustus-Spinus xanthogaster bryanti, species 1-753; 915, editor's (W. J. Holland) note. Contains folding uncolored map bound at rear (and torn).
This work is a landmark in the history of neotropical ornithology as by far the most comprehensive treatment of the birds of a nation in that area to appear up to its time. It also marked the beginning of a very active period of exploration by American ornithologists that continued until the second world war.
Carriker was the assistant of W. E. C. Todd at the Carnegie Museum. Before he began his work for Todd in the Santa Marta mountains of Colombia, he spent about five years collecting in Costa Rica. The result was this magnum opus. Carriker discusses 753 species. For each, he provides the original reference and the first references for Costa Rica, as well as data on most museum specimens collected by himself or others. There is a summary of abundance and distribution in Costa Rica, as well as notes on habits and, in the case of rare birds, of the color in freshly killed specimens, of the parts where this changes after death. There is also an introductory section dealing with the topography of Costa Rica, its division into Pacifica and Atlantic zones, and the consequences on the distribution of permanent and migrant species. A bibliography is also included.
In addition to his work with Todd, Carriker also later published articles on bird lice.
Listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Wood, Zimmer.
Cassin, John (1813-1869), Stephens, Henry, L.
Illustrations / of the / birds of California, Texas, / and / British and Russian America / intended to comprise all the species of North America, except Mexico, not figured by / former American authors and to serve as / a supplement / to the octavo edition of / Audubon’s Birds of America 27.3 x 18.0 cm. A-D4[$1 signed]; 16 ll. Pp. 11-4112-4213-4314-4415-4551(1, blank)16-46526-7(1, blank)(2, blank). Original printed brown wrappers with decorative engraved frame on upper recto and lower verso. Upper recto, publication information; upper verso, author’s note; registration; lower recto, list of 47 subscribers; lower verso, prospectus. Philadelphia, King & Baird, Printers, No. 1, 1852.
11, Cyanocorax luxuoxus, the Mexican Jay; 12, Melanerpes formicivorus, the California Woodpecket; 13, Chamaea fasciata, the Ground Wren; 14, Lophophanes atricristatus, the Black-crested Chickadee; 15, synopsis of the North American species of the sub-family Parinae; 16, Cyrtonyx massena, the Massena Partridge. Contains five unnumbered hand-colored lithographs designated H. C. Stephens del & lith Rosenthal Lith Press.
The present work is the cancelled first part of what later became Cassin’s Illustrations of the birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America intended to contain descriptions and figures of all North American birds not given by former American authors, and a general synopsis of North Americn ornithology published in 10 parts (1853-1856) and reissued in 1862 and 1865. It is not clear why Cassin suppressed this original first part but the disappearance of Henry Stephen’s name as co-author and the elimination of his illustrations suggest that dissatisfaction with him may have been a factor.
This suppressed first part differs in virtually all particulars from the subsequent publication. In addition to minor textural alterations, the title, authorship, publisher, pagination, artist, lithographer and lithographic printer were all changed and the later version was signed in eights not fours. Most of these differences were unremarked until W. J. Fox (Auk, 1901: 291-292) found a copy of the cancelled part in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia which, like this one, contained the wrappers. All of the publishing and technical information was on the wrappers only since the contents did not include a title page or preliminaries, which were normally issued with the last part. That copy is presently not listed in the on-line catalog of the Academy and the four copies referred to below all lack the original wrappers. A copy with the original wrappers is of the utmost rarity.
This little known piece of ornithological Americana is listed by Coues, first Instalment, p. 639 with an incorrect date and no title; in the Gallatin catalog, p. 35, without title and under the date, 1862; in the Thayer catalog, p. 38, undated with incorrect title; and by Mengel, #472, where the correct title and date are attributed to a transcribed copy of the wrapper by Joseph Grinnell. These copies all lack the original wrappers.
The work is unlisted by AMNH, BM(NH), Braislin, Cornell, Harvard, Karlsruhe virtual library, LOC, Melvyl, Oxford, Smithsonian, Trinity, Wood, Yale, Zimmer. OCLC locates two copies, both lacking wrapper
Birds (of Chile) Extract from the U. S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere during the Years 1849-1852. Lieut. M. M. Gilliss, Superintendent… Volume 2. 28.1 x 21.8 cm. π323*-26*4[26*2 in duplicate][$1 signed]; 19 ll. Pp. 172-206 (203/204 in duplicate). Later 19th century half-red morocco with marbled boards. Spine in six compartments with gilt lettering in second, third and fourth from the top. Washington, A. O. P. Nicholson, Printer, 1855.
172, Title; 172-206, systematic list of species. Contains colored plates XIV-XXVIII including eight chromolithographs by T. Sinclair's lith. of Philadelphia after drawings by W. Dreser and seven hand-colored lithographs by F. S. Duval & Co.'s Steam lith Press, Philadelphia after an undesignated artist.
In this work, Cassin identifies 117 species that were collected on the expedition for which natural history was not an explicit objective. Cassin provides the original citation for each species as well as comments of his own. Reference is also frequently made to the notes on the various species that were made by Gilliss himself during the expedition. Perhaps the most important contribution is an English translation of Philippi's discovery and description of the Andean Flamingo first published in a Chilean journal in 1854.
The eight chromolithographs in this work by T. Sinclair of Philadelphia are amongst the first chromolithographs of birds produced in America, preceded, as far as I know, only by those done by Rosenthal for C. W. Webber's Wild Scenes and Song-Birds (1854)
Trinity, p. 54; Wood, p. 280; Yale, p. 54. Unlisted by Zimmer.
Birds (collected in Japan and China) Extract from: Perry, M. C., Narrative of an Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, Performed in the Years 1852, 1853 and 1854… Volume 2. 28.1 x 21.8 cm. π228s-31s432s2[$1 signed]; 20 ll. Pp. (4)[217-219]220-252. Later 19th century half-red morocco and marbled boards. Spine with five raised ridges and gilt lettering in the second, third and fourth compartments from the top. (Washington, A. O. P. Nicholson, Printer, 1856).
π1r, Title ("Birds"); π1v, blank; π2r, compiler's (extractor's) manuscript summarizing contents; π2v, blank; 217, author's note; 218, blank; 220, blank; 219, birds collected in Japan; 236, birds collected in China, the Loo Choo Islands, the Islands of Singapore and Ceylon, and on the coast of California; 249, letter from Dr. Jos. Wilson to Dr. L. J. Williams "describing the manner of hatching chicks in China". Contains hand-colored plates 1-6 lithographed by Wm Hitchcock probably after originals by William Heine. The letter contains an unnumbered text woodcut.
Cassin, a Philadelphia lawyer and businessman was amongst the most internationally respected of American ornithologist and was amongst the few initial foreigners honored by membership in the British Ornithologists' Union. He was strictly a museum type who examined and described important collections. He tells us that the present collection was made by William Heine, who accompanied the expedition as an artist. Natural history was not an objective of the expedition but Heine had a special interest in it and was allowed to wander about and collect various specimens. Cassin tells us that previous collections and descriptions of Japanese birds had been carried out mainly on Kyushu since Nagasaki was the principal port of entry for foreigners. According to Cassin, the specimens described here were the first to be obtained by westerners in Honshu and mainly in Hokkaido. Heine's notes, an important part of the text, are the first describing the behavior of the various Japanese birds in the wild. In particular, they apparently represent the first description of the two species of Japanese Pheasant (now known as the Green and the Copper Pheasant) in the wild.
In all, Cassin identifies 31 Japanese species as well as 62 species from the other areas that were visited. In most cases, the treatment is brief with identification of the species, reference to the literature where it was first described and a note as to its distribution and where it was obtained. In some cases, particularly those of the pheasants, extensive notes by Heine are included and occasionally Cassin has his own comments.
Trinity, p. 54; Wood, p. 280; Yale, p. 54. Not listed by Zimmer.
Illustrations / of the / birds / of / California, Texas, Oregon, British and / Russian America. / Intended to contain descriptions and figures / of all / North American birds / not given by former American authors, / and a / general synopsis of North American ornithology 25.7 x 17.5 cm. π41-188196(-196)[$1 signed]; 153 ll. Pp. [i-ii]iii-viii1-298. Later mottled calf-backed marbled boards by J. Desmonts of James Macdonald Co. Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in second, fourth, sixth compartments. AEG. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1862(1853-1855).
i, Title; ii, registration, 1855; iii, preface; vii, contents; systematic text, Mexican Jay-Short-tailed Albatross including 50 species; 293, index. Contains colored plates 1-50, hand-colored lithographs with tintstone lithographic frames and backgrounds, drawn and lithographed by William E. Hitchcock (32) and George White (18), printed by J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia.
This book describes western birds that were discovered, often by military personnel, during the westward expansion of the mid 19th century. The first edition was published in 10 parts, 1853-1856. There was also an extremely rare first part issued in 1852 that Cassin suppressed, apparently because he was dissatisfied with the illustrations by Henry Stephens. The present copy represents the second issue and a third appeared in 1865. According to Mengel (#473), this book "is said to contain the first use of trinomial names by an American…". There are 50 species described, three of which were considered new but later relegated to synonym status. For each of the species, there is a "Description and Technical Observations" section as well as anecdotal information and field notes from many different contributors. The Synopsis of North American birds is inserted in several places throughout the text and is incomplete. In the preface, Cassin expresses the hope of writing two additional volumes, which, however, never appeared.
Cassin was amongst the first American museum ornithologists and virtually the only American of his time who wrote and published on exotic birds such as those of Chile and China. He and Spencer Baird were the only Americans named in 1859 as original honorary foreign members of the British Ornithologists' Union.
Wood, p. 280-281; Zimmer, p. 124-125. This work is present in virtually all significant American holdings of ornithological books.
United States / Exploring Expedition / during the years / 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 / under the Command of / Charles Wilkes, U. S. N. / Atlas. / Mammology and Ornithology / 50.0 x 33.5 cm. π2. Pp. (4) Later brown mottled calf-backed henna cloth-covered boards. Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in second, fourth, sixth compartments. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858.
Contains 53 hand-colored engravings with uncolored backgrounds numbered Mammology 1-11 and Ornithology 1-42. The artists for the mammology plates were: T. R. Peale (8); G. G. White (2); and W. E. Hichcock (1). The engravers for the mammology plates were: W. H. Dougal (6); Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson (4) and J. H. Arnold (1). The artists for the ornithological plates were: Peale (24); White (10); Hitchcock (5); and E. Sheppard (3). The engravers were: Dougal (28); Hinshelwood (3); Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson (3); McRae (2); W. J. Newton (2); J. Rolph (2); T. House (1) and Sherman & Smith (1). Plate 42 is in the first state with the ship and iceberg in the background. This is the "unofficial"issue.
The Wilkes Exploring Expedition was the most important such American venture of its kind, intended to demonstrate the naval strength of the young country. The mammology and ornithology section has a very complicated bibliographical history. Titian Peale, a member of the well known artistic family, was the zoologist and artist for the expedition. He wrote the original text for mammology and ornithology which, without plates, was published in an edition of only about 100 copies in 1848. A number of these, all that were in reserve at the Library of Congress, were lost in a fire. Wilkes wanted Peale to eliminate backgrounds from his plates in order to save money. There had also been disagreements between the two men concerning the title and preface of the text volume. Peale refused to sanction any changes to his plates and the two men parted ways. Cassin was recruited to rewrite the text and those of Peale's plates that were finished were altered to remove backgrounds. Some examples of plate 42 had already been printed before the alterations and these, containing a ship and iceberg in the background, found their way into some "unofficial" copies of the atlas. Cassin rewrote the text and it was published along with the atlas in 1858. There were two versions. The "official" copies can be distinguished by the fact that they were published under the imprint of C. Sherman & Son, Philadelphia. The "official" atlas always contains the second state of plate 42 which lacks the background of a ship and iceberg. Of the "official" issue, there were 100 copies of both text and atlas. The "unofficial" issue has the Lippincott imprint as here, and sometimes, but not always, has plate 42 in the first state. Its text and atlas volumes were each printed in an edition of 150 copies. Bibliographical information about the Wilkes Expedition can be found in Daniel C. Haskell's The United States Exploring Expeditions, 1838-1842, and its Publications published by the New York Public Library in 1942. A view sympathetic to Peale can be found in Titian Ramsay Peale 1799-1885 and his Journals of he Wilkes Expedition by Jesse Poesch published as volume 52, 1961 in the Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.
As might be expected from an artist of Peale's caliber, some of the ornithological plates in this volume are among the finest that have ever been produced in the United States. They depict Pacific Island species including some from Hawaii, a spectacular one of which (Mohoa augustipluma) was first described by Peale, was susequently named Chaetoptila augustipluma, and was extirpated only a few years later. The present copy is slightly trimmed and the plates bear the stamp "Brooklyn Public Library", mostly quite light and inobtrusive..
Wood, p. 606; Zimmer, p. 675-676. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Of the atlas, only Trinity lists the Sherman "official" imprint.
A portfolio of / Philippine birds 43.4 x 30.6 cm Two text leaves numbered I and II and plates I-XXX in color half-tone on thirty leaves, all loose and printed on semi-matte paper. Housed in printed red and cream colored cloth covered board portfolio. Manila, Ayala Museum, 1977 ("Filipinas Foundation Inc." printed on rear of portfolio).
Leaf I, recto: introduction by Hilario S. Francia dated 1 Aug, 1977 and by Diascoro S. Rabor, special consultant in wildlife, biology and management, university of the Philippines at Los Baños, college of forestry; verso, acknowledgments, credits: photographic reproduction, Butch Monserrat In-Focus, inc.
Leaf II, recto: brief explanatory letter-press for plates I-XXX. Verso, blank.
The spirited and boldly drawn colored plates are all framed and their image sizes range from 37.0 x 26.4 to 19.4 x 16.8 cm. Most of the birds are depicted life-size and occupy virtually the entire image area. Amongst the species are 22 endemics including parrots, kingfishers and pittas. The color-printing is strong and satisfactory. Many of the species had rarely been previously illustrated in color and never in such large format.
Listed by Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Harvard.
de Castelnau, Francis (L. de Laporte) (1812-1880), and ({Marc Athenase Parfait} O{eillet} Des Murs [1804-1878])
Animaux Nouveaux ou Rares / recuellis pendant l'expédition / dans les parties centrales / de / L'Amérique Du Sud / de Rio de Janeiro a Lima, et de Lima au Para; / exécutée / par ordre du gouvernement Français pendant les années 1843-1847, / sous la direction du compte / Francis de Castelnau // Oiseaux / par M. O. Des Murs 31.2 x 24.0. π21-124132[$1 signed]; 52 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-98[99](1). Later fine half red morocco, red cloth. Spine with five raised bands, gilt lettering in second and third compartments. Marbled endpapers. Bradley Martin copy with bookplate probably prepared and affixed by Sotheby's for the sale of his library. Paris, P. Bertrand, 1855(i. e. 1856, vida infra).
π1r, Half-title for zoology section; π1v, printer designation: L. Martinet, Paris; π2r, title; π2v, blank; 1, introduction; 3, general considerations of neotropical ornithology; 7, systematic text; 96, list of plates, here designated I-XX but the plates, themselves, bearing Arabic numerals; 97, table des matières (contents); 99, errata. Contains plates 1-20, fine hand-colored lithographs drawn and lithographed by Oudart, printed by Lith. Gény-Gros, Paris.
The complete report of the Castelnau expedition consisted of 14 volumes in 13 and was published 1850-1857. The zoology section was part 7 and contained three volume with the ornithological portion appearing in the first of these. According to Zimmer, Des Murs was the author because of the death of Deville who had originally been assigned the job. Zimmer also provides evidence that this article, although its title page and wrapper are dated 1855, actually first appeared in 1856.
In the introduction we read "presque tout ce que M. de Castelnau a rapporté de neuf et d'interessant en oiseaux ayant été, depuis six ans, décrit et publié, soit par nous-meme, soit par M. Deville, soit par le prince Ch. Bonaparte, soit par le Baron de la Fresnaye, soit enfin par M. Sclater." Since publication of the expedition report was so long delayed and the significant ornithological findings long since published, Des Murs felt that the opportunity was here offered to publish digressions on special points of interest. He considered, but discarded the notion of listing all the species of birds that had been obtained among the 2000 specimens because sufficient space and resources were not allocated to the ornithological portion for such a large task. Therefore, he provides a complete overall general classification but deals individually with only a small cross-section, perhaps 70, of the species. In some cases, descriptions of new birds in Latin and French seem to have been taken from the earlier publication in which they were first reported. In a few instances, " nous serons même assez heureux pour ajouter à celles déjà connues plusieurs espèces nouvelles que nous avons retrouvées dans la collection du voyage." In addition, Des Murs incorporates field notes and literature information in appropriate places and occasionally provides protracted commentary as, for example, a ten-page minitreatise on the hoatzin.
The twenty colored plates by Oudart are a major asset of this publication and mostly figured species that had not before been illustrated.
The entire report of the Castelnau expedition was reprinted in Leipzig in 1922. The ornithological section was done by chromolithography and is easily distinguished by inspection from the original. However, most dealers and their clients are unaware of the distinction and the relatively common reprint is often passed along as an example of the very scarce original.
Wood, p. 281; Zimmer, p. 125-126. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
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.
Boston Bird Book Company
List K / Books on Birds / and / Natural History 21.5 x 14.0 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-44. Original printed brown wrappers. Manchester, NH, ND(1930s). Lists items 1-641. Includes "An American Ornithological Library of 1876 as Suggested by the Editor of Forest and Stream".
This catalog is interesting for the numerous small works of American ornithology including little known publications on the birds of various states. At $11.50, Charles Brooks' "Elements of Ornithology" is amongst the most expensive of these.
Francis Edwards
Catalogue of Books / on British and Foreign Birds 21.0 x 13.5 cm. Pp. [1]2-16. Lacks covers. No. 647, London, 1940. Contains items 1-364. Contains some major books at seem to be amazingly low prices. Gould's Birds of Great Britain listed at £60 compared to the newly published Handbook… by Witherby at £5. Catalog contains a surprising number of bibliographical errors.
Henry George Fiedler
Catalogue of Books / on / Birds / Bird Magazines, Monographs, Bird Lists 22.1 x 16.0. Pp. [1-2]3-40 including both sides of both wrappers. Original printed tan wrappers. Catalogue No. 106, New York, 1948. Contains items 1-1013.
Bernard Quaritch
Catalogue / of works on / Natural History 21.5 x 14.7 cm. 19-218224; 28 ll. Pp. [241]242-296. Original printed brown wrappers. No. 336, London, April 1881. G. Norman and Sons, Printers. Contains items 2074-2663. Price one shilling. This catalog is a section of a massive and well known listing published by Quaritch in the 1880s.
A / Catalogue of Books / on / Zoology // Important Books on Ornithology / (many with coloured plates)………..23.5 x 15.4 cm. Pp. [1]2-96. 48 ll. Original printed tan wrappers. No. 640, London, 1946. Price sixpence. Harting & Curtis Ltd, Printers. Lists items 1-1826.
James Thin
ORNITHOLOGY / Catalogue of Books / on / British & Foreign Birds 21.5 x14.0. Pp. [1]2-22 including both sides of lower wrapper. Original printed gray wrappers. Catalogue No. 256, Edinburgh, ND (1930s). Contains items 1-586.
(Catesby, Mark[1683-1749]), and Urban Sylvanus (Pseudonym for Cave, E.).
The Gentleman's Magazine 19.8 x 12.9 cm. Laid paper. 8o. [u]4X-Y4Z22A-2B4[2C]4[$1 signed]; 26 ll. Pp. [153-155]156-203[204]. Bound issue lacking wrappers. London, E. Cave, April, 1753.
153, Title page; 154, contents; 155, text. Contains two hand-colored, engraved plates printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Also contains four unnumbered text woodcuts and more than a page of music.
This monthly magazine was started in 1731 by Cave who went under the pseudonym of Urban Sylvanus and was a friend of Samuel Johnson. It continued as The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle until 1868. Its title is said to represent the first use of the word "magazine" to describe a journal. It contained a wide variety of material including digests of other publications as well as original essays and poetry. I bought this issue because it contains a hand-colored engraving corresponding to plate 48 of Catesby's The Natural History of Carolina, the first edition of which was published 1731-1743 and considered, with Albin's Natural History, the first published color plate book of ornithology. The second edition of Catesby appeared in 1754 after this article which therefore copied, with attribution, this plate from the first edition. This picture, which includes the Baltimore Bird (Oriole) and Virginia Tulip, is well colored and provides an accurate representation of the original. Beneath it, in two columns are separate paragraphs which condense and paraphrase the descriptive matter for the bird and the tree that appeared on page 48 of Catesby's book. These paragraphs are printed rather than engraved and there are no metal-engraved plate marks above them nor on the side. Therefore, I think the engraving was probably done on wood.
This issue of The Gentleman's Magazine was not the only one to display a colored plate copied from Catesby. I have seen one depicting "The Large Lark" (Meadowlark), plate 33, and another in the issue of June, 1752 featuring the "Painted Finch" (Painted Bunting).
(Catesby, Mark[1683-1749]) Sylvanus, Urban (Pseudonym for Cave, E.)
The Gentleman's Magazine 20.3 x 12.7 cm. Laid paper. 8o. [1]42-64 ( also designated [xx]4yy-bbb4)[$1 signed]; 24 ll. Pp. [341-343]344-387[388]. Bound issue lacking wrappers. London, E. Cave jun., August, 1752.
341, Title page; 342, contents; 343, text. Contains hand-colored, (wood-?)engraved plate of Cuckoo of Carolina from Catesby signed E. Cave, uncolored engraved plate designated “Incas of Peru” printed on one side only and not included in pagination,
two text woodcuts and one woodcut initial letter.
This monthly magazine was started in 1731 by Cave who went under the pseudonym of Urban Sylvanus and was a friend of Samuel Johnson. It continued as The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle until 1868. Its title is said to represent the first use of the word "magazine" to describe a journal. It contained a wide variety of material including digests of other publications as well as original essays and poetry. This issue of The Gentleman's Magazine was not the only one to display a colored plate copied from Catesby. I have another with the plate of the “Baltimore Bird “ (Oriole) and I have seen one depicting "The Large Lark" (Meadowlark), plate 33, and another in the issue of June, 1752, featuring the "Painted Finch" (Painted Bunting).
This picture is amongst the earliest colored ornithological plates to appear in a magazine.
Cave, Colonel Francis O., and James D(avid) Macdonald (1908-)(illustrated by D. M. Reid Henry)
The birds of the Sudan / their identification and distribution 22.1 x 15.2 cm. [a]6b8A-2D82E6[$1 signed]; 236 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxvii(1)1-444. Original publisher's blue-black cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Top edge dyed red. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of 45/ on upper flap. Edinburgh and London, Oliver and Boyd, 1955.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title with shoe-bill vignette; iv, printer designation: J. & J. Gray, Edinburgh; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, foreword by James W. Robertson, Civil Secretary, Sudan; ix, contents; x, list of plates; xii, sequence and index of families; xv, composition of families (number of genera, species, races); xix, introduction; 1, introduction to families; 51, systematic text, Struthio camelus-Fringillaria striolata, species 1-871; 397, principal divisions of vegetation; 405, glossary of plant names; 406, history of bird exploration; 411, references (mainly to "Sudan notes and records", 1917-1947); 414, Arabic and other names; 417, index of common and scientific names. Contains: plates 1-12, so enumerated in list and on overlying tissue guard sheet with identifying letter press, displaying 104 species, printed in color half-tone on one side only, the plates and guards not included in pagination; Six leaves of uncolored half-tone photographs (by J. F. Madden, J. F. E. Bloss, Macdonald, Cave and C. E. Wilson) displaying 24 images, printed on both sides and not included in pagination. Approximately 300 unnumbered text line drawings by Reid Henry; two unpaginated uncolored maps, one folding.
This was the first well illustrated 20th century book on the birds of the area. Cave was a military officer stationed in The Sudan. Macdonald, Curator of Birds at the British Museum, also had field experience there. Reid Henry, here executing his first major commission, was the son of G. M. Henry, an outstanding natural history artist who specialized in Ceylonese and Indian subjects. The work provides "field keys" for various groups, and for each species gives the length, a section on identification, and an indication of status, habitat and the variations of distinct races. The illustrations are very good.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Cayley, Neville W(illiam) (1887-1950).
Our Birds 23.5 x 14.8 cm. Eight unpaginated leaves printed on recto only, the first seven comprising colored plates of birds and foliage, the last a brief descriptive text for each. Original gray printed wrappers with central oval hole of upper cover forming framed section of first plate. No. 1.-Australian Bird Series. 1st Edition (from upper cover). (1918?, 1920?), Aldenhoven Art Galleries, Sydney. Printed by H. & H. Printing Co. Sydney.
In 1931, Neville Cayley published What Bird is that?, a work that probably did more than any other to popularize bird watching and conservation in Australia. He was the son of an ornithological artist, Neville H. Cayley and was himself a gifted artist. On the first colored plate in this little pamphlet there is a square in which is printed "dedicated to my father, / NEVILLE CAYLEY, / died may, 1933".
The pictures show individual species in typical habitat and the bird and foliage are identified at the base of the plate as well as on the single text plate where a few comments are also added. On the verso of the last leaf in this copy, there is a rubber stamp"… Kilroy Harris…Cleveland…Mar 1933".
This work is probably the first publication of the author and is not well known. The only references to it which I was able to find are Wood, who gives the date 1920, and the Mathews Checklist which gives the date ?1918. The work is not cited in any of the usual on-line catalogs and is also not mentioned by Whittell.
Mathews Checklist, p. 56; Wood, p. 282. Absent from Ayer, Trinity, Yale, Harvard, AMNH and Cornell libraries and not listed by Whittell.
Cayley, Neville W(illiam) (1887-1950)
What Bird is that? / A Guide to the Birds / Of Australia 22.0 x 16.2 cm. [A]8B-T8U10V8[$1 signed]; 170 ll. Pp. [i-ix]x-xix[xx][1-2]3-319(1). Original green cloth, gilt lettering on spine, black block design of Kookaburra in question mark on upper cover. Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1931 (first edition).
i, Half-title; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, dedication (to father); vii, foreword; ix, preface; ci, contents; xiii, list of plates; xv, the Gould League of Bird Lovers; xvii, introduction; xx, map; 1, Australia's largest birds; 7, forest-frequenting birds; 165, birds of heath-land and open country; 217, birds of the ocean and shore; 289, appendix, introduced and established birds; 297, index. Contains colored plates I-XXXVI and eight plates containing 14 uncolored photographs of habitat, all printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Errata slip inserted before plate XXXI with which it is concerned.
This book represents for Australia what the original guides of Roger Tory Peterson and Austin Roberts represent for the United States and for South Africa respectively. Cayley's book was the first widely used identification manual for Australian birds and, like the other two works cited above, remains in print 70 years after its initial appearance, having undergone numerous reprintings and revisions. It is by far the most influential Australian book with respect to the popularization of ornithology and conservation.
Cayley was a fine artist and ornithologist who wrote and illustrated popular treatises on Australian parrots and fairy-wrens, among others. His father was also a well known ornithological artist.
Cayley chose to organize this book along habitat lines so that he discusses and illustrates the various species in the context of their habitat rather than with respect to their taxonomy. Most plates, therefore, depict unrelated birds, all drawn to the same scale which is indicated at the base of each plate. An exception is made in the case of parrots. The scheme can be confusing for those of us who are accustomed to a taxonomic sequence of text and illustrations, yet it represents a logical approach that successfully achieves its objective of facilitating the identification of birds. The brief text for each species covers the derivation of its Latin name, its distribution, notes on special characteristics and description of its nest and eggs if it is an Australian breeder. Habitat, size and description are considered adequately covered by its placement in the text and by its illustration. The plates are well drawn.
The first edition of this work, like that of the other two, is uncommon because in each case there was no indication that more than a modest print run would be needed.
Listed by Harvard. AMNH, Cornell, Trinity and Yale list only later printings
Cayley, Neville W(illiam) (1887-1950)
What bird is that? / A guide to the birds / Of Australia 22.0 x 15.2 cm. [A]8B-T8U10V8[$1 signed]; 170 ll. Pp. [i-ix]x-xix[xx][1-2]3-319(1). Original green cloth, gilt lettering on spine, black block design of Kookaburra in question mark on upper cover. Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1931 (first edition). Laid in loosely at title page is an unbound slip “Sent by Angus & Robertson, Sydney. /Kindly mail to us a copy of the issue / containing your review. / The price of this book is 12/6”
i, Half-title; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, dedication (to father); vii, foreword; ix, preface; ci, contents; xiii, list of plates; xv, the Gould League of Bird Lovers; xvii, introduction; xx, map; 1, Australia's largest birds; 7, forest-frequenting birds; 165, birds of heath-land and open country; 217, birds of the ocean and shore; 289, appendix, introduced and established birds; 297, index. Contains colored plates I-XXXVI and eight plates containing 14 uncolored photographs of habitat, all printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Lacking errata slip that is inserted before plate XXXI in my other copy.
This is my second copy of the first printing of this book which was so important in popularizing bird watching in Australia. It sold out almost immediately and a second printing was issued later in the year (1931). In both text and pictures, birds are grouped according to size or habitat rather than taxonomically. The text entries are brief with short notes on distribution, nesting and eggs. As many as 20-30 species are illustrated on each colored plate.
This original printing is quite scarce.
Cayley, Neville (William[?])(1887-1950)
Australian birds / a beautiful / coloured series 20.1 x 13.5 cm. 12 Unpaginated leaves printed on recto only, the first being the title printed in blue, the remaining 11 being colored half-tone prints within blue frames (15.2 x 10.7 cm) depicting 11 species. Original gilt-printed olive wrappers with central circular panel containing mounted uncolored reproduction of the first colored plate. Sydney, N. S. W. Bookstall Co., ND. Printed by John Sands, Printer, Sydney. Copyright of all pictures reserved by William Aldenhoven, Art Gallery….Sydney.
This rare pamphlet resembles much in style that entitled “Our birds” in my collection although the printer and publisher are different and the leaves are a bit smaller. Both were associated with the Aldenhoven Art Gallery and there is a printed blue designation under each print in this work indicating that the original painting is for sale at the gallery. It is possible that both may be promotional brochures. One reference I found was on page 56 of the Checklist to the Mathews Ornithological Collection where the date of publication is indicated as ?1903 and the work is ascribed to the elder Neville Cayley (1853-1903), who was an ornithological artist of considerable talent. I doubt, however, that he was the responsible artist for these prints which are much in the style of the younger Cayley and which were printed in color half-tone that would have been unusual in Australia as early as 1903. The only other reference I could find was the Oxford library which provided only the title, ascribed the pictures to Neville W. Cayley, but stated “pre-1920 author”.
Mathews Checklist, p. 56. Listed without any details by Oxford. Not listed by AMNH, BMNH, Cornell, Harvard, LOC, Melvyl, Trinity, Yale.
Chalmers, Patrick R(eginald)(1872-1942) (illustrated by Winifred Austen [1876-1964])
Birds ashore / and a-foreshaw 32.0 x 25.5 cm. [A]4B-Z4[$1 signed]; 92 ll. Pp. (2, blank)[1-12]13-180(2, blank). Publisher's blue cloth with gilt falcon on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. London, Collins, (1935).
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title with heron vignette; 4, copyright 1935; printed by Collins Clear-Type Press, London and Glasgow; 5, dedication; 6, blank; 7, acknowledgement that the verses in this book were previously published in "Punch"(magazine); 8, blank; 9, index; 10, blank; 11, list of colored plates; 12, blank; 13, introduction; 17, plates and accompanying text for 16 species. Contains 16 unnumbered colored plates printed in half-tone on one side only, the leaves not included in pagination. Also contains title vignette and 16 unnumbered, uncolored line drawing tail-pieces.
This book is a show case for the art of Winifred Austen, one of the able English early 20th century ornithological artists who is perhaps better remembered for her pictures in Kirkman's British bird book (1910-1913). The work comprises accounts and colored plates of 16 common English birds. The accounts include an essay that amounts to a life history written in a popular style and with personal anecdotes. There is also a verse and a line drawing with each account. The verses had been previously published by him in Punch magazine. Nicholas Hammond (Twentieth century wildlife artists [1986]) holds Austen's work in high regard.
Although he professes here to deplore the shooting of birds, Chalmers, a writer and poet, published several works on hunting as well as on fishing.
Hammond, p. 37. Also listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale. Not listed by AMNH.
Chansigaud, Valérie (Translated from French by Joseph Muise).
The history / of ornithology 22.4 x 15.6 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-239(1). Printed pictorial boards with Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Lear) and Red-breasted Merganser (Fuertes) on upper cover. London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland, New Holland Publishers, 2009. (Original edition Histoire de l’ornithologie, Paris, Delachaux & Niestlé, 2007).
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, first printing, ISBN 978 1 84773 433 4; printed by Mame, France; 5, contents; 6, blank; 7, introduction; 11, antiquity; 17, middle ages; 23, renaissance; 41, 17th century; 57, 18th century; 97, 19th century; 189, 20th century; 211, bibliography (about 41 references); 213, index; 219, timeline. Contains numerous unnumbered half-tone text illustrations, many colored including depictions of birds from antiquarian books and pictures of historical ornithological personages.
OCLC locates 72 copies.
Chapin, James P(aul) (1889-1964).
The birds / of the Belgian Congo Four volumes (parts). 24.5 x 16.4 cm. Without signatures. Later half-magenta buckram and marbled boards. Gilt black paper lettering piece on spine. Uncut, mostly unopened. Original gray printed wrappers retained. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. New York.
Part I / Volume LXV, 1932 / December 15, 1931 (title page; wrapper date is December 17). Pp. [i]ii]iii-x[1-2]3-756. i, Title; ii, "Edited by Ethel J. Timonier; iii, contents; v, list of illustrations; 1, part I sub-title page; 3, ornithological exploration of the Belgian Congo (historical); 27, topography and geology; 47, climate; 83, faunal relationships and subdivisions; 204, bird distribution and its ecological aspects; 265, typical cases of geographical variation; 301, breeding seasons; 322, bird migration; 363, evolution and relations of he Ethiopian avifauna; 393, systematic accounts, Podicipidae-Turnicididae; 705, index of English and Latin names; Contains:1 folding, partially color-printed map with itinerary drawn by A. Briesemeister; uncolored frontispiece and uncolored plates I-X, printed in half-tone on one side with two images per plate, verso with identifying letter-press for next plate; there is an unpaginated titular leaf for the plate section between text and index; text figures 1-208 comprising uncolored half-tone photographs printed on both sides and included in pagination, maps, and line sketches, most by Mrs. H. von Ziska.
Part II / Volume LXXV, 1939 / October 27, 1939. Pp. [i-ii]iii-vii(1)[1-2]3-632. i, Half-title; ii, "Edited by Ether J. Timonier"; iii, contents; v, list of illustrations; 1, part II, sub-title page; 3, introduction; 5, systematic accounts, Rallidae-Picidae; 599, index. Contains: frontispiece of congo peacock after G. E. Lodge printed in fine color gravure by John Bale, Sons & Curnow, Ltd., London; titular leaf for plate section with plates I-XXI including two printed in color half-tone after Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the other 20 uncolored half-tone photographs, two per plate, the plates printed on recto with identifying letter-press for the next plate on verso, the whole section not included in pagination; text figures 1-38, line sketches, most by Mrs. H. von Ziska.
Part 3(sic) / Volume 75A(sic) 1953 (May 20, 1953 according to Editor's note). Pp. [1-3]4-821(1). 1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, editor's note; 5, contents; 7, list of illustrations; 9, introduction; systematic accounts, Eurylaimidae-Hirundinidae; 787, index. Contains: plate titular section leaf, uncolored photographic half-tone plates 1-14(sic) printed on recto with 1-3 images per plate and identifying letter-press for next plate on verso, the whole section not included in pagination; text figures 1-36, mostly line sketches by Alexander Seidel.
Part 4 / Volume 75B 1954 Pp. [i-iii]iv-ix(1)1-846. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, editor's note; v, contents; vii, list of illustrations; 1, introduction; 3, systematic accounts, Dicruridae-Fringillidae 621m additional species of known or probably occurrence; 638, gazetteer; 739, bibliography; 811, index to part 4. Contains: plate titular section leaf, uncolored photographic half-tone plates 1-27, 1-2 images per plate, printed on recto with identifying letter-press for next plate on verso, the whole section not included in pagination; text figures 1-46, mostly line sketches by Alexander Seidel.
In 1909, Chapin left Columbia during his junior year to serve as Herbert Lang's assistant on a collecting expedition to the Congo under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History. The two spent six years on this trip and 15 scholarly volumes resulted from their research. Chapin went on to spend his entire professional life associated with the Museum and in 1990 the Museum mounted its first public exhibition of many of the artifacts brought back from that initial venture by Lang and Chapin.
When Chapin began his study, there was only one formal list of the birds of the Congo, that by Alphonse Dubois in his Remarques sur l'ornithologie de l'etat indépendant du Congo (1905). That list contained a mere 485 species because Dubois included only those represented by specimens in the natural history museums of Brussels and Tervueren (Congo) and omitted published records of other ornithologists. When he wrote volume I, Chapin estimated that his accounts would comprise 1040 species but by the time of appearance of the fourth volume, that figure had risen to 1077 with various "probables" making 1100 a reasonable figure for the total.
This work is the first, and still by far the most important complete account of the birds of the Congo. Considering that this rich area of bird life was virtually an ornithological terra incognita, the scope of the field work and scholarship that it entailed is remarkable. For all these birds, Chapin provides: generic and specific keys; synonymy/bibliography (with a separate formidable general bibliography); sex, date and locality of every specimen; description of color of labile parts; distribution and status; notes on breeding, nests, and eggs.
According to the Trinity listing, Part I of this work was also the qualifying thesis used by Chapin to obtain his Ph. D. at Columbia.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale and Trinity.
Retrospect / reminiscences and impressions / of a hunter-naturalist / in three continents / 1851-1928 22.2 x 15.5 cm.πa8(+1, a9)A-Y8Z4[$1, 3 signed]; 190 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xix(1)[1]2-353(1)(6, reviews of other works by Chapman). Errata slip inserted at xiv/xv. Original publisher's vertically ribbed green cloth, single peripheral blind frame panel. Spine with gilt lettering. TEG, others uncut. London and Edinburgh, Gurney and Jackson, 1928.
i, Half-title; ii, list of Chapman's books; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh; v, "inscribed to divine providence"; vi, blank; vii, preface; ix, l'envoi; xi, contents; xv, illustrations; 1, text; 318, appendices A-C (essays); 347, index. Contains 20 unnumbered full-page plates in color half-tone after W. H. Riddell, printed on one side only and with tissue leaf containing facing letter-press, all leaves not included in pagination; 36 leaves of unnumbered uncolored plates printed on one side only, several containing more than one image, including one photogravure, 10 pictures after Riddell, seven after Joseph Crawhall, several photographs of scenery, trophies, the leaves not included in pagination; approximately 137 text illustrations, most by Chapman, many of birds.
In his 77th year, Chapman reflects on his favorite subjects, natural history, hunting and fishing, in his favorite areas, the border between Scotland and England, Spain, North Africa and the far north. He also supplies some quirky essays on subjects such as the philosophy of nature study, thirst, and communism in wild nature. The illustrations by Chapman, W. H. Riddell, his ward's husband, and his cousin Joseph Crawhall are uniformly interesting and evocative. The pictures of hunting and of game trophies are also interesting but seem anachronistic.
Wood, p. 284. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not Zimmer.
Chapman, Abel (1851-1929), and Walter J(ohn) Buck.
Unexplored / Spain 25.9 x 18.1 cm. [A]8B-2D8X11[$1 signed];227 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-xvi1-416([1]2-22, publisher's advertisements). Original publisher's green cloth, gilt lettering on spine and upper cover, blind paneling and fine gilt design of Spanish Ibex on upper cover. London, Edward Arnold, 1910.
i, Half-title; ii, list of titles by Chapman; iii, title; iv, blank (title page contains "all rights reserved"); v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, preface; ix, contents; xiii, list of plates; xiv, illustrations in text; 1, text; 413, index. Contains 41 unnumbered, uncolored "plates" printed on one side only of 31 leaves not included in pagination. Most of these are photographs but there are eight, five and two after illustrations respectively by Joseph Crawhall, E. Caldwell, and Chapman. Also contains about 145 unnumbered text figures most birds after drawings by Chapman.
Abel Chapman was an explorer-hunter-ornithologist with a particular love for Scotland, Spain and Africa. He was a keen observer, an excellent writer, and a fine artist. His cousin, Joseph Crawhall was also an accomplished artist widely known for his books on angling. Chapman's books might be regarded as unsystematic narratives of natural history and ornithology based on his personal trips and presented as a series of descriptive anecdotes. They are always embellished with evocative illustrative material. The present book was his second about Spain and presents a Victorian perspective on life and travel that only 100 years later seems like distant history. Like all of Chapman's books, this one is a handsome production.
Listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Wood (p. 284), and Yale.
The borders and beyond / Arctic...Cheviot...Tropic. 22.1 x 15.5 cm. a8b4A-2G82H6[$1 signed]; 258 ll. Pp. (2)[i-vi]vii-xxi(1)[1]2-489(3, advertisements for other Gurney and Jackson publications relating to natural history). Original publisher's green, vertically ribbed cloth with single peripheral blind-paneled frame. Gilt lettering on spine. TEG, others uncut. London and Edinburgh, Gurney and Jackson, 1924.
a1r, signature, else blank; a1v, blank; i, half-title; ii, list of other books by Chapman; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh; v, dedication to parents; vi, blank; vii, preface; xi, contents; xvi, blank; xvii, list of illustrations and maps; 1, text; 476, appendices A-D (short essays); 483, index. Contains approximately 163 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text illustrations, most of birds by Chapman; two folded "sketch maps", one with migration routes painted or stamped in red; 21 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone full-page plates, some after drawings by Chapman, others photographic, not included in pagination; 17(title page mistakenly calls for nineteen) unnumbered color half-tone plates after W. H. Riddell printed on a single side only of 14 leaves with an overlying leaf of tissue containing letter-press on its upper surface, plates and tissue leaves not included in pagination.
It is always difficult to describe what a book by Abel Chapman is about because it usually contains numerous digressions. Chapman's main interests were the natural history of the border area between Scotland and England; the far north; Spain; and northern Africa. His perspective of natural history was dominated by an interest in birds and a penchant for hunting and fishing. In addition to being a good writer, he was also a fine artist.
This book is about the natural history of the border area between Scotland and England. It is full of interesting anecdotal and graphical material including such seemingly divergent topics as salmonology and the sense of smell in birds. All the illustrations are very good but the colored plates are especially so. They are by W. H. Riddell who was the husband of Chapman's ward, the daughter of his deceased friend and co-author, Walter J. Buck. Chapman's books were always handsome productions and this one is no exception.
Zimmer, p. 127. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not by Wood.
Memories / of fourscore years less two / 1851-1929///// with a memoir / by George Bolam 22.5 x 15.5 cm. a8b6A-Q8X2[$1, 3 signed]; 143 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxvii(1)[1-2]3-257(3, advertisements for other books by Chapman). Original publisher's green, vertically ribbed cloth with peripheral blind-paneled frame. Spine with gilt lettering. TEG, others uncut. Original cream-colored dust jacket with lettering partly printed in blue. London and Edinburgh, Gurney and Jackson, 1930.
i, Blank save "a" signature; ii, blank; iii, half-title; iv, blank; v, title; vi, printer designation: Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh; vii, preface by G. B. (Bolam) and W. H. R.(Riddell); ix, memoir by G. B.; xi, contents; xxvi, illustrations; 1, part I, Egypt: Khartoum to Cairo; 103, part II, Africa; 161, part III, Spain; 181, part IV, Northumberland; 230, appendices I-III (short essays); 251, index; 257, printer designation. Contains 24 unnumbered color half-tone plates by Riddell printed on one side only with facing letter-press on tissue leaf; plates and tissue leaves not included in pagination: three unnumbered uncolored half-tone plates printed on one side only and not included in pagination; approximately 81 text illustrations, most of birds by Chapman.
This work was published posthumously. However, according to the preface, Chapman had finished the manuscript and his own illustrations for it at the time of his death. Presumably, Bolam and Riddell assembled it, added the plates, and saw it through publication. This is the third and last of three quite similar books by Chapman that were published in almost identical format by Gurney and Jackson, the antecedents being The Borders and Beyond… (1924) and Retrospect….(1928).
The book provides anecdotes and thoughts concerning Chapman's adventures in his favorite places, Spain, northern Africa and the border area of England and Scotland. As usual with his books, the text is interspersed with essays on offbeat topics, for example in this book, dermatology. The illustrations are always a great asset of Chapman's books. He and Riddell did not have to observe the restraints that they might have felt were they drawing for someone else's scientific treatise. Riddell's tableaux are particularly evocative and remind me much of those by Philip Rickman save that they are not restricted to subject matter and scenery in the British Isles as were Rickman's.
Listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Unlisted by Cornell, Wood.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945).
The distribution of bird-life in Colombia; a contribu- / tion to a biological survey of South America 23.4 x 15.5 cm. Pp. [i-ii]iii-x1-729(1). Binder's blue buckram, gilt lettering to spine. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume XXXVI, 1917. New York, by order of the trustees, 1917.
i, Journal and article title page; ii, blank; iii, board of trustees; iv, scientific staff; vi, blank; vii, contents; viii, list of illustrations; 1, outline of work; 3, introduction; 11, a review of Colombian ornithology; 20, American Museum's expeditions in Colombia; 70, Colombian topography; 79, climate; 84, life zones; 170, list of birds, discussion of classification; 187, systematic annotated list, Tinamus major ruficeps-Cyanoluca armillata armillata covering almost 1300 forms; 640, gazeteer (sic); 657, bibliography; 660, errata; 661, index. Contains plates I-XLI, all printed one side only and not included in pagination, comprising: Five maps of which two folding, partly colored by Goldschmidt & Hampel, N. Y., two in color half-tone, one uncolored; 32 uncolored, half-tone photographic plates, six containing a single image, 25 with two; four color half-tone of birds by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Also contains text figures 1-21, uncolored distribution maps.
The American Museum developed an ambitious plan to carry out a complete zoological survey of South America and selected Colombia and adjacent Ecuador and Panama as the best place to begin. Between 1910 and 1915, one to six collectors were in the field carrying out eight expeditions seeking bird and mammal specimens. Besides Chapman, the collectors included William B. Richardson, Louis A. Fuertes, Leo E. Miller, Arthur A. Allen, George K. Cherrie, Paul G. Howes, Geoffroy O'Connell, Thhomas M. Ring, and Howarth Boyle. The coasts, the Santa Marta region, and the eastern Amazonian section were intentionally not included in the survey because they had previously been well studied. The expeditions collected 15, 775 bird skins comprising 1285 species and subspecies of which 45 were migrants from North America. Amongst the others were 22 new species and 115 new subspecies, most of which were described in antecedent smaller publications before the appearance of this summary work. Here, a large introductory and analytical section (pp. 1-186) precedes the entire annotated list, for each species of which is given synonymy for the local form, number and locality of specimens, and often a discussion of taxonomic issues. If all previously reported forms from Colombia are added to those on the present list, the total comes to about 1700.
Although the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History was issued in rather small (200-400) print runs before 1950, most major libraries were subscribers.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945).
The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador / A contribution to a study of the origin of Andean bird-life 22.8 x 15.2 cm. Pp. [i-ii]iii-ciii[civ][1]2-784. Binder's orange buckram, gilt lettered spine. Original gray printed wrappers included. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume LV, 1926. New York, by order of the trustees, 1926.
i, Journal and article title page; ii, printer designation: Mount Pleasant Press, J. Horace McFarland Company, Harrisburg; iii, board of trustees; iv, scientific staff; viii, blank; ix, contents; xi, list of illustrations; xiv, quote from Darwins Origin of the species; 1, introduction; 7, history of Ecuadorian ornithology; 14, American Museum's expeditions in Ecuador; 23, general physiography; 25, distribution of forests; 26, climate; 31, life zones and their bird life; 124, summary and conclusions; 134, distributional list, discussion of classification; 145, systematic annotated list of about 1508 forms; 703, gazetteer; 723, bibliography; 736, addenda; 739, index; Contains plates I-XXX printed on one side only and not included in pagination comprising: three maps, one in color half-tone; one folded in rear pocket in color stencil; one uncolored; 22 uncolored half-tone photographic plates, two with a single image, the other 20 with two images; five color half-tone of birds by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Also contains text figures 1-20, uncolored distributional maps.
This work was a continuation of the ambitious biological survey of South America that had begun with Colombia. The expeditions to Ecuador under the auspices of the Museum were carried out 1912-1926 and the collectors besides Chapman included: William B. Richaradson; Geoffroy Gill; Geoffroy O'Connell; G. H. H. Tate; Robert Cushman Murphy; H. E. Anthony; George K. Cherrie and a trained family of Ecuadorians, the Ollalas. The bird specimens collected augmented the total Museum collection from Ecuador to 13, 500 comprising all but 33 of the 1357 species and 151 subspecies constituting the 1508 forms known for the country and listed in this book. About 67 of the species are migrants from North America. The present study added 61 species to the Ecuadorian list and included three entirely new genera, 24 new species and 62 new subspecies. About half of these were discoveries, the other half resulting from the opportunity to study a larger number of specimens than had here-to-fore been available. The text for each species is brief. It includes synonymy if the bird or a variant of it is local; locality and sex of collected individuals; overall range; and notes on distributional variations.
Chapman touches upon weighty problems here. For example, does selection act by favoring preexisting mutations or do environmental factors lead to changes which may then be favorably selected? Chapman favored the latter explanation whereas direct experimental approaches with bacterial genetics 20 years later supported the former. What is the source of the numerous recent genera and species that live above the tropical zone in the Andean range? It is both altitudinal (i. e. from the adjacent life zone) and latitudinal (i. e. from north and/or south Andean extensions) in contrast to the situation with isolated mountains in the tropics in which the smaller number of new types derive exclusively from the adjacent life zone.
Chapman, Frank M.(ichler) (1864-1945)
Bird-Life / A guide to the study of / our common birds 18.8 x 12.9 cm. [1]82-188[$1, signed]; 144 ll. Pp (4)[i-iv]vxii1-269(1)(2, recto advertisement). Original publisher’s green cloth with black-blocked and framed design by Seton Thompson on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1897. First printing.
11-13, blank (only a remnant of the first leaf is present in this copy)14, plate I, frontispiece; i, title; copyright, 1897; iii, dedication to J. A. Allen; iv, blank; v, preface dated January, 1897; vii, contents; ix, list of full-page plates I-LXXV; xi, figures 1-25 in text; 1, the bird, its place in nature and relation to man; 14, the living bird; 35, colors of birds; 48, migration; 62, voice; 64, nesting season; 71, how to identify birds; 75, field key to our common birds; 84, systematic text, the water birds; 110, systematic text, the land birds; 263, index of English and generic names. Contains uncolored half-tone plates I-LXXV after Ernest Seton Thompson with running text on verso, all included in pagination. Also contains text line drawings 1-25.
This is the first appearance of a classical work introducing, at an elementary level, the birds of eastern North America. It provides a general overview of ornithology followed by a systematic text that selects a few examples of species from various families which are treated in more detail. It went through many later editions, most or all of which contained colored plates.
Seton Thompson (or Thompson Seton) was one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America and was a capable bird artist who was eclipsed by Fuertes. Among the many books illustrated by Fuertes were later editions of this work.
Bird-Life A Guide to the Study of our Common Birds 23 x 17 cm. Blank[1]4 2-264272 blank[$1, signed]; 108l (including initial and final blanks). Pp. Blank[i-vi]vii[viii]ix-xvi1-195(1)blank. Original gilt-decorated cloth with fine colored Northern Oriole in relief on upper cover. TEG. D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1898. First colored edition.
[i], half-title “Bird-Life Edition in Colors”; [iii], title; [v] dedication to J. A. Allen; vii, preface to the edition in colors dated Oct. 1, 1897; ix, preface dated Jan. 1897; xi, contents; 1, text; 189, index. Contains 75 colored lithographic plates (not included in pagination) and 25 text illustrations after Ernest Seton Thompson.
The initial edition of this work, published in 1897, was shorter and narrower than this edition, contained essentially the same text on more pages, and had the plates uncolored. That is the edition described in detail by Mengel. Chapman writes in the preface to this edition, dated nine months later than the original preface, that “Photographic bromide copies of the original drawings ... carefully colored ... reproduced by a lithographic process which ensures absolute accuracy”. This is that peculiar kind of turn-of-the century chromolithography that has some regular dots visible in some areas.
Chapman was the influential curator of ornithology at the AMNH. He made many important scholarly as well as popular contributions and the present attractive work falls into the latter category. It is a popular general ornithological treatise that treats of most American families, briefly describes most common species and gives a key for their identification. The illustrations are nice period pieces by Seton Thompson also sometimes known as Thompson Seton or just Thompson. He was a popular Canadian author and illustrator of Natural History subjects whose place as a bird portraitist was usurped by Fuertes and, to a lesser extent, by Brooks.
Mengel, 493; Trinity, p. 56; Wood, p. 285; Yale, p. 57; Zimmer, p. 130. Only Wood contains a reference to this edition.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945).
Handbook of Birds / of Eastern North America / with keys to the species / and descriptions of their plumages, nests, and eggs / their distributions and migrations / and a brief account of their haunts and habits / with introductory chapters on the / study of ornithology / how to identify birds / and how to collect and preserve birds / their nests, an d eggs 18.8 x 12.8 cm. [1]8(-11)2-278286[$1 signed]; 221 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xiv1-421[422](6, publisher's advertisements). Original publisher's blue decorated cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1895.
i, Title; ii, copyright; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, preface; vi, blank; vii, contents; xi, list of illustrations; 1, introduction; 32, plan of the work; 40, abbreviations; 41, key to orders and families; 56, systematic text; 404, bibliography; 409, index. Contains colored plates I (frontispiece chromolithograph of bob-white after E. E. Thompson), II (color chart), 18 unnumbered half-tone photoplates of habitat groups, all printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Also contains text figures 1-115 by T. Adney.
According to Mengel "The first edition of a classic which has probably influenced the development of more ornithologists than any other American manual.." The work is written at a less technical level than Coues' Key to North American Birds (1872) but for eastern birds covers similar ground comprising field ornithology including taxidermy and, for each species, description, measurements, range, dates for selected locales, nests, eggs and "pen pictures" (popular style life histories) some of which were written by invited experts including William Brewster, Jonathan Dwight and Florence Merriam, amongst others. This was Chapman's first popular work and was widely acclaimed eventually going through various printings and editions through at least 1940. Chapman came from a well educated background but eschewed a formal education in order to pursue a career in field ornithology where he excelled in both field and museum aspects. He became Curator of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural history and perhaps the most influential American ornithologist of his era.
This first edition is quite uncommon and missing from some important libraries. Although the presence of only seven leaves in the first gathering suggests that a half title might be lacking, this is probably not the case since the copy described by Mengel also did not contain one.
Mengel, #489; Trinity, p. 57; Yale, p. 57; Wood, p. 285 (later editions); Zimmer, p. 129 (later edition).
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945).
On the Birds of the Island of / Trinidad 24.4 x 15.4 cm. 1-5864[$1 signed]; 43 ll. Pp. 1-86. Extract without wrappers or title page. New York, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume VI, Article I, 1894.
1, Itinerary; 6, faunal position of Trinidad; 9, bibliography of Trinidad avifauna; 13, general remarks on Trinidad bird-life; 21, systematic list of 306 birds.
Chapman spent two months in the spring of 1893 on a collecting expedition to Trinidad where he had access to Léotaud's specimens with their original labels. Based on the 151 species that he, himself, collected and recorded, as well as an examination of Léotaud's material, Chapman developed a list of 306 species, to be compared with 297 that Léotaud had listed. Five species were new for the island. One species was entirely new and one of Léotaud's was raised to the level of a new supspecies. Several of Léotaud's specimens were assigned different names based on prior synonymy.
This paper is the first systematic treatment of Trinidadian birds in English and is second only to the Léotaud's great pioneering work in its importance with respect to knowledge of the island's large avifauna and its South American connection.
The Bulletin of the Museum of Natural History had a notoriously low print run until after the second World War and the early issues such as this one must be very scarce. This article is one of Chapman's most important contributions and presaged his interest in neotropical ornithology. Chapman, of course, became the Curator of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History and built a superb department that included, amongst others, James Chapin, Ludlow Griscom, Robert Cushman Murphy and Elsa Naumberg.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945), and Chester A(lbert) Reed (1876-1912).
Color Key to / North American Birds 22.5 x 15.3 cm. Pp. [i-ii]iii-vi1-312; 158 ll. Original beige buckram with black blocked title on upper cover and spine and red and green blocked design of cardinal on upper cover. New York, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1903(tenth thousand). Press of A. H. Eddy, Albion, New York.
I, Title; ii, copyright; iii, preface; iv, note on illustrations; v, contents; vi, list of abbreviations; 1, introduction; 9, synopsis of orders and families; 41, color key; 257, systematic table of birds; 291, index. Contains chromoxylographic frontispiece of American Sparrow Hawk, 67 uncolored text figures of specific family representatives and almost 800 unnumbered color-printed text figures of all species.
With apologies to Edward Knobel, this work was really the first comprehensive popular American book devoted specifically and exclusively to the identification of all North American Birds. It covers the 768 species listed by the AOU at the time (their AOU numbers are given in the systematic table) and adds the Eurasian Goldfinch. The non-passerines are treated in systematic order but the passerines are grouped according to color combinations so to locate them, one must obtain their page number from either the index or the systematic table. The length, distribution and distinguishing physical characteristics are given for each species in addition to the colored figure.
Frank Chapman was Curator of Ornithology at the American Museum and built the department into a major international player. He was independently wealthy, elected to bypass college in order to undertake ornithological explorations, and was recognized as a scholar, a popularizer, and a tyrant.
Chester A. Reed, who did the illustrations, was an important popularizer of ornithology, especially considering his premature demise. Although he had already started the periodical "American Ornithology", this was the first bird book to bear his name. He went on to produce pocket sized field guides which were in widespread use until the appearance of the Peterson field guide. My own first field guide was Reed's although I switched to Peterson as soon as I saw it.
The color printing technique used in this book, probably chromoxylography or perhaps employing some other surface such as zinc, though poorly done with bad registration, is unique amongst American ornithological works save for the initial editions of Reed's own guides which were also printed by A. H. Eddy. Some of the figures, particularly that of the Rivoli Hummingbird, are highlighted with what looks like an unusual metallic shellac.
A second edition of this book was published by Appleton in 1912.
Trinity, p. 57; Wood, p. 285; Yale, p. 57; Zimmer, p. 129(later edition).
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945).
The Economic Value of Birds / to the State 28.6 x 20.8 cm. Pp. [1-4]5-66(2, blank). Original printed gray wrappers. Forest, Fish and Game Commission, Albany, J. B. Lyon Company, Printers, 1903.
1, Title; 2, blank; 3, contents; 5, the birds and the state; 6, what the bird does for the state; 20, what the state does for the bird; 21, what the state should do for the bird; 22, the facts in the case; 23, statistics of food habits; 63, important relevant papers. Contains 12 unnumbered colored plates after Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927).
This work is distinguished by a long section (pp. 23-63) describing specific gastric contents of a substantial fraction of the birds of New York State, by an interesting set of references, and by 12 beautiful colored plates by Fuertes. These plates are printed by a type of chromolithography seen only in turn-of-the century American books that appears as though it was partially done with stone and partially with some other type of offset that transfers in regular spotted arrays. The same, or a very similar method was used for Ernest Seton Thompson's pictures in the early editions of Chapman's Bird-Life. Three of these pictures appeared later (1914) in Eaton's Birds of New York where they were printed by the three color technique and are far less attractive than the present versions.
According to Mengel (#497), the present report appeared in two forms. As a separate and independent entity and as an article in the 7th Report of the New York Forest, Fish and Game Commission, where it appeared without title or contents pages. The present volume appears to be an independent publication rather than an (author's) off print.
The work is missing from the usual bibliographies but I did locate it in Mengel (#497), the Thayer Catalog (p. 41) and the on-line catalogs of Cornell University, Harvard University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Public Library. Unlisted by Ayer, McGill, Trinity and Yale catalogs.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945).
The warblers / of / North America. 23.7 x 16.7 cm. Pp. One preliminary leaf; [i-iv]v-ix(1)[1]2-306. Original publisher's blue cloth, blind panel, gilt lettering on upper cover. Gilt lettering on spine. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1907. First printing.
Preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, publisher's advertisement for Chapman titles, this one priced at three dollars; i, title; ii, copyright; "published March, 1907"; iii, preface dated January, 1907; iv, quotation from Longfellow; v, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations; 1, plan of the work; 7, plumage of warblers; 11, distribution; 14, migration by W. W. Cooke; 23, food by Edward Howe Forbush; 33, mortality; 37, systematic accounts of 16 genera and 55 species; 299, hypothetical list; 301, index of Latin and English names. Contains: plates I (frontispiece)-XXIV after Louis Agassiz Fuertes (12) and Robert Bruce Horsfall (12) printed in color half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination; eight unnumbered leaves comprising uncolored, photographic half-tone figures 1-128 printed on one side only and not included in pagination.
This work is important not only for being the first monograph on American wood warblers, but also because it is amongst the earliest monographs on any group to appear in a trade book format. For each species information is provided on the following points: distinguishing characteristics; range; dates of arrival and departure; habits; habitats; song; nest; eggs; references. All species are figured in color.
Chapman, Curator of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History, 1908-1942, was an extraordinary man who could wear many hats. First, he was the ultimate museum ornithologist as indicated by his curatorial position. Second, he was a fine field ornithologists with many important and original contributions to neotropical ornithology including works on the birds of Cuba, Trinidad, Colombia and Ecuador. Third, he was a great popularizer of ornithology as indicated by his Handbook of the Birds of eastern North America (original edition, 1895) and Bird-Life (original edition, 1897) as well as many others. Under his leadership, the Department of Ornithology at the American Museum became preeminent, not only in scholarly achievements, but also in public opinion for he was the originator of habitat display groups which have delighted viewers for a century.
This book appeared in later printings or slightly revised editions of 1914, 1917, 1923.
Wood, p. 286; Zimmer, p. 128. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Chapman, Frank M.(ichler)(1864-1945). Editor
Bird-Lore / an illustrated bi-monthly magazine devoted to / the study and protection of birds // Official organ of the Audubon Societies / Audubon Department edited by / Mabel Osgood Wright 23.0 x 16.0 cm. Four volumes comprising 24 issues bound as one. Vol. 1. 1899. Pp. [1-3]4-206; 2. 1900. [1-3]4-204; 3. 1901. [1-3]4-220; 4. 1902. [1-3]4-208.
Half-black morocco and pebbled boards with gilt delineated compartments and gilt lettering to spines. Englewood N. J. and New York City, The Macmillan Company, 1899-1902.
Vol. I, title leaf and indexes by authors and to contents, pp. [i-ii]iii-viii; II, title and indexes, pp. [i-ii]iii-viii; III, title and indexes, pp. [i-ii]iii-vii(1); IV, title and indexes, pp. [i-ii]iii-viii.
The four volumes contain 24 full-page uncolored half-tone photographs as frontispieces for individual issues, nine other unnumbered uncolored half-tone photographs as part of text and included in pagination and numerous text photographs as well as a few line drawings.
This work comprises the first four years of the most popular and influential bird magazine published in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. The publication was intended for a lay readership and was far less technical as the journal of the National Audubon Society than was "The Auk", the journal of the American Ornithologists’ Union. Never-the-less, its contents include articles by most of the ornithological elite of the ere and to scan them is to reprise the history of American ornithology. Of particular interest to me: the first Christmas Census report (vol. III, p. 29) and Henshaw’s “First impressions of Hawaiian birds”(vol. III, p. 119.)
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945), Ernest Seton Thompson or Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946), and John Bacon.
Portfolio of / colored plates / accompanying teachers' manual of / Bird-Life. / by / Frank M. Chapman Three printed brown portfolios containing plates I-C lacking XCI. Plate size, 20.8 x 14.9 cm. Image size for colored plates I-XC, 14.7 x 10.5 cm. Image size for uncolored photographic plates, 9.4 x 11.9 cm. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1899.
The plates are housed in string-envelope type portfolios that are printed within a black frame on the upper cover. The overall title, publisher and year, the specific seasonal selection, and the individual species are listed. The list has some omissions. The colored plates all contain a Roman numeral designation, a brief description with length, and, for plates I-LXXV, a page reference to Bird-Life.
Portfolio No. I. / Permanent residents and winter visitants. 33 Colored plates including 25 by Thompson, eight by Bacon.
Portfolio No. II. / March and April migrants. 37 Colored plates including 34 by Thompson, three by Bacon.
Portfolio No. III. / May migrants; types of eggs; nests. 29 Plates (apparently of 30, lacking a colored plate of eggs), 20 colored of which 16 by Thompson, four by Bacon; nine uncolored photographs of nests.
Plates I-LXXV by Thompson first appeared in Bird-Life uncolored in 1897 and colored in 1898. They are printed in color gravure. Plates LXXVI-XL by Bacon were not in the book and appear here for the first and only time. They are printed mainly in chromolithography with a small amount of color gravure. The uncolored photographic plates are printed in half-tone and did not appear in the book.
Although the "Teachers' edition" of Bird-life (1899) is not rare, this accompanying suite of plates is exceedingly so. The only mention of it I have ever seen is by Mengel (#494) who refers to it as lacking in his description of the Ellis copy of the Teachers' edition. I have seen one other set which was bound as an independent suite of plates without the accompanying text volume. This set in its original portfolio-envelopes is a remarkable survival.
Chapman, Frank M(ichler) (1864-1945).
The / birds of the vicinity / of / New York City / a guide to the local collection / in the / department of ornithology 25.0 x 17.0 cm. Pp. [77-80]81-102, 133-196(10); separate pagination: (2)([1-2])[3]-[96](2). Original printed wrappers with uncolored photographic illustration on upper cover. New York, reprinted from the American Museum Journal, Vol. VI., Nos. 2 and 3, April and July, 1906. Guide leaflet No. 22.
First unpaginated leaf: recto, blank; verso, frontispiece habitat group of Labrador duck; [1], title; [2], contents; [3], introduction including seasonal and monthly species lists; [25], species accounts, Colymbus holboelli-Sialia sialis comprising 353 species; [83], bibliography arranged in temporal sequence with about 71 entries; [89], index of English and generic names; final unpaginated leaf, recto-verso, journal staff, list of guide leaflets. Contains six unnumbered full-page half-tone photographic plates of museum habitat groups printed on one side only with all leaves included in pagination. Also contains text line cut figures 1-38, most taken from Key to North American birds by Elliot Coues (probably from 1902 edition).
This work is the precursor and model for those by Griscom (1923), Cruikshank (1942) and Bull (1964). It contains seasonal lists, statements of status, dates of arrival and departure, and a complete bibliography starting with the works of DeKay and Giraud. Interestingly, Chapman writes p. [83] of Giraud's book that "Only 200 copies of this work are supposed to have been placed in circulation." I believe this figure to be far too low.
The present copy is a bona fide separate with dual pagination and its own cover and index.
Listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by Cornell, Wood, Zimmer.
Charletoni, Gualterie (Charleton, Walter) (1619-1707).
Exercitationes de Differentiis & Nominibus Animalium Quibus accedunt Mantissa Anatomica, et quaedam De variis Fossilium generibus, Deque differentiis & nominibus Colorum. Editio secunda, duplo fere auctior priori, novisque iconibus ornata. 20. 32 x 20 cm. [a]2 b-e2 A-Gg2 a*-dd*2 (Aa)-(Mm)2 Nn-Qq2 (Rr)-(Uu)2 (Ww)2 (Xx)-(Aaa)2[$1,2 signed but e2, G2, M2, Y2, Gg2, n*2-dd*2, (Pp2)-(Aaa2) not signed on 2 leaf, Zz missigned Zx; 174 ll. Pp. (20)1-32 36 34-35 33 37-119[120] 21-32 35 34-69[70]71-74[75]76-106[107-108][i-iii] 31-57[58-60]61-78[79-98]. Twentieth century quarter-calf, marbled boards. Spine in seven compartments with raised ridges, gilt lettering. Oxford, Theatro Sheldoniano, 1677.
Birds are treated on pp. 64-119 and under “animalium voces” on pp. 296-99. Title, [a2r ]; epistoli dedicatoria, a2r-b2v; praefatio, c1r-e2r; Aninmalium quadrupedum, A1r-H2R ; serpentium terrestrium, H2v -I2r ; insectorum, I2v -Q1v ; avium, Q2r -Gg2r ; pisces, a*r -r2*r ; zoophytorum, r2*v -s*1v ; mantissa anatomica, s*2r -aa*1r; vocum naturalium, aa*1v -cc*1v ; cuniculus sive porcellus indicus, cc*2r -dd*1v ; de varius fossilium generibus, (Aa1r )- Pp2r ; appendicula de colorum...., (Ww1r )-(Uu2v ); addenda, (Ww1r )-(Ww2r ); index, (Xx1r )-(Aaa2r ). Contains metal-engraved vignette on title page, two metal-engraved fold-out plates (of a Sand-grouse and Bee-eater) and 15 metal-engraved text illustrations including six of birds.
This work is a second, enlarged edition of the author’s Onomasticon Zoicon, published in 1668. That work is the first book produced in England that contains a list of birds that is accompanied by ornithological illustrations. Merrett’s unillustrated list of British birds was first published in 1666. Charleton was a learned physician who wrote about numerous subjects. This work is a general treatise on Zoology. It contains an appendix on animal coloration, added especially for this edition, that Mullens & Swann particularly extol.
In addition to his intellectual qualities, Charleton was quite a good artist as indicated by the copper engravings in this book. Those depicting the Shoveler and Crowned Crane were added specifically for this edition. They supplement pictures of six other species that were carried over from the 1668 edition.
Mengel, #516; Mullens & Swann, p. 126; Wood, p. 287; Yale, p. 58. This edition absent from Trinity and both editions unlisted by Zimmer.
North American birds 12.0 x 9.0 cm. Pp. Six unpaginated cardboard leaves including covers. Boston, Chicago, Montreal, Chase & Sanborn, @1905. First leaf, recto, title and rather striking chromolithograph of Scarlet Tanager; first leaf verso and next four leaves (eight pages), each with five chromolithographed figures (total 45 figures); last leaf, recto and verso, chromolithographed coffee advertisements; Providence Lith Co.
This ephemeral item is an attractive advertisement for Chase & Sanborn tea and coffee importers. English and scientific names are placed under each of the 45 depicted species, otherwise there is no ornithological text. As might be expected, this little brochure is rare. OCLC locates four copies.
Chasen, F.(rederick) N.(utter )(1896-1941)
Notes on the birds of Christmas Island, / Indian Ocean 24.1 x 15.2 cm. Pp. 55-87(1). Offprint with printed upper wrapper (not included in pagination) on same type paper as text. Singapore Straits Settlement, Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, No. 8, December 1933.
For this article, Chasen analyzes the Raffles Museum collection of birds from Christmas Island, largely collected by M. W. F. Tweedie in 1932. Careful descriptions and measurements are provided for the 14 breeding species. In general these, particularly the seven“land birds” subspecies seem more closely related to corresponding “Austro-Oriental” (Lesser Sunda) species than to those in the Malaya-Greater Sunda region.
A list of the birds recorded from Christmas Island (37 species) with current and older nomenclature is also provided.
OCLC locates a single copy.
Cheng, Tso-hsin (=Zheng Zuoxin)(1906-1998), Editor-in- Chief
Economic birds / of China 26.0 x 18.5 cm. Pp. 4 PL, [i]ii-xiii(1)[1]2-619[620-624]. In Chinese. Original publisher’s printed (as title page) tan boards with dark brown buckram backing. Editorial Committee of Fauna Sinica, Academia Sinca, Science Press, Beijing, 1993. In Chinese.
PL1r, logo; PL1v, blank; PL2r, Chinese title page; PL2v, publication data in Chinese; ISBN 7-03-003350-7/Q. 428; PL3r, title page in English; PL3v, blank; PL4r, printed
matter; PL4v, blank; i, preface; iii, synopsis; v, contents; 1, part one, general account of Chinese ornithology; 41, systematic accounts of species 1-248, Podiceps ruficollis-Emberiza pusilla; Part three, appendices; 586, references cited; 588, index to Chinese names; 591, index to English names; 596, index to Latin names. Contains four unnumbered plates illustrating four species on two glossy leaves between PL4 and i. Contains colored half-tone plates I-XXX of birds numbered 1-118; uncolored plates XXXI-LIII of birds numbered 1-123; colored plates LIV-LVIII of eggs numbered 1-70; uncolored plates LIX-LXIV showing bird nests numbered 1-32. Plates are all printed on both sides of glossy leaves immediately following the text. All these plates illustrate multiple examples. The back of one of these leaves contains letter-press for the egg plates that follow it. Also contains uncolored text figures I-1-I-12; II-1-II-30(mostly distribution maps); and III-1-III-3.
Cheng was the most widely known of Chinese ornithologists during the 20th century, the author of numerous publications including a “Synopsis of the avifauna of China” in 1987 and a complete checklist of Chinese birds (the latest in 1994) and various monographs in a series of 14 volumes called “Fauna Sinica Aves”. I believe that the first edition of the present work was published in Chinese in “Peiping” in 1963 and then in English, with the title “China’s economic fauna: birds” by the U. S. Department of Commerce in 1964 and 1967 (the latter a reprint?). The work described here has about 20 fewer pages than the previous edition in English and the four colored plates at the beginning of the book are apparently not present in the earlier edition(s).
Chenu, J(ean) C(harles) (1808-1879), (Marc Athanese Parfait) O(eillet) Des Murs (1804-1878), and J(ules) Verreaux (1807-1873)
Leçons élémentaires / sur / L'Histoire Naturelle / Des Oiseaux Tome Premier 18.5 x 12.9 cm. π61-326[$1, 3 signed];198 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi[vii-xii][1]2-384. Contemporary half brown morocco, marbled boards. Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and third compartments. Marbled endpapers. Paris, L. Hachette,et Cie, 1862.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, avertissement (publisher's note); vii, blank; viii-xii, prospectus for "Musée Ornithologique.." including two sample illustrations and accompanying text; 1, introduction; 39, organs of movement; 79, integument including feathers; 115, nervous system; 149, internal organs; 181, voice and reproductive organs; 203, the egg; 221, the nest; 245, incubation; 281, locomotion; 307, geographical distribution; 329, migration; 359, instinct, intelligence, classification; 383, contents; 384, printer designation: Paris, Imp. Simon Raçon. Contains uncolored title vignette, two uncolored specimen text figures (vide supra) and text figures 1-340 (75 colored, six full-page) most or all copied from antecedent works including those of Audubon and Gould.
This is the first of two volumes providing an overview of ornithology by three distinguished French students of natural history who are referred to on the title page as a physician, an ornithologist, and a naturalist-traveler, respectively. The "Maison Verreaux" of the brothers Verreaux carried one of the best known collections of bird specimens for sale during the middle of the 19th century. This first volume is concerned with "généralites" relating to anatomy and physiology whereas the second volume, here lacking, describes the various taxonomic groups down to, and including, the species.
The book is of special interest to me because it contains the prospectus including sample illustrations, for a work, Musée Ornithologique, collection de planches coloriées de tous les oiseaux connus, classés par ordres, familles, et genres,which was never published but for which two unpublished copies are known, namely that of Ronsil (Bibliographie, 559) and my own.
The authors remark in the "avertissement" that "Quelques exemplaires en couleur seront en dépôt chez M. Victor Masson…". One would imagine, therefore, that colored copies are the exception. However, I found colored examples listed for AMNH, Cornell, Library of Congress, McGill (erroneously termed "plates" by Wood) and the Smithsonian. No copy, plain or colored, was listed for the Ayer Library, Berkeley, Harvard, Trinity, and Yale. The BM(NH) lists two copies at Tring without details. I have seen at least one uncolored copy in commerce so they do exist!
(Chenu, Jean Charles [1808-1879], (Marc Athanese Parfait) O(eillet) Des Murs [1804-1878], and J(ules) Verreaux [1807-1873])
(Musée Ornithologique. Collection des Planches coloriées de tous les Oiseaux connus , classés par Ordres, Familles et Genres) 18.8 x 13.0 cm. Contemporary half plain black morocco with olive cloth sides. Marbled endpapers. (Paris, 1862).
This little volume is unique. It contains a single blank leaf followed by 133 hand-colored lithographed plates depicting small images of diurnal (50) and nocturnal (83) birds of prey. The figure of 133 includes duplicate plates of Lepidogenys subcristatus and Bubo maximus. Each plate contains at the upper left the source and plate number in that source from which the plate here was copied. Occasionally, two figures representing two plates of the same species from a given source are combined on one plate here. On the upper right of each plate is the designation "Pl" (planche) evidently intended for the plate number in this work. Mostly, no number is given. The few that appear are not sequential and represent only owls. Directly beneath each figure, a name in Latin or French is printed in script. Below that designation, and printed in ordinary type, is some synonymy, usually including a reference to Ch. Bonaparte, Conspectus. There is considerable blank space left under the printed portion of each plate. On one plate, adjacent to the figure is printed "Lith de Becquet frères à Paris." On four other plates, at the very bottom right so that in some cases they may have been shaved by the binder, appear the designations "Lemercier, Paris" or Imp. Lemercier, r. de. Seine 57, Paris".
The plates were copied from the following sources as stated on their upper left: Planches Coloriées, 42 plates; Humbolt et Bonpland, Voyage, 1; D'Orbigny, Voyage, 3; Gould, Oiseaux d'Europe, 20; Vieillot, Oiseaux d'Amérique, 2; Oiseaux d'Afrique, Levaillant, 16; Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith., 1; Audubon, Oiseaux d'Amerique, 15; Gray, Gen. of Birds, 4; Vélins de Muséum, 1; Des Murs, Iconographie, 4; Gould, Oiseaux d'Australie, 8; Smith, Illust. South Africa, 6; Wilson, Amer. Ornithol. , 4; Archives de Muséum, 1; Voyage de l'Astrolabe, 4; Hartlaub, Mém. Soc. Hist. Nat. de Hambourg, 1852, 1.
This volume is very similar but not identical to that described by Ronsil (No. 559) in his Bibliographie under the title I have assigned it above. Here is my translation of Ronsil's text: "This work, which was to encompass more than 100 volumes, each consisting of 100 color plates and text, is known to me only through a suite of 172 color plates of diurnal and nocturnal raptors without text. The plates of 12mo format are very reduced reproductions from the works of Temminck, Gould, Smith, Rüppell, Des Murs, Orbigny, Audubon…. At the upper left of each plate is shown the name and author from which the subject is taken; at the right, the number of the plate (it is not clear whether he means the number in the original work which appears just to the right of its title, or the intended number in the present work, which, in my copy, is at the far upper right of the plate). Under the pictured subject, a name is given in French, and then in Latin. Under these a large blank space has been left, doubtless to there establish the synonymy of the birds since it contains in manuscript, presumably that of the authors, the synonymy of the corresponding bird. These plates are not all exact copies from the works cited. Thus, occasionally two subjects on the same plates depict two different plates of the work from which they were taken.
The only sources of information that I have on this very rare work are: 1) in Les Leçons Élémentaires sur l'Hist. Nat. des Oiseaux by the same authors, there are three pages which follow the notice, of which the first two represent uncolored examples from the Musée Ornithologique while the third gives the title and some of the other details; 2) the back of the cover of that same work announces publication on August 25th, 1862 of a volume of 100 plates at 20 francs; 3) a note in Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, second series, XIV, 1862, pp. 303-304. Somewhat later, O. Des Murs again used the title Musée Ornithologique, 1886-1887" (for an entirely different book [Ronsil, #844] published by Rothschild and containing copies of plates from Benjamin Fawcett.) Ronsil repeats much of this discussion on page 70 of his L'Art Français where he describes these lithographs as "finely painted".
It seems likely that Ronsil examined a proof copy (apparently itself as yet untitled) of only the plates for the one volume of this highly ambitious venture, that was actually undertaken. It is also seems evident that he is unclear as to whether even the suite of plates was ever actually published. My copy, which contains printed matter where his contained manuscript, indicates that some of these plates were at least bound and circulated, if not published. Although it contains 41 fewer plates (excluding the two duplicates) than that seen by Ronsil, my copy still far exceeds the number of 100 that had been called for, per volume, in the announcement.
Ronsil, Bibliographie, #559; L'Art Français.. p. 70. Not listed for any collection nor cited by any other bibliographer save Nissen who mentions it, with the Ronsil reference, under his entry (#194) for Leçons Élémentaires…
(Chenu, Jean Charles [1808-1879], Des Murs, Marc Athanese Parfait, Oeillet [1804-1878]. Verreaux, Jules [1807-1873])
(Musée Ornithologique. Collection des Planches coloriées de tous les Oiseaux connus , classés par Ordres, Familles et Genres) 19.0 x 13.0 cm. Full contemporary maroon leather with beveled edges and peripheral gilt frame on covers. Spine with four raised bands, gilt “Birds / Of Prey” in second compartment to top and gilt “Daniel Segur” at base. Patterned endpapers and edges. (Paris, 1862).
This unique volumecontains a single blank leaf followed by 373 hand-colored lithographed plates depicting small images of diurnal (284) and nocturnal (89) birds of prey. The figure of 373 includes a duplicate plate of “Lepidogenys subcristatus” . Each plate contains at the upper left the source and plate number in that source from which the plate here was copied. Occasionally, two figures representing two plates of the same species from a given source are combined on one plate here. On the upper right of each plate is the designation "Pl" (planche) evidently intended for the plate number in this work. Mostly, no number is given. The few that appear are in manuscript and are not sequential. Seven of the owl plates are numbered between 288 and 357. 12 of the hawk plates are numbered between 42 and 281. Directly beneath each figure, a name in Latin or French is printed in script. Below that designation, and printed in ordinary type, is some synonymy, usually including a reference to Ch. Bonaparte, Conspectus. There is considerable blank space left under the printed portion of each plate. On two plates, one from the “Velins du Muséum”, the other from Des Murs’ “Iconographie”, adjacent to the figure is printed "Lith de Becquet frères à Paris." On another plate from Gould’s “Oiseaux d’Australie” is printed Imp Lemercier, Paris. Thus, it seems likely that lithography firms of the Becquets and Lemercier were responsible for the lithographed reproductions.
The plates were copied from the following sources as stated on their upper left: Oiseaux d’Afrique, Levaillant, 46; Temminck, Pl. coloriées, 109; Gould, Oiseaux d’Europe, 50; Archives du Muséum, 3; Smith, Illus. South Africa, 15; Audubon, Oiseaux d’Amérique, 38; Gray, Gen. of Birds, 12; Voyage de Astrolabe, 3; Gould, Oiseaux d’Australie, 28; Wilson, Amér. Ornith., 13; Cassin, Journal de Philadelphie, 2; Schlegel, Fauconnerie, 9; D’Orbigny Voyage, 4; Velins du Muséum, 9; Rüppell, Faune Abyssinie, 7; Rüppell, Voyage Nord de l’Afrique, 3; Des Murs, Iconographie, 8; Expédition de Morée, 2; Rüppell, Nord-Ost Afrika’s, 2; Swainson, Zool. Ill., 1; Vieillot, Oiseaux d’Amérique, 2; Voyage de la Bonite, 1; Bonaparte, Amér. Ornith., 1; Naumann, Naturg., 1; Spix, Oiseaux du Brésil, 1; Humboldt et Bonpland, Voyage, 1; Lichtenstein, Akad. Wissenschaften,1838, 1; Guérin Revue et Magas. Zool. 1852, 1.
This is the third known copy of the work. The first was described by Ronsil, No. 559 in his “Bibliographie,…, “L’Art Françcais..,” p. 70, and contained 172 hand-colored lithographa of raptors. The second was one that I found at Swann Galleries containing 131 different colored lithographs of nocturnal and diurnal birds of prey and two duplicates. Thus , the present example with its 372 pictures is more than twice as large as the other two. Ronsil notes that the very ambitious original project was to contain 100 volumes each comprising 100 colored plates, the first or which was to appear in August, 1862. It is interesting that the prospectus for this work in “..Leçons élémentaires..” contains two uncolored plates that are original and not derived from other works as are those in the three known copies. No examples have been found that depict species other than hawks and owls.
Chernel (von) Chernalházy, István (1865-1921).
Magyarország Madarai / Különös Tekintettel / Gazdasági Jelentöségökre (Birds of Hungary) 28.2 x 20.5 cm. Two volumes. Publisher's original brown beveled cloth, gilt lettering on upper cover and spines. Reticulated edges. Budapest, A Földmivelésügi Magyar Kir. Ványal / Magyar Ornithologiai Központ, 1899.
Elsö Könyv (First volume) [a]4b-c41-234242[$1,2 signed];106 ll. Pp. [I-III]IV-XXIV[1-3]4187[188]. I, Title; II, note and printer designation: Franklin-Társulat nyomdája; III, introduction to first volume by Ottó Hermann [1835-1914]; XIII, preface by Chernel; XXI, contents; XXIII, list of illustrations; 1, half-title; 2, blank; 3, text; 176, bibliography. Contains Tábla (plates) I-XI including one chromo- and two uncolored lithographs by Czettel es Deutsch, Budapest, eight gravure plates, all printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Also contains 49 uncolored text figures numbered eccentrically 2, 5, 8-23, 26-29, 33, 35-60. Illustrations drawn by István Nécsey.
Második Könyv (Second volume). [a]4b4c21-10341044(-1044); [$1, 2 signed]; 425 ll. Pp. [I-V]VI-XIX[XX]1-830. I, Title; II, printer designation; III, half-title; IV, blank; V, contents; XIV, list of illustrations; XVII, introduction by Hermann; 1, preface; 10, explanations and abbreviations; 12, systematic text; 787, additions; 791, glossary (?); 793, Hungarian names; 806, Latin names; 829, corrections. Contains chromolithographic plates I-XL (38 birds, two eggs) by Czettel es Deutsch, Budapest, after Nécsey (38) and Gyula Háry (2). Also contains five unnumbered, uncolored gravure plates after Háry printed on one side only and not included in pagination and nine unnumbered, unattributed text figures. The plates are all mounted on guards.
The book is printed in Hungarian. According to Wood (p. 288), there was a German version but I have never seen it or heard of it in commerce and I wonder whether he might be confusing it with the concurrent work on the birds of Hungary by Madarász which contained an "Anhang" in German. The first volume of the present work deals with avian anatomy and physiology. The second volume treats the birds of Hungary systematically and very comprehensively.
Hungary has an outstanding corpus of ornithological literature and this is certainly one of the best representatives, perhaps the finest of all Balkan ornithologies. Chernel became editior of Aquila, the Hungarian journal of ornithology. The artwork in the work is excellent both from an artistic and a technical point of view. The chromolithography is particularly fine and vibrant.
This work is quite uncommon. Wood, p. 288. Also listed for BM(NH), Library of Congress, Oxford and Trinity but not in Zimmer and unlisted by AMNH, Berkeley, Cornell, Harvard, Smithsonian and Yale.
Childs, John Lewis (1856-1921).
The Distinguished Collection / of the late / JOHN LEWIS CHILDS / of Floral Park, Long Island, N. Y. / comprising his / Notable Private Library of / NATURAL HISTORY / Books, Magazines, journals and Reports / including many rare and important works superbly illustrated / with colored plates and in unusually fine state of preservation / also items of Americana: California, the West, Indians, etc. 22.9 x 15.3 cm. Unpaginated with 69 ll. Original cream-colored, printed wrappers. New York, The American Art Association, 26-27 March, 1923. Printed by Condé Nast Press, Greenwich, Conn.
Three preliminary leaves comprising an uncolored reproduction of a painting by Allan Brooks; title leaf; and leaf containing conditions of sale; 65 leaves describing 801 lots. Final leaf concerning appraisals with printer's designation on verso. Prices realized noted in red ink.
Childs was a commercially successful Long Island horticulturist who became interested in ornithology, particularly oology, amassed a fine collection of birds and one of the largest of eggs in the United States, and published an ornithological magazine entitled The Warbler. Most of this catalog concerns ornithological books but other interests including botany, Americana, California, and Indians are also well represented.
The ornithological collection is distinguished by its Audubon folio which was the copy of George Cheyne Shattuck, M. D. , a close friend of Audubon's who enlisted subscriptions for Audubon and assisted in collecting the funds. This copy was inscribed by Audubon and, according to the catalog, was specially colored under Audubon's personal supervision and contained plates with extra wide margins. It sold for $4,000. According to Fries, (The Double Elephant Folio, 1973), it was copy #46 on the subscriber's list and was eventually broken and sold by a New York Dealer.
Another item of interest was a collection of 42 watercolors of the birds of Floral Park by Allan Brooks specifically commissioned by Childs. This sold for $480.
Many of the ornithological books in this collection had special hand-colored bookplates of various birds that were commissioned by Childs.
Chinese, anonymous
Selected bird and flower paintings / from / the palace museum Two volumes, one in English, the larger one with Chinese characters. Beijing, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1981. Copy #219/1000. Harvard lists title as Gu gong bo wu yuan cang hua niao hua xuan and publishing house as Wen wu chu ban she.
Volume in English 38.0 x 30.3 cm. Four unpaginated leaves printed in European style (left-to-right) and bound with staples. First leaf: recto, title; verso, blank; second leaf: recto and verso, preface and commentary, unsigned; third leaf and recto of fourth: list with titles of plates 1-100 with the size of the original work, the era it was done, and the name of the artist.
Volume in Chinese 53.0 x 37.5 cm.106 unpaginated leaves. Bound oriental style (right-to-left) in green cloth with gilt Chinese lettering (title[?]) on upper (right) cover. Decorative cloth-covered drop box with maroon title label printed in white Roman letters on upper (right) cover.
First leaf: top(right), title (?); bottom, blank; second-fourth leaves: commentary and list of plates; fifth leaf: top, section designation (plates[?]); bottom, commentary in Chinese for first plate; leaves 6-105: tops, mounted half-tone colored plates 1-100 of various sizes and shapes with Chinese commentary on facing bottom of preceding leaf; leaf 106: top, mounted limitation leaf written in English and Chinese and designating this copy 219/1000.
This is one of the few Chinese works of which I know that deals with the art of natural history. Examples are shown covering the period from the Five Dynasties (A. D. 907-960) through the Qing Dynasty (A. D. 1644-1911). Almost half of the pictures include birds. The earliest painting, from the tenth century, is astonishingly accurate and the birds in it life-like. Some of the other artwork seems to me very beautiful and all of it is interesting.
Listed by Harvard, Melvyl, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity.
Ching, Raymond (Harris) (1939-)(text by Snow, D., Chisolm, A. H., Soper, M. F.).
Raymond Ching / the bird paintings / water colours and pencil drawings / 1969-1975 47,0 x 32.5 cm. Pp. [1-12]13-142[132-144]. Original publisher's half ochre cloth with beige buckram sides. Blue-gray endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket with similarly decorated card slip case. London, Collins, (1978). First and only edition.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright 1978; credits: filmset by Art Type Ltd, London; color and monochrome printing by Adroit Photo Litho Ltd., Birmingham; binding by Benrose & Sons Ltd., Derby; 5, dedication; 6, blank; 7, contents; 8, list of colored plates I-XXIV; 9, list of figures 1-31 in black and white; 10, blank; 11, foreword by Aylmer Tryon; 12, blank; 13, introduction by Peter Hansard, an appreciation of the artwork; 49, plates I-XXIV with descriptive text. Contains plates I-XXIV, so numbered in list and on facing page of descriptive text; the plates are printed on one side only in color half-tone, and are included in pagination. Also contains uncolored half-tone figures 1-31 of which seven are full-page.
Raymond Ching began his artistic career in his native New Zealand as a portrait painter, moved to England in 1967, and burst upon the natural history scene by preparing 230 colored plates for the Reader's Digest Book of British Birds (1969). It would be the only time he would need to paint birds with the objective of facilitating identification. He rapidly developed a reputation as a serious painter of birds whose pictures sold and the present work was the first collected series of his pictures to be published. His art emphasizes detail and texture. There are two pictures in this group that particularly exhibit the detail aspect: the first is of two wrens at the nest amidst luxuriant foliage, about as busy a picture as one could imagine but with a few areas of white in one corner just to emphasize exactly how filled with action is the remainder; the second is that of a kestrel atop a sack of herbiage which has been rent open. Every stitch of the sack can be discerned. Another colored picture that exemplifies certain characteristics of his work is that of a barn owl with wings partially spread, perhaps in a threat display, at the end of a thick branch. The soft texture of the owl and the varied feel of the branch are palpable. But the owl has a rather grotesque mien as though it had just gotten out of bed (as perhaps it had). This accurate but ugly aspect of bird portraiture has somewhere been called hyperrealism. Perhaps the point is that these pictures provoke thoughts. Ching has certainly been amongst the most admired bird painters of his generation.
The work is listed by Trinity but not by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale.
Ching, Raymond (1939-)
New Zealand / birds / An artist’s field studies 36.0 x 26.0 cm. Pp. [1-8]9-232. Original publisher’s green buckram with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Gray endpapers. Auckland, Reed Methuen, 1986.
1, half-title with colored vignette of Takahe; 2, uncolored full-page pencil drawing of Takahe; 3, title; 4, dedication; “first published 1986”; ISBN 0 474 00102 4; designed by Raymond Ching; scanning by Colorite Lithographics Ltd., Auckland; printed by Everbest Printing Co., Ltd., Hong Kong; 5, full-page color plate of Brown Kiwi; 6, contents; 8, colored vignette of New Zealand Pigeon; 9, foreword by Graham Turbott dated 1986; 12-13, double-page colored plate of New Zealand Kingfisher; 14, blan; 15, introduction; 35, New Zealand birds (about 65 selected accounts); 226, bibliography (24 references); 228, list of (about 69 unnumbered) colored paintings; 229, list of (about 78 unnumbered) pencil drawings; index of English names (with Latin names in parentheses).
This is an artistic treatment of most of New Zealand’s birds. The portraits and sketches are arresting and most of the colored plates are full-page. One can certainly appreciate that Ching is often depicting individual birds rather than a “species”. The text is not particularly ornithologically informative but is especially interesting when he discusses the species from a painterly perspective.
OCLC locates 60 copies.
Ching, Ray Harris-(1939-), (Fuller, Errol, foreward; Lank, David, introduction)
Voice from the wilderness 27.6 x 29.1 cm. Pp. [1-18]19-200. Original green buckram with gilt lettering on spine. Gray, ribbed-paper endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Shrewsbury, England, Swann Hill Press, 1994.
1, Half-title printed in green and colored vignette; 2-3, colored illustration; 4-5, colored illustraton; 6-7, title with colored figure of Emerald Dove; 8-9, colored figure of a penguin; copyright; ISBN 1 85310 516 3; printed by Societa Torinese Industrie Grafiche Editoriali S. p. A. Italy; 10-11, colored figure of a monkey; acknowledgements; 12-13, colored illustration of a kangaroo; 14, quotation from Ching; 15, contents; 16, painting “Models in the studio”; 17, foreword Errol Fuller; 22, introduction by David M. Lank; 48, author’s text and paintings; 193, index to paintings and drawings; 197, biographical outline; books (written or illustrated by Harris-Ching). Contains numerous half-tone pictures, colored and uncolored, that are part of the text and included in the pagination. These are mostly single and double-page but a few are smaller.
This is an art book that exhibits many interesting pictures by Ching, mostly, but not exclusively depicting birds. David Lank analyzes Ching’s work and Ching, himself, comments on his intentions. Some of the pictures show fully finished works, while others illustrate in more detail small sections of such works. Some sketches are also included.
Cholodkovski, N. A., and A.A. Silantev.
The Birds of Europe (in Russian and printed in Cyrillic) 28.7 x 21.8 cm.
I-II4 IXXVII4 XXVIII2 (-XXXVIII2[1]4 2-794 802[$1, 2 signed]; 435 ll. Pp. [I-V]VI-IX[X-XI]XII-XIV(2)I-CLVII[CLVIII][1]2-59[60][1-3]4-636. Original half-calf, with relief designs of birds and foliage in leather portion of upper and lower covers. Gilt lettering of title and names of authors on spine and upper cover. Marbled edges. St. Petersburg, 1901.
I, Half-title; III, title; V, contents; XI, introduction; I-CLVII, section on general ornithology; 1-59, section on anatomy, classification and identification keys; 1-608, family and species accounts; 609, index; 636, errata. Additional errata slips are inserted between pages 54 and 55 and after page 636. Contains four maps, partially colored and not included in pagination. Contains chromolithographic plates 1-60 mounted on guards and including 52 of birds, four of eggs and four showing procedures used in taxidermy. Also contains uncolored text figures numbered 1-188 in the preliminary sections and a few unnumbered such figures in the section with species accounts.
This is a very rare Russian handbook of the birds of Europe covering 508 species, the names of which are given in Russian, Latin, English, German and French. Some of the plates are signed “Aug. Specht” (August Specht [1849-]) and a few have the designation “M. Seeger, Stuttgart” printed at their bottom edges. Some or all of the figures for these illustrations have been taken and rearranged from Friderich's Naturgeshichte der deutschen Vögel…(1891) and perhaps from Arnold’s Die Vögel Europas (1897), both of which were also illustrated by Specht and published in Stuttgart with the chromolithography done, at least in part, by M. Seeger.
The senior author’s name can also be spelled Kholodovskii or Cholodkowski and Wood spells the junior author’s name Ssilantjew.
Wood, p. 290 described as “wanting” and listing 48 colored plates. Absent from Trinity, Yale, Zimmer and BM(NH) as well as its supplement.
Christie’s (auction catalogue)
The Godman Collection of Watercolors for John Gould’s “ The Birds of Asia” 26.8 x 21 cm. Pp. [1]2135[136]. Original decorated wrappers. London, printed by White Brothers, 7/17/95 for an auction held 12/15/95. A sheet containing the prices realized is loosely inserted.
This catalogue contains descriptions and colored illustrations of 158 original paintings by Gould, Hart, Richter and Wolf that served as the basis for the lithographs in Gould’s The Birds of Asia (156) and in the second edition of his Monograph of the Trogonidae. These were collected by Godman, the extremely distinguished author of A Monograph of the Petrels and the co-author with Salvin of Biologia Centraliana Americana. Godman had money, taste and a great interest in natural history and his collection of books and paintings, of which these are only a part, was outstanding. As far as I know, this and the antecedent auction of originals for Gould’s Birds of Great Britain from the Godman collection are the only major sales comprising paintings for any of Gould’s folios.
The Marcel Jeanson Collection Part IV 26.6 x 21.0 cm. Pp. 1[2-3]4-252(4); 128 ll. Original pictorial wrappers. Christie's London, 19 June, 2000.Contains at least one colored illustration for each of 239 lots.
This is the third auction of Marcel Jeanson's bird paintings. They comprise unsigned works on vellum mostly attributed to Nicolas Robert with a few to Claude Aubriet; signed (mostly) works by Barraband including the original paintings for Levaillant's books on parrots, birds of paradise, toucans, rollers and barbets; small, highly finished originals by Traviés, Oudart, Prêtre and others for editions of Buffon; and folio sized crude originals by Traviés for his larger works including those related to hunting as well as Les Oiseaux les plus rémarquables.
It seems incredible that Jeanson could have bought so many of these highly regarded paintings which I understand he did en bloc. The Barrabands fetched extremely high prices, much higher than the last time a substantial number was auctioned in 1996 by Sotheby's. The marketing and promotion for this sale was more effective. Presumably the Roberts don't do as well because they are unsigned. However, I was amazed at the relatively low values achieved for the exquisite little paintings for Buffon volumes. I saw many of them when they were exhibited in New York and found them highly attractive and, in many cases, much less "taxidermic" than those of Barraband. By "taxidermic" I intend to denote that the artist obviously drew from a stuffed specimen as opposed to a live bird. Having presented this caveat, however, I must admit that I was impressed at how finely executed the Barraband paintings were.
Christy, Patrice, and William V. Clark.
Guide des Oiseaux / de la / Réserve de la Lopé 21.0 x 15.2 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-191[192]. Original decorated wrappers. Ecofac Gabon, Libreville, 1994. Personal signed inscription from the author to me.
1, Title; 2, acknowledgments and publication data; 3, author’s notice; 4, nomenclature, comment utiliser le guide, où voir les oiseaux; 7, glossaire illustré’ 8, table des familles; 9, description des espèces; 189, index des noms français. Contains (colored) planches 1-59, three other undesignated colored plates of birds and a double-page colored map of the park, all included in pagination.
This field guide, produced in Gabon, covers almost 400 species that are found in this important national park. Christy wrote the text and Clark did the illustrations. The text for each species is a brief essay describing the points by which it is most easily distinguished. These may include appearance, habitat, song and season. Most species are illustrated and the depictions are good, particularly with respect to shape and posture. Ecofac is a French acronym designating a European organization devoted to preserving the ecology of central (French-speaking) Africa.
Christy, Patrice, and William V. Clark (illustrator).
Guide des Oiseaux / de / São Tomé et Príncipe 23.6 x 16.2 cm. Pp. [1-2]3-144. Original decorated boards. ECOFAC, São Tomé, 1998, Printed and bound by Multipress-Gabon, Libreville. Contains two uncolored maps, an uncolored anatomical plate and colored planches 1-32, all included in pagination. Personal signed inscription from the author to me.
1, Title; 2, colophon; 3, preface; 4, acknowledgments; 5, introduction in Portuguese; 10, introduction in English; 14, introduction in French; 23, species accounts; 141, index to French names; 142, index to English names; 144, index to Latin names.
These authors have previously collaborated on a guide to a reserve in Gabon and here they describe the ornithology of two important islands in the gulf of Guinea. These islands are known for harboring approximately 28 endemic species. Moreover, Príncipe is the island on which J. G. Keulemans settled and lived for about a year until he became ill and he is responsible for some early ornithological data for the island.
The names of each species are given in French, English, Portuguese and Latin, however, the text is only in French. A description is given of each species together with its distribution and times of occurrence on the islands. The illustrations by Clark are unusual for a field guide in that they are particularly strong with respect to shape and posture and several poses of a given species are often shown.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001).
Gamebirds of / Southern Africa / Being a guide to all the major sporting / birds south of the Cunene, Okavango and / Zambezi rivers 24.7 x 18.5 cm. Pp. (2)[i-iv]v-xviii1-224. Original blue faux leather with gilt flying waterfowl design on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket with price of R(and)8.00 printed on upper flap. Cape Town, Purnell, (1967).
Preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, other books by Clancey; identifying legend for plate1(frontispiece); i, title; ii, second edition; copyright 1967; plates printed by A. B. C. Press (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town; text printed and bound by Rustica Press (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town; blocks by Southern Engraving (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town; iii, dedication; iv, blank; v, preface; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, list of illustrations, line drawings and maps; xi, introduction; xvii, acknowledgements; 1, ducks; 87, francolins and quail; 158, guineafowl; 173, sandgrouse; 197, buttonquail; 200, bustards; 213, painted snipe; 215, snipes, sandpipers and their allies; 218, pigeons and doves; 221, index of scientific and popular names. Contains colored plates 1-12 printed in half-tone on one side only and not included in pagination. Facing identifying letter-press contains consecutive text on its obverse and is included in pagination. Also contains text line drawings 1-35, text line maps I-X, and 10 chapter-heading silhouettes.
Clancey combined highly developed skills as an artist, a field ornithologist, and a museum ornithologist. He emigrated from Scotland to South Africa in 1950 after accompanying Richard Meinertzhagen on an ornithological expedition in Africa.
For each species, Clancey provides the original citation, the first citation for Africa, a detailed description of every phase including measurements, global and local distribution, general biology and details of nidification. The artwork is uniformly good, and those images that contain an expansive background are strikingly evocative of the African veldt.
Cornell, AMNH, and Trinity list a New York Elsevier imprint of 1967; Harvard lists a Purnell imprint, copyright 1967; Yale lists both. It may be that the New York edition is the first and the Purnell, the "second".
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001).
A handlist of the / birds of southern Moçambique Two parts (articles) bound in one with added title leaf. 24.7 x 18.6 cm. Original printed brown card covers with mounted color plate of Stripecheeked Bulbul on upper cover. Lourenço Marques, Instituto de Investigacão Cientifica de Moçambique, 1971.
Part I Mems. Inst. Invest. cient. Moçamb., 10, Série A, 1969-1970 Pp. One preliminary leaf, ([145]146-302; PL recto, title page; verso, blank; 145, introduction; 146, method; 147, acknowledgments; 148, historical; 153, topography, rainfall; 155, botanical; 157, zoological and evolutionary considerations; 161, bibliography; 165-302, annotated systematic list, Struthio camelus-Pitta angolensis, covering about 356 full species and many additional forms. Contains Figures (full-page plates) 1-18 in color half-tone after Clancey, and full-page uncolored distribution maps I-XIV, all printed on one side only and not included in pagination.
Part II Mems. Inst. Invest. Cient. Moçamb., 11, Série A, [1]2-167[168-188]. 1, annotated systematic list, Miafra paserina-Emberiza tahapisi, covering about 275 full species and many additional forms; 163, addenda to part I; 169, additional addenda to part I and corrigendum; 171, index of generic and specific scientific names; 188, printer designation: Tipografia Académica. Contains colored plates 20-40, maps XV-XL, and uncolored half-tone photographic topographical plates 1-6 by K. L. Tinley, all printed on one side only and not included in pagination.
This work is concerned with the part of Mozambique south of the Zambesi river, an area that was almost terra incognita with respect to its ornithology. Clancey participated in four expeditions there and also had access to considerable museum material as Director of the Durban Museum. He lists around 630 full species as well as numerous additional forms providing for each, the original citation and a meticulous description of status and local distribution. He considered eight species endemic. He also supplied the 39 interesting colored plates (plate 19 was never published). The work is important as the first relatively comprehensive ornithological treatise on this part of Africa.
It could not have been easy to arrange publication in Lourenço Marques and this academic publication probably had a small print run. I've read the figure of 300 copies in dealers' catalogs. However, this estimate may just apply to sets that the Institute bound, such this one, and not include copies that were bound into the journal or kept as separates.
This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001)
Kingfishers / of Sub-Saharan Africa 33.0 x 23.9 cm. Pp. [1-5]6-212; 106 ll. Original publisher's ochre cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Brown endpapers with "schematic arrangement of the kingfishers…". Johannesburg, Jonathan Ball and Ad. Donkers, 1992.
1, Half-title including colored vignette; 2, colored frontispiece; 3, title; 4, publication and production data; 5, contents; 6, list of colour plates; 7, dedication; 8, uncolored vignette; 9, foreword; 12, uncolored vignette; 13, preface; 15, introduction; 34, uncolored vignette; 35, systematic text; 204, glossary; 210, index of scientific and vernacular names. Contains 23 unnumbered colored plates included in pagination and including frontispiece; 36 unnumbered uncolored illustrations including several that are reduced versions of a colored plate and that occupy an entire page. I refer to some of these above as "uncolored vignette". Also contains 20 distribution maps.
Clancey, originally a Scot, is not only the doyen of current African ornithologists, but is also a very fine ornithological artist whose work I have admired since first seeing it in The Birds of Natal and Zululand (London, 1964). His pictures not only portray the correct "gist" of the species he is representing, but also convey the feel of Africa in the appropriate habitat that he always includes. His plates in this book are the largest format of his pictorial work that has been published. They are exceedingly attractive and outstandingly printed. One can certainly detect an influence of William Cooper that was lacking in Clancey's earlier pictures.
The book is also a work of scholarship. The introduction is an overall treatment of kingfishers and a summary of their tropical African representation. After a careful definition of their respective genera, the 20 species are examined minutely with the following sections for each: reference to original description; distribution; habitat and status; field characters and habits; calls; food; breeding biology; description and measurements; geographical variation and subspeciation; comment; references.
Present in on-line catalogs of AMNH, Cornell and Yale. Absent from those of Harvard and Trinity.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001)
The / Birds / of / Southern Mozambique 20.2 x 14.7 cm. Pp. (6)1-312(17, index of generic and specific names)(4, blank lined paper designated "notes"); 192 ll (includes Maps 1-39 that share leaves with paginated pages and 3 leaves of unpaginated photographs). Original publisher's decorated card covers. Kwaza-Zulu-Natal, South Africa, African Bird Book Publishing, (1996).
The first preliminary leaf recto is the title page; the verso is blank; the second preliminary leaf recto contains logos of companies that supported production of the books; the verso contains a list of the colored plates; the third preliminary leaf recto contains the list of range maps; the verso contains the first page of the introduction which is continued on 1, introduction; 2, methodology; 3, acknowledgments; 4, historical perspective; 9, topography; 11, environmental and botanical considerations; 13, zoogeographical and evolutionary aspects; 17, distributional literature, 1900-1970; 21, systematic list; 303, gazetteer; (17, index of generic and specific names)(4, lined pages designated "notes"). Contains, as a group after page 172, colored plates 1-49 by the author printed on recto only.
This work is an update and new edition of the author's Handlist of the Birds of Southern Moçambique (1971) which was a museum publication with a very small print run. This version is not nearly so well produced as its predecessor. Clancey was close to 80 when this book was issued and he must have had difficulty finding a publisher because this volume looks as though it may have been the first title undertaken by its designated publisher, "African Bird Book Publishing". The pagination is extremely confusing and there is no index of English names although they are given with the coverage of the species. That coverage concerns only distribution and is very scant. There is little material here that was not present in the original version of 1971. What saves the book, and the reason I bought it, are the colored plates, 23 of which were not present in the antecedent volume. These are not badly reproduced by Derek Ramsden and seem a bit out of place in such a poorly produced book.
Listed in on-line catalogs of AMNH, Cornell and Yale, lacking in those of Harvard and Trinity.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001).
The birds of / Natal and Zululand 26.6 x 19.3 cm. Preliminaries lacking signatures. Text: BNZ A-BNZ 2I8[$1 signed]; 256 ll. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xxxiv1-511(1). Original publisher's green cloth with two gilt-ruled, gilt-lettered black labeling pieces. Pictorial dust jacket. Edinburgh and London, Oliver & Boyd, 1964.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, year of publication; copyright; printer designation: Robert Cunningham & Sons, Ltd., Alva; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, preface including list of about 150 subscribers; xiii, contents; xvi, blank; xvii, list of illustrations; xxi, introduction including history, topography, zoogeography; 1, systematic accounts, Spheniscus demersus-Emberiza tahapisi, encompassing 590 enumerated species; 487, addenda; 491, index of scientific names; 506, index of English names. Contains folded uncolored (save red roads) map bound at rear; uncolored half-tone photographic topographical plates I- XVII by Dennis Cleaver printed on recto of 10 leaves with additional leaf containing section title, all not included in pagination; descriptive letter-press printed on the verso of the antecedent plate or section title; color half-tone plates after Clancey numbered 1-41, printed on one side only of 30 leaves that are not included in pagination; uncolored text figures 1-40 also by Clancey.
Clancey was a Scot, educated at the Glasgow School of Art, who emigrated to South Africa in 1950 and became Director of the Durban Museum and Art Gallery in 1952. Although he published his first article on birds when but 17 years old, the present volume is his first major work. He was to write and illustrate a substantial number of books on the birds of South Africa and of Mozambique.
The publishing firm of Oliver & Boyd set a high early postwar standard for ornithological books and this one is quite typical. It contains considerable historical and illustrated topographical material that is often absent or lightly treated in regional works, and the colored plates are unusually well printed. Clancey had a unique style as an artist and projected the ambiance of Africa extremely effectively. His pictures can be recognized immediately because of their unusual and dramatic use of color. His figures of birds are occasionally a bit stout and remind me of those by Allan Brooks.
Clancey was an authoritative writer who conveyed a feeling of pedantic competence. For each of the 590 species that he describes in this book he provides: the original citation and often the type locality; a description with measurements; local and global distribution; and a variable section on habits, status and life history.
The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Clancey, P(hillip) A(lexander) (1917-2001)
The / rare birds / of / Southern Africa 27.0 x 21.0 cm. Original publisher's unlettered blue boards. Pictorial dust jacket with fine wrap-around image. Promotional brochure laid in loosely. Preserved in publisher's unlettered blue board slipcase. Johannesburg, Winchester Press (1985).
1, Half-title with sketch; 2, blank; 3, limitation statement: this copy #580 of 301-2000 "Subscribers' volumes"; 4, blank; 5, quotation from Browning with sketch; 6, colored frontispiece; 7, title; 8, copyright 1985; ISBN 0 620 08428 8; colour separation by RT Sparhams, Johannesburg; printed and bound by South China Printing Company, Hong Kong; publisher's acknowledgements; 9, contents; 10, blank; 11, preface; 13, list of plates; 16, blank; 17, topography of a bird; 18, introduction; 37, systematic accounts, Phalacrocorax neglectus-Serinus citrinipectus, encompassing 94 species; 455, bibliography (several entries for each species); 483, suspected rarities (about 85); 507, glossary; 511, index to common names. Contains : frontispiece and plates 1-74, so enumerated only in list, printed in color half-tone with consecutive text on obverse and included in pagination; uncolored diagram of bird topography and nine unnumbered, uncolored sketches printed in half-tone in preliminaries and text; 94 partly colored half-page distribution maps.
This work contains comprehensive accounts with a distribution map and a colored illustration for each species. The scholarly text includes sections on: the history of the discovery of the species; its status, range and habitat; its field characters and external appearance in all plumages with measurements; breeding; food; taxonomic status; and major references. The colored plates are all full of ambiance and very evocative. Clancey captured well the feel of the Africa. In the introduction he describes the plates as "bird portraits with supporting habitat backgrounds (of the genre so skillfully employed by that master bird artist, Archibald Thorburn…" and his African backgrounds do, indeed, project the African veldt with the effectiveness that Thorburn portrayed the Scottish countryside.
This handsome book was also issued in more expensive formats and in a standard unlimited edition which lacked the slipcase and contained lettering on the spine.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by Harvard.
Pine warbler (undesignated). Image size 27.0 x 21.5 cm. Original water color signed and dated 1953. Matted and framed.
Robert Verity Clem received much instant acclaim for the beautiful paintings which he contributed to The Shorebirds of North America (Viking Press, 1968). However, he became something of an antiestablishment figure because he was uncomfortable with the commercialism of the book and print business, which he abandoned, and with the distinction between " wildlife artist" and "artist'. Instead, he devoted himself to landscape painting, mostly on Cape Cod, and the birds that he painted were always depicted as a natural part of a larger environment. The present painting was done when he was a very young man and is a portrait quite unlike his later work. It shows a pine warbler on a twig of pine, and in its own uncomplicated way, it is superb, exhibiting marvelous form, posture, texture and vitality, together with fine subtlety of color. I love it even though it might be classified as an "illustration" as opposed to a "painting".
Coates, Brian J., and K. David Bishop.
A Guide to the / Birds of / Wallacea / Sulawesi, the Moluccas and / Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia 230 x 150 mm. Pp. [1-5]6-7[8-9]10-535[536]. 268 ll. Original green cloth, pictorial dust jacket. Endpaper maps. Alderly Australia, Dove Publications, 1997.
Half-title, 1; title, 3; contents, 5; introduction, 9; topography... 11; climate, 22; bird habitats, 24; the Wallacean avifauna, 28; conservation, 39; key birdwatching sites, 40; identification section, 46; family and species accounts, 219; glossary, 502; appendices, 506; bibliography, 513; index, 523. Contains colored plates 1-64, included in pagination, and several text illustrations by Dana Gardner.
A description is given for each species in the “Identification Section”. The other major section gives a fairly extensive summary of each family and then a detailed account for each species that comprises range, both in Wallacea and extralimital; status and habitat; habits; and voice. 697 species are described and illustrated. There is no information at all concerning the life histories of the various species so this work falls clearly into the category of identification guide as opposed to handbook. Many of the species described in this volume are endemic, very poorly known and have not been previously illustrated so the work fills an important niche in descriptive ornithology.
Birds in Papua / New Guinea 28.6 x 21.6 cm. [1-112, so paginated in contents and index but without page numbers]. Publisher's green boards with white lettering to spine. Yellow endpaper sketch maps with figure of long-tailed buzzard drawn by Coates. Pictorial dust jacket. Port Moresby, Robert Brown and Associates, 1977.
1, half-title with colored photograph; 2-3, title with colored photograph; 4, colored photograph; copyright 1977; first published 1977; designed by Brian J. Coates; printed in Hong Kong by Everbest Printing Co. Ltd; contents with uncolored sketch; 6, colored photograph; 7, introduction; 8, display; 26, nests; 30, sea and seashore; 36, swamps and rivers; 42, open country, gardens, clearings; 52, lowland rain forest; 76, hill forest; 86, mountain forest; 104, the islands; 112, index of common names (about 200). Contains about 165 unnumbered colored photographs (four double-page, 17 full-page) printed in half-tone and nine unnumbered line drawings by Coates.
Some of the photographs were made directly of wild birds, others were birds in captivity at the Baiyer River Sanctuary or were captured, photographed and released. I'm quite certain that these are the first published photographs of many of the species. It could not have been an easy task to arrange publication in Port Moresby. Coates was later (1985, 1990) to write a fine two volume work, The Birds of Papua New Guinea with a systematic text and numerous beautifully printed photographs. Later still, he was a co-author with David Bishop, of Birds of Wallacea (1997).
Listed by Trinity. Unlisted by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale.
The birds of / Papua New Guinea / including the Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville Two volumes. 30.0 x 21.5 cm. Original publisher's simulated green leather with gilt lettering to spine. Endpaper maps. Pictorial dust jackets (different birds of paradise). Alderly, Queensland, Dove Publications.
Volume I / Non-Passerines 1985 Pp. [1-20]21-464. 1-13, colored plates; 14, list of books by Coates; 15, title; 16, identification, enumeration of preceding plates; copyright; "First published in 1985"; ISBN 0 9590257 07; credits: designed by Brian Coates; printed and bound in Japan by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.; 17, contents; 19, dedication; 20, colored plate; 21, introduction including acknowledgements; 55-444, systematic accounts, Casuarius cassuarius-Aceros plicatus comprising 377 species; 445, bibliography (about 300 entries); 454, addenda; 455, indexes of Latin and of English names. Contains: color half-tone photographs 1-493 (10 double-page, 17 full-page), all included in pagination, depicting 232 species; 44 unnumbered text line drawings; 362 unnumbered distribution maps; one line diagram of topography of a bird. Promotional brochure for volume I laid in loosely.
Volume II / Passerines 1990 Pp. [1-8]9-576. 1-2, colored plates; 3, title; 4, identification, enumeration of preceding plates; copyright; "First published 1990"; ISBN 0 9590257 1 5; credits: designed by Brian Coates; printed and bound in Hong Kong by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.; 5, contents; 6, colored plate; 7, dedication; 8, colored plate; 9, introduction including acknowledgements; 14, systematic accounts, Pitta erythrogaster-Corvus tristis, comprising 364 species; 543, birds recorded from Irian Jaya but not from Papua New Guinea; 546, list of Solomon Island birds; 552, bibliography (about 500 entries); 569, indexes of Latin and English names. Contains: colored figures 1-556 (two double-page, 16 full-page); about 27 unnumbered, uncolored text illustrations (10 half-tone, 17 line drawings); 366 distribution maps. Promotional brochure for second volume and contemporary review laid in loosely.
The avifauna of New Guinea is the least known, and among the most taxonomically complex in the world because so many of its genera and species bear little resemblance to those anywhere else. The publication of this magnificent and very well produced work, and almost simultaneously an excellent field guide, Birds of New Guinea, by Beehler, Pratt and Zimmerman (1985), greatly increased the popularity of the island as an important stop for the serious ornithological tourist.
Coates lived in New Guinea for 14 years and garnered enormous personal field experience. In this work he provides as much as possible of the following categories of information for all species: length; distribution (with map) including extralimital; habitat; altitude; status; ecology and niche behavior; display behavior; nest and eggs; breeding records; subspecies. Classification was in a critical state of flux when this book was written because of the contemporary emergence of DNA hybridization technology of which Coates takes some account without, however, a complete embrace.
Many of the photographs in this work are spectacular. Most, but not all were taken by Coates. The major contributors amongst the other photographers whose pictures are represented were William S. Peckover, Clifford B. and Dawn M. Frith, and Bruce M. Beehler.
The work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Deliciae Cobresianae. J. P. Cobres Büchersammlung zur Naturgeschichte 8o. 20 x 13 cm. Two parts in two volumes. Later pebbled green binder’s cloth. Augsburg, (preface dated 1781)1782 (colophon, p. 956).
Theil I. πa8b6 A-I8K4 L-R8T-2G8 2H2 (-2H2)[$ 1-5 signed]; engraved title leaf and 250 ll. Pp. (2)[I]II-XXVIII[1]2-470.
Theil II. π2H8 (-2H1)2I-3O8 3P6 (-3P6)[$1-5 signed]; 245 ll. Pp. (2)471-828[829]830-956[957+1]. Contains metal-engraved title page and head and tail piece drawn and engraved by J. F. von Göz.
This is a very rare and important eighteenth century bibliography that describes its owner’s own collection of natural history books, periodicals and manuscripts. Ornithological works make up only a small fraction of the material. Cobres provides collations, plate counts, prior bibliographical references and his own editorial annotations. The work is very well executed and provides a superb contemporary perspective of the literature of natural history. It is particularly well known for having one of the earliest bibliographies of museum (i. e. collection) catalogs.
BM(NH), p. 360; Engelmann, p. 1; Catalogue of the Linnaean Society (1925), p. 171(copy from Linnaeas’s own library). Unlisted for Ayer, Ellis, McGill, Trinity, Yale and Zoological Society collections.
White-faced Ibis, winter plumage (so designated on label pasted to rear of frame). Original signed water color. Image size 21.5 x 15.5 cm. Matted and framed by the artist. (1983).
This picture was published in the first volume of the Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding by Farrand et al (New York, Alfred Knopf, 1983). The artist also contributed artwork including 11 plates to the Birds of New Guinea by Beehler et al (Princeton University Press, 1986) and illustrated John and Edith Bull's Birds of Western North America (Macmillan, 1989.
Collaert, Adrien (Collardo, Adriano) (1560-1618)
Avium vivae icones / in aes incisae et editae ab / Adriano Collardo Laid paper. Oblong 8o. 21.0 x 28.0 cm. Contains 36 unpaginated leaves as described below. Light brown patterned boards with brown block lettering on upper cover. Brown endpapers. Bruxelles, Culture et Civilisation, 1969.
First leaf: blank.
Second leaf: recto, title; verso, blank.
Third and fourth leaves: "Les albums d'oiseaux d'Adrien Collaert" an appreciation and bibliography by Jan Balis.
Fifth through 20th leaves, printed on recto only: facsimile decorated engraved title and 15 unnumbered additional facsimile engraved uncolored plates of first album.
21st through 35th leaves: decorated title and 14 additional facsimile engraved plates of second album numbered by Collaert 1-16 and lacking 8.
36th leaf: recto, colophon; printing limited to 500 copies reserved for Friends of the Royal National Library and the publisher; printer designation for text: Imprimerie Laconti S. A. Bruxelles; verso, blank.
Collaert was a Flemish artist-engraver who issued artistic albums from Antwerp. Two of these on birds were originally published in approximately 1580 and 1600 and are reproduced here. The work is important as amongst the first on birds to contain engravings on metal (copper). It is also perhaps the first to contain intentionally decorative pictures of birds. A glimpse at the plate of parrots, for example, indicates an obvious influence on Nicholas Robert, the most gifted of 17th century natural history artists. Finally, it illustrates at least two birds of very special interest. One is the first cassowary to be imported to Europe. The second is labeled by Collaert as Aves Indica, described and copied later by Leguat as from Mauritius, and subsequently designated Leguatia gigantea by Schlegel. This large, long-legged, flightless bird is considered hypothetical by Greenway in his Extinct and vanishing birds..(1958) but remains an intriguing enigma.
Since there is neither pagination nor a table of contents, I cant be certain whether the absence of the eighth plate in the second album is due to its absence in the example from which the facsimile was reproduced, or a failure to bind this leaf into this particular copy.
Some near contemporary works with copper engravings of birds were: Avium vivae icones by Marcus Gheeraerts (Bradley Martin catalog #1574) containing 11 ornithological plates and dated 1583 by Sotheby's; Il canto degli augellis, opera nova.. by Antiono Valli da Todi containing 50 plates (Martin catalog #1936) with 1601 as the publication date; and an anonymous work with 100 etched plates on 50 leaves entitled Efeigie vera di diversi ucelli cavati dal istessi vivi published in Rome in 1585( Sotheby's London catalogue "Elte", 9/20/84, lot 289.)
The original printing of either album of the present work is rare. That of the first is in my collection.
This facsimile listed by Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard.
Collaert, Adrian (circa 1560-1610)
Avium Vivae / Icones, / in aes incisae & editae ab / Adriano Collardo Oblong 4to (laid paper), 15.8 x 22.9 cm.. Engraved title page and 15 engraved plates interleaved, at the time of binding, with 18 sheets of antique-style, hand-made paper. Twentieth century antique-style polished calf by de Coverly with two gilt frames on the upper and lower covers and gilt spine containing five raised ridges and a single black leather labeling piece. AEG. (Antwerp, circa 1580). From the Marcel Jeanson collection.
This is the very rare original issue of the first of two suites of plates that were published by Collaert. It is important as probably the first collection of ornithological plates to be engraved on metal; as amongst the first ornithological pictures to be executed from an artistic point of view; and as amongst the first to depict the birds in realistic backgrounds. Collaert’s main competitor for these distinctions was probably Marcus Gheeraerts the elder who, in 1583, issued a comparable suite of plates, also in Antwerp and also called Avium Vivae Icones.
Collaert has always been highly regarded for the beauty and accuracy of his engravings, and his influence on the late 17th century ornithological pictures of Nicolas Robert is obvious. His second suite of plates, misleadingly entitled “editio seconda” even though the pictures are different, contained the first European representation of a Cassowary as well as the mysterious “Aves Indica” that so fascinated Herman Schlegel and G. D. Rowley. In view of Collaert’s reputation for keen observation, it is interesting to note that his parrot in the present work is not zygodactylous.
This copy is from the Jeanson collection with his bookplate. It was inexplicably miscatalogued as a later edition in the 1987 auction of his ornithological books in Monaco where its title was incorrectly transcribed as “ab Adriano Collardo et Theodoro Gallaeo”. Later issues of the work are, indeed, identified by the appearance of the name Theodoro Gallaeo or Theodore Galle in the title or on the plates. In this copy, however, the title and every plate contain only Collaert’s name. Collaert’s father-in-law and mentor was the engraver, Phillipe Galle, so Theodoro Galle may have been a relation by marriage.
Bradley Martin, 1472; Mengel, 533 (later edition); Wood, p. 293 ([mistakenly] dated 1610); Yale, p. 61 (later edition). Absent from Ayer and Trinity collections.
Compte, Achille Joseph (1802-1866)
Musée / D’Histoire Naturelle / Comprenant / la Cosmographie - la Géologie - la Zoologie - la Botanique 28.9 x 20.0 cm. π2a2 1-682 [$1 signed]; 140 ll. Pp. (4)[I]II-IV[1]2-272. Contemporary red pebbled cloth, red gilt morocco spine with five compartments. AEG. Paris, Gustave Havard, 1854.
π1, half-title; πp2, title; a1, introduction; 1, cosmographie, 9, géologie; 29, zoologie [oiseaux, pp. 73-113 with 9 colored plates); 213, botanique; 271, index. Contains color-printed aquatint (?) frontispiece and 49 other unnumbered hand-colored engraved plates printed by F. Chardon ainé.
This work is a brief but very skillful and learned overview of the natural sciences with extremely attractive illustrations. The frontispiece, which is clearly color-printed and looks to me as though it was done by aquatint, shows the universe with stars and planets delineated in metallic gold. The other illustrations are hand-colored engravings but I’m not certain whether they were done on wood or metal. The artists for these pictures are not identified.
The book, a handsome and intelligent production, is apparently either little known or very uncommon as it is unlisted in all major ornithological bibliographies or collections save that of Yale. Three of its ornithological plates are reproduced in H. Aramata’s Birds of the World Painted by 19th Century Artists (New York, 1989).
Yale, p. 62. Absent BM(NH), Mengel, Ronsil, Trinity, Wood, Zimmer, Harvard, AMNH.
Compte, Achille (Joseph) (1802-1866) (translated by Benjamin Clarke)
The / book of birds / edited and abridged / from the text of Buffon 25.5 x 17.5. [a]4b2c-e4f2(-f2)B-2O4[$1 signed]; 165 ll. Pp. [i-iv](4)v-xxxiii[xxxiv][1]2-292. Later faux half-blue morocco, blue cloth sides. Spine with five elevated bands, gilt black morocco lettering piece in second compartment. London, R. Tyas, 1841.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Clarke, Printers, London; first unpaginated leaf: recto, engraved title page; verso, printer designation: Clarke, Printers, London; second unpaginated leaf: recto-verso, contents; v, preface; ix, introduction; xxxiv, chart, characters of six orders of birds; 1, birds of prey; 57, passerine birds; 144, gallinaceous birds; 181, climbing birds; 209, wading birds; 243, web-footed birds. Contains hand-colored engraved plates 1-38 drawn by Victor Adam with eight engravers, the major contributors being Beaupré (10), Thiebault (6) and Giroux (5).
This is a translation and slight condensation of Compte's Keepsake d'histoire naturelle, description des oiseaux…(Paris,1838). The artist, Victor Adam, was well known for his hunting scenes and horses but was not a specialist in zoological subjects and the pictures are, with a few exceptions, dreadful. The superficial text provides essays on a few examples of birds in each of the various orders and is written at a popular level.
The copy described by Mengel is lacking the two leaves that I describe here as unpaginated. There are four preliminary unpaginated leaves that precede the first one (v/vi) with pagination and there is no explicit evidence as to which amongst those four are i-iv and which are "unpaginated". The engraved title page has printing on the verso so may not be "hors de texte"
This book is usually cataloged under "Buffon". Mengel, #422; Wood, p. 268; Zimmer, p. 113. Also listed by Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard.
Cook, A(lbert)J(ohn)(1842-1916)
Birds of Michigan 24.5 x 16.0 cm. Pp. [1-3]4-148;74 ll. Original printed green wrappers with two gilt quail heads on upper cover. Michigan Agricultural College Bulletin No. 94. Lansing, Robert Smith & Co. State Printers, April, 1893.
1, Title; 2, information on Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station; 3, introduction; protection of game laws; 10, general literature; 12, bibliography; 24, systematic accounts; 132, index of common and scientific names. Contains approximately 110 text woodcuts from Coues's Key to North American Birds…
Although the first list of Michigan birds was apparently published in 1839, this important book is the first relatively comprehensive treatment of the subject. It covers 332 species which are sequentially numbered and then keyed to numbers on the AOU checklist as well as those in Coues's key and checklist. The entries contain a description of abundance and, in the case of breeding birds, notes on the nest and eggs as well as the feeding habits. A substantial fraction of the birds are illustrated. There is also a very impressive bibliography. Cook was Professor of Ornithology and Entomology at the Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) and much of the information was extracted from his own observations and those of his students. He also attributes considerable data to notes of Dr. H. A. Atkins that were entrusted to him as well as to Morris Gibbs, a prolific antecedent student and author of Michigan bird life.
This work was apparently issued in several slightly different formats in 1893. Each was referred to as Bulletin 94. The copy described by Zimmer is paginated like this one but was said to contain only "11 text cuts". Trinity and McGill each contain a "2nd ed." (of 1893) with 168 pages. The Yale copy, and that described by Mengel, contain an extra preliminary leaf devoted to further information about the Agricultural Station but are otherwise similar to this one. It may be that the work was issued as part of the entire 1903 report of the Michigan Agricultural College as well as a separate as in the case of this copy.
Mengel, #537; Trinity, p. 62; Wood, p. 296; Yale, p. 63; Zimmer, p. 134.
Cooke, W(ells) W(oodridge) (1858-1916)
The / Birds of Colorado [1]82-98[$1 signed]; 72 ll. Pp. [1-3]4-143[144].
Further Notes / on the / Birds of Colorado No signatures. Pp. [145-147]148-176.
The Birds of Colorado / A Second Appendix to Bulletin / No. 37 No signatures and doubly paginated as [177-179]180-239(1) and [1-3]4-63(1).
Three articles bound as one volume in pebbled green binder’s cloth. The three publications are respectively: Bulletin No. 31, Technical Series No. 2 of the State Agricultural College, Fort Collins, March, 1897; Bulletin No. 44, Technical Series No. 4, March, 1898; and Bulletin No. 56, Technical Series No. 5, May 1900. Each article contains, with pagination running consecutively from the first page of the first article; a title page; a second page with a list of officers of the Agricultural Station; an introductory section; a section on classification; a bibliography; a section on history of Colorado ornithology; a systematic text; and an index.
This is an early and important systematic enumeration of the birds of a Rocky Mountain state. It describes the status, statewide distribution, arrival and departure dates, and specific records for 360 species of which 228 are considered breeders.
Trinity, p. 62; Wood, p. 297; Yale, p. 64; Zimmer, p. 134.
Report on Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley in the Years 1884 and 1885 Edited and Revised by C. Hart Merriam. 23 x 15 cm. Pp. Blank, (2, title)[1-2]3[4]5-7[8]9-313(1). Original purple cloth. U. S. Department of Economic Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology, Bulletin No. 2. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1888.
This work is considered one of the great treatises on bird migration. It consists of two parts. The first considers the effect of various factors such as altitude, topography and barometric pressure on migration. The second analyzes in detail and systematically the migration of the 560 species of the Mississippi valley during the years in question. In his “prefatory letter” to the work, Merriam writes “Indeed, I feel no hesitancy in expressing the belief that the present report is the most valuable contribution ever made to the subject of bird migration”. Mengel (#543) remarks “A landmark in the history of studies of bird migration...”.
This copy bears the complimentary ticket of Norman J. Colman, the Commissioner of Agriculture who, with Merriam, signed the “letter of transmittal” (page 3). It also bears the signature in pencil “Wilh. Blasius”. Wilhelm Blasius (1845-1918) was a German ornithologist who published on birds of Borneo and Celebes. In the same handwriting as the signature is a note in German indicating that the work was received from Merriam on 7/3 1889.
Mengel, 543; Trinity, p. 63; Wood, p. 297. Unlisted in Yale and Ayer catalogs.
Cooper, William T., and Forshaw, Joseph M.
COCKATOOS / a portfolio of / all species 75.0 x 57.0 cm. Pp. [1-4]5-65[66]; 33 ll. Loose in publisher's green cloth solander box with gilt lettering on upper cover. Melbourne, Nokomis Editions, 2001.
1, frontispiece; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, limitation statement, 057/460 signed by Cooper and Forshaw; 5, contents; 6, foreword by Stephen Garnett; 7, introducing the cockatoos; 9, species accounts; 65, acknowledgements; 66, publication data. Contains colored frontispiece and 21 unnumbered colored plates included in pagination as well as 13 unnumbered uncolored text figures all by Cooper. Colored plates all printed on recto only and separated by tissue guards.
This is the most lavish and arguably the most beautiful of the monographs written by Forshaw and illustrated by Cooper. As was the case in the previous publication on Touracos by these authors, the illustrations are the raison d'etre of the present work although Forshaw does, in this instance, supply a reasonably comprehensive text that is printed on the same sized broadsheet as the plates.
The pictures represent the artist at his very best since he is painting his favorite group of birds in habitats that he knows personally. In my view, they are the finest pictures of parrots that have ever been published. The plates are printed in color half-tone using six colors on uncoated paper often with fluorescent inks and are fine examples of modern technology.
The text covers appearance, distribution, habitat, habits, displays, nests, breeding and natal biology, and also includes a note by the artist.
Cooper, William T.(homas)(1934-) (Text by Forshaw, Joseph M.(ichael), Cooper, William T.(homas)
The / Birds of Paradise / and / Bower Birds / William T. Cooper / Text by / Joseph M. Forshaw / and / William T. Cooper 43.7 x 28.0 cm. Pp. [i-vi]vii-xii13-304; 152 ll. Original publisher's simulated quarter mauve vellum with tan buckram sides. Flat spine with gilt lettering. Olive endpapers of simulated laid paper. Sydney, Collins, 1979 (1977).
Presented in a tan buckram slipcase with a mauve, simulated vellum labeling piece printed in brown on upper cover. i, Half-title; ii, dedication; iii, title; iv, copyright dated 1977; credits: typeset by the Dominion Press, Melbourne; printed by Dai Nippon, Tokyo; designed by Derrrick I. Stone; v, foreword by M. T. Somare, Prime Minister of Papua, New Guinea; vi, blank; vii, contents; xi, acknowledgements; 13, preface; 17, introduction; 31, birds of paradise; 207, bower birds; 297, references cited; 303, index of scientific names; 304, index of English names. Contains an uncolored double-page map, a full-page diagram of the topography of a bird, 60 unnumbered colored plates included in pagination and with both sides of the leaves printed, and many unnumbered pencil sketches concerned with 34 species including displays and bowers.
Forshaw and Cooper first collaborated on the excellent, and hugely successful Parrots of the World first published in 1973. The collaboration was to prove long and fruitful and the present work was its second product. One can sense from the strange presentation of names on the title page a certain tension between the two men regarding credit. This must have dissipated since they continued a productive relationship for many years.
This book is extraordinarily beautiful for a trade volume and was produced remarkably well. The artistry and color printing are superb. The introduction provides an overview of the biology of these remarkable birds. The species accounts include original nomenclature citation; description with measurements; distribution with a map; discussion of subspecies; and a section of general notes concerned with displays and nesting.
The work has special meaning for me because it, more than any other, lead to my becoming a collector of ornithological books. I first saw it in the office of the warden at the Baiyer River Sanctuary in Papua, New Guinea. I had just come back from watching Lesser Birds of Paradise display in a favorite tree and when I looked the species up in this book, I found that Cooper had watched the same display tree. The pictures recalled to me my own experience in an extraordinarily powerful and immediate way. I determined to buy the book and I did so as soon as I got to Sydney, not realizing that books are also sold in the United States and that I did not need to carry around such a huge tome for the rest of my trip.
This copy is a reprint. The original Australian edition was published in 1977. The work appeared with an American imprint the same year as this reprint was issued. A few copies, 35 of which 25 were for sale, were issued in a very large paper format.
The book is present at AMHH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Cooper, J(ames)G(raham)(1830-1902) (edited by Baird, S(pencer)F(ullerton)(1823-1887)
Geological Survey of California / Ornithology / Volume I / Land Birds (Half-title: Ornithology of California / Vol. I) 26.5 x 19.0 cm. π6[1-2]43-744[$1 signed];302 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xi(1)[1]2-592. Fine full red morocco binding by McNamee of Cambridge. Gilt-paneled covers. Spine with five gilt-decorated raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartment, gilt design in the other four compartments. Gilt-decorated dentelles and doublures. Marbled end papers. AEG. (Sacremento) Authority of the (California) Legislature, 1870.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation: Welch, Bigelow, & Co.; v-vii, contents; viii, blank; ix-xi, introduction by J. D. Whitney, State Geologist; 1, systematic text; 561, appendix by S. F. Baird comprising; 563, I. additional species; 565, II. explanation of descriptive terms; 574, III. glossary of technical terms; 580, IV. Spanish names of Californian birds; 590, index of English and Spanish names. Contains approximately 660 unnumbered text wood engravings (almost 500 colored) comprising: generic outlines, (approximately 160) by A. Schönbrun, uncolored; full-length generic figures by Edwin Sheppard, (approximately 180) colored; heads (approximately 320) by J. H. Richard and Henry W. Elliott, colored. Engraving mostly by H. H. Nichols with a few by Henry Marsh. Posthumous book plate of J. D. Whitney (1819-1896), State Geologist who commissioned the book and wrote the introduction.
Cooper, an army physician after whom the Cooper Ornithological Society was named, was a protégé of Baird's who explored and collected in California beginning in 1860. This work was intended to cover the land birds of North America north of the Mexican border and west of the Rocky Mountains. It eventually evolved into the three volume series on North American land birds by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway and the intended second volume on water birds became the two-volume treatment of water birds by those authors. Many of the descriptions and figures from this book were used in the later volumes. The present work is a magnum opus that covers every western "land bird" including passerines, kingfishers goatsuckers, swifts, hummingbirds, cuckoos, woodpeckers, raptors, pigeons and gallinaceous birds. It includes, for each species, synonymy, description with measurements, distribution, and general life history comprising nest, eggs, food and habits.
The work was published in three forms. Most copies were uncolored. A few had the heads colored and a very small number, of which this copy is an example, had the full-length figures as well as the heads colored. Mengel (#551) describes a colored copy with 666 text figures of which 317 heads are colored. He writes "The copious illustrations generally depict in full one member of each genus, the head of each species …and technical details of feet, wings etc. The drawings of the heads in the present copy are colored, which is said to be unusual". Casey Wood (p. 298) remarks "The compiler ..records…that a few copies were issued with the heads of the birds hand-colored but that he had never seen one…" I have seen only one other copy that had both heads and full-length figures colored. It was bound in the same publisher's cloth as uncolored examples and was sold by Peacock Books for $2, 500 as item #78, catalog 45, 1994. Were it not for that example, I would have supposed that only copies destined for those concerned with the production of the book such as J. D. Whitney in the present case, contained colored full-length figures. These copies are certainly extremely rare. In this context, it should be noted that a small number of the water bird volumes by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway were issued with colored heads but I have never seen a copy of that work in which the full-length figures were colored.
Apparently uncolored versions of the book are present in the libraries of AMNH, BM(NH), Cornell, the Field Musem, Library of Congress, McGill, Oxford and Trinity. The copies at Kansas (Mengel #551) and Yale (p. 64) have only the heads colored. That at the Smithsonian is described as colored without further details. The Harvard example is listed but completely undescribed.
Cooper, Willam T. (1934-), plates, Hindwood, Keith (1904-), text
A / Portfolio of / Australian Birds 35.4 x 28.0 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-60[61-64]; 32 ll. Original publisher's cream cloth with black block design of Manarchus melanopsis on upper cover, black lettering on spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Tan endpapers with feathery design pattern. Rutland and Tokyo, Charles E. Tuttle Company, (1968).
1, Half-title; 2, black and white design of Monarchus melanopsis; 3, title; 4, copyright dated 1968; published by special arrangement with A. H. & A. W. Reed, Wellington and Sydney; ISBN 8048 0890-2;
5, contents; 7, introduction; 11, the plates; 61-62, blank; 63, acknowledgements. Contains colored plates 1-25 by Cooper, so numbered in the contents and on the facing page with the species accounts. The 25 leaves containing the plates are printed on their recto only and are not included in the pagination. The species account for each plate is on the facing page, the verso of a leaf whose recto is blank. Both sides of these leaves are included in the pagination.
This book was intended to showcase the skill of Cooper, a young Australian artist who had recently decided to specialize in the depiction of birds. He was to become among the most accomplished ornithological artists of the 20th century and his subsequent collaboration with Joseph Forshaw resulted in spectacularly illustrated, memorable family monographs on parrots, birds-of-paradise and touracos as well as the entire order of Coraciiformes. His talent is obvious even in this, his first book.
The text by Hindwood, a seasoned veteran of Australian ornithology, provides, at a popular level, interesting and very well informed life histories of the 25 species that have been selected for illustration.
Listed for AMNH, Harvard (Sydney imprint), Trinity. Unlisted by Cornell, Yale.
Cooper Ornithological Club of California (Barlow, Chester, editor)
Bulletin / of the / Cooper Ornithological Club / of California / (a bi-monthly exponent of Californian ornithology) The latter on first page of text but not on wrappers) 25.1 x 16.8 cm. Nos. 1-6. . Pp. See below. No signatures. Original wrappers with decorative frame enclosing Condor design those for Nos. 1-4 colored ochre, those for Nos. 5-6 colored gray. Bound in maroon cloth with gilt lettering to spine (mislabeled 1889 instead of 1899). Gray endpapers. Santa Clara, Cooper Ornithological Club, Volume I,1899.
No. 1, January-February, 1899: Pp. (6, index of English and generic names for vol. I)(2, recto blank, verso uncolored unnumbered photographic plate of Dr. James G. Cooper [1]2-16(2, recto unnumbered uncolored painting of a Condor by “Emerson”, this the portrait for the upper wrappers of each part) verso, blank.
1, Dr. James G. Cooper A sketch by Dr. O. W. Emerson, president of the Cooper Ornithological Club; 6, nesting of the Santa Cruz Jay by R. H. Beck; 6, two albinos from Los Angeles, Cal. By H. S. Swarth; 7, spring migration of 1896 in the San Gabriel Valley by Horace A. Gaylord; 9, nesting of the Fulvous Tree Duck by A. M. Shields; 11, a new race of the Brown Towhee, by Richard C. Mcgregor; 12, Williiam S. Cobleigh, obituary with photographic portrait; 13, nesting observations on the Black Phoebe by F. B. Jewett; 14, editorial notes; 15, list of officers; official minutes; (2, uncolored painting of California Condor signed Emerson); exchange notices on inner surface of rear endpaper.
No. 2, March.-April, 1899: [17]18-36,
No. 3, May-June, 1899; [37]38-58(2, advertisements for publications).
No. 4, July-August, 1899; (2, verso, blank; recto, photographic plate)[59]60-76.
No. 5, September-October, 1899; [77-78, the latter a photographic plate included in pagination]79-100 (including a photographic plate in pagination).
No. 6, November-December, 1899; [101]102-120
This is the first volume of the Condor, then called the Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club. It contains 14 half-tone, uncolored text illustrations, some full-page, including 13 photographic illustrations and one sketch. The advertisements on the wrappers are of special interest.
A Lady (Susan Fenimore Cooper [1813-1894])
Rural hours 20.9 x 16.0 cm. [1]122-2212[$1, 5 signed]; 264 ll. Pp. [1-9]10-521(1)[i]ii-vi. All text leaves framed. Publisher’s vertically lined blue cloth with decorative gilt panels and gilt titles on upper and lower cover and spine. AEG. Lemon endpapers. Sixth edition, Philadelphia, Willis P. Hazard, 1854.
1, Title; 2, printer designation: Kite and Walton; 3, dedication to “the author of ‘the Deerslayer’”; 4, blank; 5, list of illustrations; 6, blank; 7, prefaced dated March, 1850; 9, text; I, index. Contains 21 hand-colored lithographs including a second title leaf with a ruby-throated hummingbird, 15 other plates of birds and five of plants.
This popular work describing observations on natural history in upstate New York has gone through numerous editions and reprintings, the most recent of which was in 1998. The author was the daughter of James Fenimore Cooper. The first edition was issued without illustrations in 1850. The colored plates did not appear until the fourth edition published in 1851. The present imprint is uncommon. All the other early editions were published by G. P. Putnam of New York. The plates were lithographed and printed by Endicott of New York and appeared originally in the series on the Botany and Zoology of New York State. Although not designated on these plates, the ornithological plates were drawn by J. W. Hill.
Wood, p. 298; Zimmer, p. 136. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard and Yale although none list this edition, Not listed by Trinity.
Corti, Ulrich A.(lfred) or A.(lfred)(1904-)(illustrated by Walter Linsenmaier; translated from German by Giuseppe Gemnetti)
Ucelli covatori d'Europa / ucelli cantori 29.2 x 20.6 cm. [1]4(-1)2-154164(+1)[$1 signed]; 64 ll.Pp. (4)7-130. Publisher's red cloth with gilt ornithological design on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Milano, Silvana Editoriale D'Arte, 1956. "1a edizione 1956" printed on obverse of lower flyleaf.
First preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, titolo originale / Singvögel / traduzione di / Giacome E. Giuseppe Gemnetti; copyright 1956; stampa Fratelli Fretz S. A. Zürich; second preliminary leaf: recto, contents, plates; verso, blank; 7, introduzione; 8-127(1), paginated, mounted half-tone colored plates 1-60(two of eggs) with running text comprising about 160 species; 129, alphabetical list of Italian names.
This is the first of a four-volume set that was published (1956-1962) in French (Oiseaux nicheurs d'Europe) and German (Brutvögel Europas) by Silva Verlag in Zürich. I am not certain whether or not this is the only volume published in Italian. The work was issued as a promotional device by Silva. Coupons in their confection products were exchanged for colored plates that were mounted at the designated pages. Despite this unpromising marketing, the set is handsome and well done, and this first volume is the nicest because of the unusually beautiful pictures by Linsenmaier, who was better known as an entomological illustrator. The pictures here depict feather texture particularly well and some of them display a striking use of dark color to set off their subjects in unusual compositions.
The four-volume set is discussed more extensively under the entry Oiseaux nicheurs d' Europe by Paul Géroudet. This volume is complete despite irregular pagination.
This first Italian volume listed by Cornell. Not listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Cory, Charles B.(arney)(1857-1921)
The /Birds / of / Haiti and San Domingo (from title page, Part IV) 29.6 x 23.0 cm. Four parts (complete) in original gray lithographed and printed wrappers. For the author, Estes & Lauriat, Boston. Presented in a blue cloth solander box with gilt black morocco lettering piece on spine.
Part I. 1884. Upper wrapper, recto, lithographed and printed title page; verso advertisement for The Beautiful and Curious Birds of the World (in parts, $65.00); lower wrapper, recto, advertisement for Birds of the Bahama Islands (uncolored, $7.00) and A Naturalist in the Magdalen Islands ($1.25); verso, prospectus for The Birds of Haiti and San Domingo "in course of publication", $5.00 per part. 3-74[$1 signed]; 20 ll. Pp. [17]18-56. 17, systematic text, thrushes-tanagers covering 26 species. Contains an unnumbered text woodcut and six unnumbered (save in index of plates) hand-colored lithographic plates by Cory.
Part II. 1884. Wrappers as Part I. 8-144; 28 ll. Pp. 57-112. 57, systematic text, tanagers -woodpeckers covering 29 species. Contains one text woodcut, six hand-colored lithographic plates, and one hand-colored engraved plate, Picumnus lawrencii.
Part III. 1884. Wrappers as Part I. 15-204;24 ll. Pp. 113-160. 113, systematic text, parrotso-limkin covering 32 species. Contains six hand-colored lithographs.
Part IV. 1885. Upper wrappers as part I. Lower wrapper, recto, advertisement for Birds of Haiti and San Domingo "now complete" ($5.00 per part); also advertisements for Birds of the Bahama Islands and Birds of the Magdalen Islands; verso, advertisements for A List of the Birds of the West Indies, 1885 ($1.00) and The Birds of the West Indies "to be published". [1-2]4(including two initial integral blanks)21-254(including integral terminal blank; 28 ll. Pp. [1-7]8-16, 161-198(2, blank). 1-4, blank; 5, title; 6, copyright dated 1885; printer's logo: Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston; 7, table of contents; 13, index of plates 1-23, including map as frontispiece; 15, introduction with list of 32 endemics; 161, systematic text, rails-grebes covering 19 species. Contains three hand-colored lithographic plates of heads and an uncolored lithographic map by Forbes & Co., Boston.
The complete work describes about 100 species and contains 22 hand-colored plates by Cory and a map. Three blank leaves, two initial, one terminal, could be considered integral components as indicated by their presence in the parts. It has not been noted previously that one of the colored plates for this work is engraved whereas all the others are lithographed.
The introduction to this work is very short and gives the reader no idea when Cory visited the island and how much time he spent there. It is clear from the text, however, that he collected a great many specimens and made numerous observations. He provides synonymy, a description with measurements, status, and sometimes, in an anecdotal section, a list of specimens that he collected with sex, locality, date and measurements. Other aspects of life history including information about nesting and eggs is also occasionally presented. All the described species were either observed by Cory or seen on the island by others he considered reliable. He also mentions, in their appropriate taxonomic positions, many other species which he feels probably occur since they had been reported from nearby islands.
According to the prospectus, this edition consisted of 300 copies.
Wood, p. 300; Zimmer, p. 138. Also listed for AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Cory, Charles B.(arney)(1857-1921)
Birds / of the / Bahama Islands / containing / many birds new to the islands, and a number of undescribed / winter plumages of North American species 26.8 x 20.3 cm. [1-2]43-314322(-322)[$1 signed]; 125 ll. Pp. [1-3]4-250. Original beveled black cloth sides with fine gilt-stamped image of flamingos and palm trees on upper cover. Title on upper cover printed in raised black letters within fine gilt decorative panel containing also circular gilt designs of small birds. Rebacked with later red morocco. Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartment, blind designs in other four. Boston, by the author, 1880. Title page with stamp of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia.
1, Title; 2, copyright dated 1879; printer designation: Boston, Alfred Mudge and Son; 3, preface; 5, contents; 8, index of plates; 9, part I, the Bahama Islands; 43, part II., birds of the Bahama Islands; 225, distribution of species amongst the islands; 235, appendix of hypothetical possible species; 243, index. Contains eight unnumbered hand-colored lithographic plates after Cory including frontispiece.
This is an important work because it presents the first comprehensive view of the Bahamian avifauna in book form. The principal precursor was a series of articles on the subject by Henry Bryant, including "A list of birds seen at the Bahamas from Jan. 20 to May 14, 1859" published in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History (Vol. VII et seq.)
This book must have been underwritten by Cory's family since it was published when he was only about 22 years old. He and "a friend" had sailed amongst the Bahama Islands during the first half of 1879 and the work is part travel narrative, part ornithological treatise. The first part, "the Bahama Islands" touches on various aspects of the island including geology, weather, and topography and provides diary entries for trips made to various specific islands and sites. The second part, "the birds of the Bahama Islands" gives systematic accounts of 149 species that he recorded or that had been reported before. These accounts include the local name, reference to a published figure, a description with measurements, and status. There is also a variable anecdotal section describing his own experiences or those of Bryant, and these may include information on life history. In the appendix, he lists an additional 36 species which had not been recorded but whose presence at one time or another, he deemed possible. The hand-colored lithographs are quite accurate and attractive. This was Cory's second book. He was to become one of the more prolific ornithological authors of the turn of the century.
This work was also issued with the plates uncolored and a second edition was published in 1890.
Zimmer, p. 137. The colored 1880 edition also listed for AMNH, Trinity, but not by Cornell, Harvard, Wood, Yale.
Cory, Charles B(arney)(1857-1921)
The / Birds Of The West Indies / including / all species known to occur in the bahama islands, the greater / antilles, the caymans, and the lesser antilles excepting / the islands of tobago and trinidad 25.9 x 18.0 cm. Pp. (6)3-324; 164 ll. Later simulated morocco-backed boards. Boston, Estes & Lauriat, 1889.
The first leaf is unprinted but is inscribed by the author "Compliments of Charles B. Cory" and is dated "December 10/90". The second leaf contains the title page on the recto and the copyright and printer designation (Alfred Mudge & Son) on the verso. The third leaf contains a dedication "to my mother" on the recto with a blank verso. 3, Introduction; 5, bibliography; 15, systematic list; 299, index. Contains two uncolored lithographic maps not included in pagination and several text line illustrations after Cory. Boston Society of Natural History blindstamp on title page and its label on front pastedown indicating that the book was received from the author on December 10, 1890.
This uncommon volume is the first systematic work on the ornithology of the entire West Indies as an avifaunal unit and as such is highly important. Much of it was first published in The Auk of the preceding three years. The list is based largely on the collections amassed by Cory himself and by collectors whom he hired. Synonymy and distribution within the Indies are supplied for all species and descriptions are given for all, save common North American birds. Cory frequently adds notes based on his own observations or those of his correspondents who included Gundlach. The heads of several species are depicted by line sketches after Cory who was quite a capable artist.
Trinity, p. 64; Wood, p. 300; Yale, p. 66; Zimmer, p. 139.
Cory, Charles B(arney) (1857-1921)
A Naturalist / in the / Magdalen Islands: / giving / a description of the islands and a list of the birds taken / there, with other ornithological notes 19. x 16.5 cm. [1-2]43-114124(-124)[$1 signed]; 47 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv[v-vi][7]8-93(1). Also contains single initial blank leaf and two final blank leaves. Original brown cloth with gilt owl design and lettering on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine, beveled edges. Boston, (privately published), 1878.
i, Title; ii, copyright and printer's designation Boston, Alfred Mudge and Son; iii, preface; v, contents; 7, the Magdalen Islands; 12, Byron Island; 17, Bird Rocks; 23, Grindstone Island; 31, systematic bird list; 79, appendix of possible additional species; 85, index. Contains two unnumbered, uncolored wood-engraved plates after Cory and a single text woodcut.
This is Cory's first book, published when he was a very young man. It describes the birds he collected and saw on a trip to these islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence during the summer of 1878. It seems strange to me how ornithologists of the era seemed to be indifferent to the large number of birds that they shot. The counts that Cory gives us suggest that at least some of the large number must have been taken in sport. The most interesting observations, at least in hindsight, were a Wheatear and two Eskimo Curlews, none of which were collected.
Trinity, p. 64; Wood, p. 300; Yale, p. 66; Zimmer, p. 137.
Cory, Charles Barney (1857-1921)
Alca Impennis (Great Auk) 68.7 x 53.3 cm. Unnumbered, tinted lithographic plate from Cory's The beautiful and curious birds of the world (Boston, by the author, 1880-1883).
The complete work contained 20 plates and was issued in seven parts in both colored and uncolored states. I'm not certain whether there was more than one state for this plate which is printed in black and white on a tinted salmon background or frame. The tinted image measures 53.3 x 41.0 cm. The image has "Forbes Co. Boston" printed in its lower left corner but the artist is not designated. Joseph Smit is designated as the artist for eight of the plates in the book. The present image was used as the cover illustration for The Auk (the journal of the American Ornithologists' Union) until replaced with one by Fuertes in the early 20th century. The work was issued in a print run of 200 copies but is now rarely seen.
Wood, p. 300; Zimmer, p. 137. Also listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity. Not listed by Cornell, Yale.
The Song Birds of Great Britain; Containing Delineations of Thirty-three Birds, of the Natural Size, (Including the Genus Sylvia of Latham,) Coloured Principally from Living Specimens, with Some Account of their Habits, and Occasional Directions for their Treatment and Confinement.
24.5 x 15.5 cm. π4 [[A]8B-D8E6F2G-I8 K2 (K2+1); 71 leaves, unpaginated. Contemporary full-green morocco with gilt and blind tooling on both covers and on flat spine. Gilt turn-ins. AEG. London, printed for the author by Samuel Bentley, 1836.
π1,blank; π2, overall title; π3-A3, prefaces to overall work and to first part; A4, contents of “Resident Song Birds..”; A5-E6, “Resident Song Birds..; F1, contents of “Summer Migrant Song Birds”; F2-K2, “Summer Migrant Song Birds..”; K2+1, blank. Contains 33 plates, drawn, etched and colored by the author.
This work appeared in two parts. The first issue of the first part was published in 1835 and had its own title as well as the signature B2 on the final leaf of description for the Hedge Sparrow and the misspelled word “migatory” in the last line of description for the Dartford Warbler. When the second part was issued in 1836, a new overall title was supplied and a later issue of the first part was printed to go with a presumed surplus of second parts. This copy contains the later issue of the first part.
According to Mullens & Swann, “....a work of the utmost rarity in its complete state....much esteemed for the fidelity and beauty of its...plates”. This example is from the Fattorini collection and is a superb copy.
Despite its considerable beauty, this book is not particularly well regarded for its content. Most of the information is not original, having been gleaned from the work of contemporary authors including Robert Sweet and Robert Mudie. Furthermore, a taxonomically muddled group has been presented including even the Swallow! Yet it is incontestable that the pictures are, for the most part, exceptionally accurate and artistic. For this reason, I am confused by those depicting the White-throat and the Nightingale, which I thought at first were reversed. The former is shown with upperparts entirely rufous, possible, I suppose for the female, but this was intended as a male. Its white outer tail feathers appear to exclude the possibility that it is the figure intended to represent the Nightingale. The latter is shown as entirely gray above save for the trace of a black eye patch. There is not even a hint of reddish brown.
Mengel, #572a; Mullens & Swann, p.148; Wood, p. 301; Yale, p. 67. Unlisted in Ayer and Trinity catalogues.
Cotton, John (1801-1849)(edited by Robert Tyas [1811-1879])
Beautiful birds / described / edited from the manuscript of John Cotton, F. Z. S. Three volumes. 16.3 x 10.5cm. Original publisher’s (?) olive cloth. Upper cover decorated with black frames and gilded bird. Gilt decorations and lettering to spine. TEG. London, Madgwick, Houlston & Co., (1854-1856?).
Vol. I. π2[A]8B-F8G6, remainder without signatures and families paginated separately. Pp. [i-v]vi-xx[1]2-92; [1]2-16; [1]2-16; [1]2-16; [1]2-15(1); [1]2-16; [1]2-16. i, title; ii, , blank; iii, advertisement; iv, blank; v, contents; vii, list of plates; ix, introduction; [1]2-92, birds of prey; 1-16, shrikes; 1-16, thrushes; 1-16, warblers; 1-15, nightingale and other warblers; 1-16, goldcrests and titmice; 1-16, chatterers and flycatchers. Contains 12 unnumbered hand-colored lithographic plates after James Andrews and 30 unnumbered text woodcuts.
Vol. II. Paginated by families with occasional signatures. Pp..[i-vii]viii-x[xi](1)[1]2-15(1); [1]2-16; [1]2-16; [1]2-16; [1]2-16; [1]2-16;[1]2-16; [113]114-192. i, half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, advertisement; vi, blank; vii, contents; xi, list of plates; 1-15, bee-eaters and swallows; 1-16, nightjars and kingfishers; 1-16, cuckoos; 1-16, parrots; 1-16, woodpeckers; 1-3, wrynecks; 4-12, creepers; 13-16, honey-eaters; [1]2-16, hummingbirds; 113-116m hoopoes; 117-128, birds of paradise; 129-141, crows; 142-152, starlings; 153-160, finches; 161-184, ground finches; 185, plantain-eaters; 186-192, hornbills. Contains 12 unnumbered hand-colored lithographic plates after Andrews and 35 unnumbered text woodcuts.
Vol. III. [A]6(-A6)B-N8O4(-O4)[$! Signed]104 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-viii[ix](1)[1]2-198. i, title; ii, blank; iii, advertisement; v, contents; ix, list of plates; 1-16, pigeons; 17-20, curassows; 21-28, peacocks; 29-32, pheasants; 33-37, cocks; 38-48, grouse, partridges and quails; 49-64, ostriches, bustards etc; 65-76, plovers; 77-98, sandpipers, snipes, etc.; 99-99-128, herons, cranes, storks, etc; 129-156, geese, swans and ducks; 157-163, divers; 164-169, auks and penguins; 170-177, pelicans; 178-198, gulls, terns, etc. Contains 12 hand-colored lithographic plates after Andrews and 37 unnumbered text woodcuts.
This is a general treatise on ornithology based on William Swainson’s classification and comprising anecdotal material for one or more species from most known families. It probably suffers from the fact that it was published some years after the author’s death and so unedited by him. It is best known for its rather decorative hand-colored lithographs at least some of which were copied from antecedent works including those by Charles Lemaire, which were illustrated by the firm of Pauquet Frères.
Mengel describes a dated copy (1854-1856) with a longer title issued by Houlston and Stoneman. The undated copy described by Zimmer as a “reissue” has the same imprint as this one, to which it is similar, save that the plates are uncolored. According to Zimmer, the work was first published in 36 parts, 1854-56.
Mengel, #574; Wood, p. 301; Zimmer, p. 142.
A / Check List / of / North American Birds 23.2 x 14.8 cm. Pp. [1-4]5-137(1)[12]22-32(1); 71 ll. Wrappers with upper wrapper as page 1 and title. Text printed on rectos only. Salem, Naturalists' Agency, 1873(-1874).
1, Title; 2, printer designation, the Salem Press, F. W. Putnam & Co. 3, note (introduction); 5, check list; 119, extinct species; 123, appendix containing additions and corrections; 12, advertisement for Key to North American Birds.
This work preceded the AOU check list by a decade and was probably the first numbered American list. A note in the appendix tells us that a few copies of the list were circulated in 1873 but that the appendix was added in early 1874. Coues, in his bibliography (part I, p. 694) explains the printing on one side of a leaf only as facilitating its use "for MS notes" and "for labelling purposes".
The species are numbered 1-635. The sequence is the same as in his Key to North American Birds. The genera covered by each printed page are numbered at the top of the page to conform to the genera enumeration in the Key. For each species, Latin and English names are given and the discoverer and authority responsible for nomenclature are cited.
In the catalog for the auction of the Braislin ornithological book collection in 1923, this original printing (item #224) is described as "excessively rare" but I suspect this to be an exaggeration. The check list was incorporated into Coues's Field Ornithology of 1874. It was reprinted by another Salem publisher in 1878 and a second expanded edition was published in 1882.
Mengel, #580; Wood, p. 302; Yale, p. 67; Zimmer, p. 143. This edition not listed in Trinity printed catalog.
Key / to / North American birds. / containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil / bird at present known from the continent north of the / Mexican and United States boundry, inclusive of Greenland and Lower California / with which are incorporated /General ornithology: / an outline of the structure and classification of birds; / and / field ornithology, / a manual of collecting, preparing and preserving birds / The Fifth Edition Two volumes. 25.0 x 17.0 cm. Original red cloth with gilt-lettered spine. Boston, The Page Company. Copyright, 1903 by Dana Estes & Company.
Volume I. π221-338344[$1 signed]; 290 ll. Pp. (2)[i-iii]iv-xli[xlii][1]2-535[536]. π1r, Title; π1v, copyright; π2r, dedication to Spencer Baird; π2v, blank; π3r-π3v, publisher's (Estes) preface to fifth revised edition; π4r, preface to fourth edition; π4v, blank; π5r-π6v, preface to third edition; π7r-π16v, historical preface; π17r-π18r, contents; π18v, blank; π19r-π22r, in memoriam: Elliott Coues by D. G. Elliot; π22v, blank; 1, part I, field ornithology; 59, part II, general ornithology; 294, part III, systematic synopsis of North American birds. Contains colored (three-color process) frontispiece after Louis Agassiz Fuertes with lettered tissue leaf, and uncolored photograph of Coues between π18 and π19, all not included in pagination. Also contains text Figures 1-353.
Volume II. π3[34]435-728; 311 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[537]538-1152. π1r, Title; π1v, copyright; π2r-π3v, contents; 537, systematic synopsis (continued); 1087, part IV, systematic synopsis of the fossil birds of North America; 1099, index; 1145, appendix of additions and changes to the AOU checklist and their concordance with nomenclature in the Key. Contains colored frontispiece after Fuertes with accompanying sheet of tissue letter-press, and text Figures 354-747.
This fifth edition is generally considered the best of this American ornithological landmark. Coues died after completion of the manuscript which was edited and expanded by J. A. Farley. Synonymies and references were added and the concordance of Coues's names with the names and enumeration of the AOU checklist was placed with each species instead of in the appendix which was here concerned mainly with changes occurring after Coues's death. Species accounts were expanded and many new illustrations were added, most after Fuertes who was originally "discovered" by and a protégé of Coues. The "Page" imprint on the recto of the title leaf and the relegation of the "Estes" imprint to the copyright on the verso suggest that this copy may be a late issue. The copy described by Zimmer was identical to this one who comments that some other copies have the Estes imprint on the title page (i.e. recto) but does not draw any conclusions.
The work is a complete text book of ornithology in general and North American ornithology in particular. It is awesome in the comprehensive nature of its coverage and in the level of scholarship which is enhanced by Coues's pedantic showmanship.
Wood, p. 303; Yale, p. 67; Zimmer, p. 149. This edition not in Trinity catalog.
(American [universal] bibliography of ornithology[ as modestly referred to by Coues himself in the introduction to the final part]) Four parts ("instalments"). 22.0 x 14.1 cm. Later half red buckram and marbled boards. Washington, Government Printing Office., 1878-1880.
First part. Bibliographical appendix (to "Birds of the Colorado Valley" [Faunal publications relating to North America. Misc. Publ. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. No. 11, 1878]) / list of faunal publications relating to North / American ornithology (from first page of text). This copy directly extracted from volume, therefore lacking wrappers. [36]8(-361-3)37-498[$1 signed]; 109 ll. Pp. 567-784. 567, title, introduction; 569, chronological bibliography, 1612-1878; 747, index to authors; 767, index to localities. Contains approximately 1000 listings in chronological order referenced to author and area (state, territory etc.)
Second part. Second instalment / of / American ornithological / bibliography Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey, Vol. V, No. 2., September 6, 1879 (from upper wrapper). This is an "Author's Edition", a separate with its own wrappers. [6]8(-61-3)7-118122(-122)[$1 signed]; 46 ll. Pp. 239-330. 239, title: Art. XVII.-Second instalment of American orni-/ thological bibliography, introduction; 239-309, chronological listing of ornithological publications relating to the "rest of America" (i.e. exclusive of North America), 1648-1866; 310, index of authors; 321, index of localities.
Third part. Art. XXVI.-Third instalment of American orni- / thological bibliography (from first page of text) Bulletin / of / the United States / Geological and Geographical Survey / of / the territories / Volume V…Number 4. /// September 30, 1880 (from upper wrapper). This part formed the complete Number 4, the last part of Volume V, and was therefore issued as a separate with concluding components of Volume V and its own wrappers, here present. 1-358[#1 signed]; 280 ll. Pp. 521-572[i-ii]iii-vi(1). 521, , title, introduction; 522-1066, Hirundinidae-Rheidae, systematic list of families, each with chronological bibliography; 1066, note from editor (Coues) that "index to Bibliography is unavoidably deferred"; 1067, general index to volume V; i, title page for volume V.; blank; iii, prefatory note by F. V. Hayden, United States Geologist; v, contents of whole volume (V); vii, list of illustrations (for all of volume V)
Fourth part. Fourth instalment of ornithological bibliography: / being a list of faunal publications relating to Brit- / ish birds (from first page of text). This article has been extracted directly from Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. II., 1880 and therefore lacks its own wrappers. [23]8(-231-3)24-298308(-308)[$1 signed]; 60 ll. Pp. [359]360-477(1). 359, title, introduction; 361-471, chronological bibliography, 1666-1880; 471, additions and corrections. There is a curious discrepancy here with pagination cited by Mengel, Ripley & Scribner, and Zimmer, all of whom give pagination as 359-482. There is no apparent lack of text in this copy and the last page is blank. Furthermore, the one other example I have examined ended at page 477 with its obverse blank as here and the Cornell copy is described as this one.
Collations include pagination, plates and complete title pages for most volumes. The subjects of colored plates in these books are each specifically identified. The bibliography also encompasses relevant articles from periodicals. Where these contain descriptions of novel species, the new names are identified. The first, second and fourth parts list chronologically all publications for North America, South and Central America, and Britain, that are not monographs of species or taxonomic groups. The third part lists all publications in the latter category for North and South America under family headings. Each part, save the last, contains a comprehensive index.
This is a work of most extraordinary scholarship and erudition. The first three parts make up what is certainly the outstanding bibliography pertaining to ornithology of the western hemisphere. The fourth part on British ornithology is less successful, perhaps because Coues was reluctantly compelled to do it by flattery of which there was a great deal from British ornithologists.
The first three parts were reprinted and issued as a single volume in 1995. The four original parts are difficult to find together since they were issued separately. They are usually listed individually.
Mengel, #585; Wood, p. 302; Zimmer, p. 145. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Yale. Harvard does not list the first part and Trinity does not list the first and last.
Coward, T(homas)A(lfred) (1867-1933)
The Birds / of the British Isles / and their Eggs Three volumes. 15.6 x 11.3 cm. Mock brown leather with gilt vignette of bird on upper cover, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine, black block lettering on upper cover. Speckled edges, patterned endpapers with central photograph. London and New York, Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.
First Series / comprising / Families Corvidae to Sulidae 1921(1920) third impression.[A]4B-2A82B4[$1 signed]; 192 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii][1]2-376. i, Half-title; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, preface; viii, alterations in nomenclature; 1, introduction; 19, descriptions of species; 359, reputed British birds; 368, index. Contains plates 1-159 not included in pagination and printed on both sides of leaf. Of these, 60 are of uncolored photographs, 17 are colored plates of eggs and the remaining 82 are colored pictures of birds, mostly two pictures per plate.
Second Series / comprising / Families Anatidae to Tetraonidae 1920 (first impression) [A]4B-2A82B4; 192 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-vii[viii][1]2-376. i, Half-title; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, preface; viii, blank; 1 descriptions of species; 365, reputed British birds; 368, index. Contains plates 1-159 of which 63 uncolored photographic, 16 eggs, colored and the remaining 80 colored, of birds.
The Birds / of the British Isles Third Series / comprising / their Migration and Habits / and / Observations of our rare Vistitants 1926 (first impression). [A]8B-U8; 160 ll. Pp. [i-iv]v-ix[x]xi[xii]1-308. i, Half-title; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, flying machine (poem); vi, blank; vii, preface; x, blank; xi, contents; xii, blank; 1, introductory; 13, migration; 59British birds; 69, nomenclature; 76, migratory and other habits; 244, species and sub-species recently added; 251, birds on the British list; 300, references; 302, index. Contains plates 1-127 of which 63 represent uncolored photographs and the other 64 colored pictures of birds, here mostly one to a page rather than two as in the previous volumes.
This great minihandbook of British birds was the vade mecum of the British bird watcher for the first half of the twentieth century. The colored plates of birds were taken from Lilford's Coloured Figures… and are therefore mostly by Thorburn and Keulemans with a few by Lodge and Edward Neale. The egg plates were taken mostly from Hewitson's classic work of the mid 19th century and the photographs were mostly from works of Richard Kearton. The text was based largely on Coward's own personal experience and knowledge and covered, in a discursive way, interesting and comprehensive way, the appearance distribution and life histories of the various species known to occur in the British Isles.
The work remained in print for many years but early printings such as these are exceedingly uncommon. The first printing of the first series was issued in early 1920 and was exhausted in about a month.
Trinity, p. 66(later printings); Wood,p. 304 (later printing of second series); Yale, p. 68 (later printings); Zimmer, p. 151 (first two series only).
Later I bought a copy of the original printing of the first series. This differs from the later impression in having 1919 on the title page; in having "copyright 1919" on the verso of the title page; and in having a slip inserted and bound between the copyright page and the preface which reads: "This volume is a copy of the first Edition which was printed in December, 1919, and published in February, 1920." My set now comprises first impressions of all three series.
Handbook of the / birds of Europe / the Middle East and / North Africa / The birds of the western palearctic Nine volumes. 25.4 x 20.3 cm. Blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Endpaper maps. Pictorial dust jackets. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Volume I. Ostrich to ducks 1978(1977) Stanley Cramp chief editor K E L Simmons / I J Ferguson-Lees Robert Gillmor P A D Hallom Robert Hudson E M Nicholson M A Ogilvie / P J S Olney K H Voous Jan Wattel Pp. (10)[1]2-722. Text in double columns. First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; second: recto, title, partly printed in red; verso, copyright 1977; first published 1977; reprinted 1978; dedication to H. F. Witherby; printer designation; BAS Printers Limited, Overwallop, Hampshire; ISBN 0-19-857358-8; third-fifth recto: contents; fifth verso: blank; 1, introduction; 35, acknowledgements; 37, species accounts, Struthio camelus-Oxyura leucocephala, listing 142 species of which 122 fully described and illustrated; 701, references (more than 1800 entries); 717, index of generic and specific names; 719, English names; 720, French names; 721, German names. Contains colored bird plates scattered throughout, numbered 1-100 by Paul Barruel (11); C. J. F. Coombs (6); N. W. Cusa (43); Robert Gillmor (7); Peter J. Hayman (25) and Peter Scott (8) printed in half-tone mostly on both sides of 32 unpaginated leaves; plates 101-108 (four colored) in one section near end, depicting eggs and nest down, printed on one side of eight unpaginated leaves with letter-press for next plate on verso; numerous unnumbered text line drawings; global and western palearctic maps partly printed in red for most species; text sound-recording diagrams and moult-breeding-migration diagrams for many species.
Volume II. Hawks to bustards 1980 Stanley Cramp chief editor K E. L Simmons / Robert Gillmor P A D Hollom Robert Hudson / E M Nicholson M A Ogilvie P J S Olney / C S Roselaar K H Voous D I M Wallace / Jan Wattel Price of £30 printed on upper flap of dust jacket; pp. (8)[1]2-695(1). First preliminary leaf: halt-title/blank; second: recto, title; verso, copyright 1980; ISBN 0-19-857505-X; third-fourth: contents; 1, introduction; 3, acknowledgements; 5, species accounts, Pernis apivorus-Otis tarda, listing 105 species of which 97 fully described and illustrated; 669, references (more than 1800 entries); 689, corrections to volume I; 691, indexes. Contains colored bird plates 1-79 by C. J. F. Coombs (21); Peter J. Hayman (15); and Ian Willis (43) printed on both sides of 28 unpaginated leaves; colored egg plates 80-95 printed on one side of 16 unpaginated leaves; and uncolored egg plates 96 included in pagination and with running text on its obverse; errata slip for plate 96 inserted between it and plate 95; numerous text illustrations, maps and diagrams.
Volume III. Waders to gulls 1983 Stanley Cramp chief editor K E L Simmons / Duncan J Brooks N J Collar Euan Dunn / Robert Gillmor P A D Hollom Robert Hudson / E M Nicholson M A Ogilvie P J S Olney / C S Roselaar K H Voous D I M Wallace / Jan Wattel M G Wilson Price of £49.50 printed on upper flap of dust jacket; pp. (8)[1]2-913[914-915](1); first preliminary leaf: half-title/blank; second: recto, title; verso; copyright 1983; set by BAS printers; printed in Hong Kong; ISBN 0-19-857505-X (v. 2); third-fourth, contents; 1, introduction; 7, acknowledgements; 9, species accounts, Rostratula benghalensis-Pagophila eburnea comprising 112 species fully described and illustrated; 883, references (about 3000 entries); 907, corrections to preceding volumes; 909, indexes; 914, blank; 915, section title: egg plates. Contains colored bird plates 1-87 by Norman Arlott (5); Philip J. K. Burton (18); N. W. Cusa (25); Robert Gillmor (8) and D. I. M. Wallace (31) printed on both sides of 24 unpaginated leaves; colored egg plates 88-105 printed on one side of 18 unpaginated leaves; numerous text illustrations, maps and diagrams.
Volume IV. Terns to woodpeckers 1985 Stanley Cramp chief editor / Duncan J Brooks Euan Dunn Robert Gillmor / P A D Hollom Robert Hudson E M Nicholson / M A Ogilvie P J S Olney C S Roselaar / K E L Simmons K H Voous D I M Wallace / Jan Wattel M G Wilson Pp. (10)[1-2]3-960; first preliminary leaf: half-title/blank; second: recto, title; verso; copyright 1985; ISBN 0-19-857505-X (v. 2); third-fifth recto: contents; fifth verso: blank; 1, introduction; 2, acknowledgements; 5, species accounts, Gelochelidon nilotica-Picoides tridactylus, listing 119 species of which 113 fully described and illustrated; 924-936, references; unpaginated leaf: recto; section title: egg plates; verso; blank; 937-953, references continued (approximately 3500 entries in all); 954, corrections to preceding volumes; 955, indexes. Contains colored bird plates 1-86 by Norman Arlott (16); C. J. F. Coombs (12); N. W. Cusa (14); Håkan Delin (13); Robert Gillmor (8); C. E. Talbot Kelly (10) and D. I. M. Wallace (13) printed on 28 unpaginated leaves; colored egg plates 87-98 printed on one side of 12 leaves; numerous text illustrations, maps and diagrams; errata slip loosely inserted.
Volume V. Tyrant flycatchers to thrushes 1988 Stanley Cramp chief editor / Duncan J Brooks Euan Dunn Robert Gillmor / Joan Hall-Craggs P A D Hollom E M Nicholson / M A Ogilvie C S Roselaar P J Sellar / K E L Simmons K H Voous D I M Wallace / M G Wilson Price of £75.00 printed on upper flap of dust jacket; pp. (8)[1]2-1063(1); first preliminary leaf: half-title/blank; second: recto, title; verso, copyright 1988; typeset by the Oxford Text System; printed in Hong Kong; ISBN 0-19-857505-X (v. 2); third-fourth: contents; 1, introduction; 39, acknowledgements; 41, species accounts, Empidonax virescens-Turdus migratorius, listing 116 species of which 114 fully described and illustrated; 1026, references (approximately 3300 entries); 1053, corrections to preceding volumes; 1057-1063, indexes' unpaginated leaf: recto, section title: egg plates; verso, letter-press for plate79. Contains colored plates 1-78 by Norman Arlott (22); Hilary Burn (9); Philip K. J. Burton (1); Alan Harris (13); Viggo Ree (7); Laurel Tucker (4); and D. I. M. Wallace (22) printed on both sides of 23 leaves; colored egg plates 79-84 printed on one side of six leaves with letter-press for next plate on obverse; numerous text illustrations, maps and diagrams.
Volume VI. Warblers 1992 Stanley Cramp (deceased) / Duncan J Brooks executive editor / Euan Dunn Robert Gillmor Joan Hall-Craggs / P A D Hollom E M Nicholson M A Ogilvie / C S Roselaar P J Sellar K E L Simmons / D W Snow Dorothy Vincent K H Voous / D I M Wallace M G Wilson Price of £75.00 printed on upper flap of dust jacket; pp. (8)[1-2]3-728; first preliminary leaf: blank/blank; second: half-title/blank; third: recto, title; verso, copyright 1992; typeset by Latimer Trend Ltd., Plymouth; printed in Hong Kong; ISBN 0 19 857509 2; fourth: contents; 1, introduction; 2, acknowledgements; 5, species accounts, Cettia cetti-Regulus satrapa comprising 63 species; 696-712, references; unpaginated leaf: recto, section title: egg plates; verso, letter-press for first egg plate; 713, references, continued (about 2800 entries in all); 719, corrections to previous volumes; 725, indexes. Contains colored bird plates 1-28 by Alan Harris (9); Ian Lewington (8); D. I. M. Wallace (6) and Dan Zetterström (5) printed on eight leaves; colored egg plates 29-31 printed on one side with letter-press for next plate on obverse; numerous text illustrations, maps and diagrams.
Volume VII. Flycatchers to shrikes 1993 Stanley Cramp (deceased) / C M Perrins senior editor / Duncan J Brooks executive editor / Euan Dunn Robert Gillmor Joan Hall-Craggs / Brian Hillcoat P A D Hollom E M Nicholson / C S Roselaar W T C Seale P J Sellar / K E L Simmons D W Snow Dorothy Vincent / K H Voous D I M Wallace M G Wilson Price of £75.00 printed on upper flap of dust jacket; pp. (8)[1-2]3-577(1)(2); first preliminary leaf: blank/blank; second; half-title/blank; third: recto, title; verso, copyright 1993; ISBN 0 19 857510 6; fourth: contents; 1, introduction; 2, acknowledgements; 5, species accounts, Muscicapa daurica-Lanius nubicus, comprising 45 species; 553, references (about 2700 entries); 575-577(1), indexes; unpaginated leaf: recto, section title: egg plates; verso, letter-press for plate 28. Contains colored bird plates 1-27 by Norman Arlott (11); Kim H. E. Franklin (1); Alan Harris (7) and Chris Rose (8) printed on eight leaves and colored egg plates 28-29 printed on two leaves; numerous text illustrations, maps and diagrams.
Volume VIII. Crows to finches 1994 Stanley Cramp (deceased) / C M Perrins senior editor / Duncan J Brooks executive editor / Euan Dunn Robert Gillmor Joan Hall-Craggs / Brian Hillcoat P A D Hollom E M Nicholson / C S Roselaar W T C Seale P J Sellar / K E L Simmons D W Snow Dorothy Vincent / K H Voous D I M Wallace M G Wilson Price of £95.00 printed on upper flap of dust jacket; pp. (8)[1-2]3-899(1)(4); first preliminary leaf: half-title/blank; second: recto, title; verso, copyright 1994; ISBN 0-19-854679-3; third-fourth recto: contents; fourth verso: blank; 1, introduction; 2, acknowledgements; 5, species accounts, Garrulus glandarius-Hesperiphona vespertina, listing 81 species of which 73 are fully described and illustrated; 851, references (about 5500 entries); 895, corrections to preceding volumes; 896-899(1), indexes; first unpaginated leaf: blank/blank; second unpaginated leaf: recto, section title: egg plates; verso, letter-press for plate 57. Contains colored bird plates 1-56 by Hilary Burn (11); Philip J. K. Burton (6); Ian Lewington (9); Darren Rees (13); and Chris Rose (17), printed on 16 leaves; colored egg plates 57-61 printed on recto of five leaves with letter-press for next plate on verso; numerous text figures, maps and diagrams.
Volume IX. Buntings and new world warblers 1994 Stanley Cramp (deceased) / C M Perrins senior editor / Duncan J Brooks executive editor / Euan Dunn Robert Gillmor Joan Hall-Craggs / Brian Hillcoat P A D Hollom E M Nicholson / C S Roselaar W T C Seale P J Sellar / K E L Simmons D W Snow Dorothy Vincent / K H Voous D I M Wallace M G Wilson Pp. (8)[1]2-64(2)65-488(2); first preliminary leaf; half-title/blank; second: recto, title; verso, copyright 1994; ISBN 0-19-854843-5; third-fourth recto: contents; fourth verso: blank; 1 foreword by Max Nicholson; 5, introduction; 6, conclusion by William Wilkinson, Chairman, West Palearctic Birds Ltd; 8; acknowledgements; 11-64 species accounts; unpaginated leaf: recto, letter-press for plate 10; verso, blank; 65-371 species accounts, continued, listing 73 species, Mniotilta varia-Icterus galbula, of which 61 fully described and illustrated; 372, additional species and changes to taxonomy; 375, references (about 5500 entries); 419, errata and corrigenda for entire series; 441, indexes (for this volume); 447, combined indexes for all volumes, generic and specific names; 459, English names for all volumes; 465, French names; 471, German names; 477, Italian names; 483-488, Spanish names; unpaginated leaf: recto, section title: egg plates; verso, letter-press for plate 33. Contains colored bird plates 1-32 by Norman Arlott (8); Trevor Boyer (16); C. D. Talbot Kelly (5) and Ian Lewington (3) printed on nine leaves and colored egg plates 33-34 printed on two leaves; numerous text figures, maps, diagrams.
This work ushered in a new age for ornithological books. The age of committees, of computers, and in this case, of corporations, since incorporation was ultimately required in the financing of this massive enterprise. The fact that western palearctic birds have been studied more closely for longer than those anywhere else was a mixed blessing. It meant that an immense amount of written material was available for assimilation. In the 19th century, conscientious authors could cite every allusion that had ever been made to the ornithological subject of their study, be it a taxonomic category or a geographical area. That cannot be done by an individual today, and for a subject as grand as the almost 800 well-studied species recorded for this area, it required the organization, financing and personnel of an army. Max Nicholson describes some of the difficulties in the foreword to the last volume.
So it is that the work came to more than 7000 pages of text with double columns. No feather has gone undescribed; no plumage unillustrated; no song without a sonogram; no record untabulated; no acre unexamined; no reference uncited. And shortly after publication finally began, works of similar scope, encompassing the efforts of numerous individuals, got under way for the birds of Africa, of Australasia, of North America, and of the world.
These volumes are intended for reference and in that regard the work is superb. It is not beautiful. Although the pictures have been solicited from a squad of able artists with particular specialties, the requirements for the depictions in a small space of differently plumaged individuals together in flight and at rest have rendered the iconography utilitarian rather than attractive. I believe that the use of colored rather than white backgrounds has provided an unnecessary distraction. But every species in all its important variations as well as every egg have been capably figured. There is one exception to the strictly utilitarian aspect of the artwork; the dust jackets, particularly those by Robert Gillmor for volumes III-IX, are very appealing. Gillmor served as a kind of chief artistic executive for the work.
Similarly, the text is not one that can be read for entertainment. But if one is searching for a specific piece of information, this is the place to find it.
After the entire set was completed, it was pared down and issued in a condensed, two-volume version. In my view, that completely eliminates the great virtue of the work, its awesome comprehensiveness. It is not a beautiful work. It is not a pleasure to possess. But it serves its purpose well. The late 20th and early 21st century have subsequently been marked by a plethora of ornithological monographs and regional treatises about which the same can be said and this may be regarded as their harbinger.
ATLANTE ORNITOLOGICO / Ucelli italiana 24.2 x 17.0 cm. Pp. [i-v)vi-xi[xii](100, comprising 50 leaves with letterpress printed on verso only); 56 ll. Original publisher's tan cloth with publisher's design and panel in blind on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine. Milan, Fratelli Traves Editori, 1927.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, author's preface; ix, introduction; Contains colored plates I-L printed on recto only and not included in pagination, each with facing page of letter-press describing the illustrated 4-7 species. The sheets with letter press are included in the pagination count above but do not contain page numbers and are printed on verso only in order to face the appropriate colored plate.
This is an atlas depicting about 300 species that can be found in Italy. The accompanying letter-press by Craveri is brief covering the status of the species in Italy and the habitat in which it can be found.
I couldn't find the name of the artist responsible for these pictures. Some or all of these plates appeared in a 1922 edition of a Dutch book, Onze Vogels by P. G. Buekers
The draughtsmanship and the placing of the figures on the page is accurate, artistic and ornithologically sophisticated. However, the printing of the figures is poor with frequent errors of registration. The method used for color printing reminds me of that in the early printings of Chapman's Bird-Life. One can see colored dots as well as some areas that resemble chromolithography. Despite the presence of the dots, the method seems not to be a standard, photomechanical three or four-color process which usually displays much more patterning. In the event, I concur with Casey Wood that this is "an excellent atlas of Italian birds…
The work seems uncommon. I found it in Wood (p.305) and the on-line catalogs of Cornell and Oxford but it was absent from those of the AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Crawshay, Richard (fl. 1900-1910)
The / Birds / of / Tierra del Fuego 28.0 x 20.5 cm. [a]4b-e41-3442(-42)5-849210-214[$1, 2 signed]; 99 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xl[1]2-158. Original publisher's gilt-ruled quarter green morocco (faded) with green cloth sides. Spine with five gilt-ruled, lined raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments. TEG, foredges uncut. London, Bernard Quaritch, ,1907. Coldewey (Keulemans biographer) copy with his bookplate.
i, half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, limitation statement (300), this copy unnumbered; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, preface; xxxv, introduction; xxxvii, index; xxxix, list of illustrations; 1, systematic text. Contains hand-colored lithographed map by Stanford's Geographical Establishment, 23 unnumbered, uncolored photogravure plates of habitat (including frontispiece), printed on one side only, and 21 unnumbered, hand-colored lithographic plates by West, Newman imp. after Keulemans, all plates mounted on guards and not included in pagination. There is also a woodcut on the dedication page.
This is an exceptionally well produced, well written and beautiful book. In the preface, Crawshay presents an overview of Tierra del Fuego with emphasis on its geology, flora and fauna, including insects. He then provides a systematic description of 79 species that he saw and often collected. For each species he gives synonymy; distribution; the date, location and sex of specimens; the color of soft parts; and an interesting essay that draws on first-hand first-hand observations concerning life history, nesting, and eggs as well as on historical observations from many sources, particularly Azara, Darwin, and D'Oribigny. Quotations are always in the original language imbuing the work with a stamp of scholarship. The photogravures and colored lithographs are superb with respect both to artistry and craftsmanship of reproduction.
Wood, p. 305; Zimmer, p. 151. Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Cuvier, Georges [L. C. F. D.](1769-1832) (Guérin-Méneville, Félix E. {1799-1874})
Les / Oiseaux / Déscrits et Figurés d’Après la Classification / de / Georges Cuvier / Mise au Courant des Progrès de la Science 22.7 x 14.5 cm. Half-title, title and 72 unnumbered leaves of letter-press (save for page 6 which is so numbered) accompanying hand-colored engraved plates 1-72 (despite title page calling for LXXI). Contemporary brown half-morocco and marbled boards with four gilt raised ridges on spine, marbled endpapers and marbled edges. Paris, J. B. Baillière et Fils, 1869.
This rare and beautiful book is a reissue of the 70 ornithological plates from Guérin-Méneville’s Iconographie du Regne Animale de G. Cuvier.... Paris, Baillière, 1829-1844. The plates in both works are framed and a comparison makes it clear that the figures within the frames are absolutely identical and thus taken from the same metal blocks. However, the engraved printed material outside the frames has been altered and one wonders how this was done technically. The two extra plates for the present work, plates 11 and 16, depict respectively two Eurasian thrushes and two Eurasian warblers and were drawn by Prêtre and by Prêtre and L. Gerbe. Ronsil notes correctly in his L’Art Français... (p.46) that the coloring in this work is entirely by hand whereas the first work was printed in colors and finished by hand. Most of the plates were drawn by Guérin and Traviès although there were some by Prêtre and Bevalet. The letter-press in the present work is briefer than the text of the initial book and consists only of a legend identifying the depicted species and anatomical parts, and giving their geographical distribution. The information has been updated and the general objective, as in the original, is to give a pictorial survey of the various taxonomic groups of birds.
The paper on which the present work is printed is superior to that of it precursor and this particular copy is internally in absolutely pristine condition making it an exceptionally beautiful example. This book, although published some 35 years later, is rarer than the Iconographie..
Ronsil, 700; Ronsil, L’Art Français.. p. 46; Trinity, p. 68. Lacking from Anker, BM(NH), Bradley Martin, Mengel, Wood, Yale Zimmer. OCLC locates eight copies.
Cuvier, Georges (1769-1832) (d'Orbigny, Alcide[Dessalines][1802-1857])
Le / règne animal / distribué / d'après son organisation, / pour servir de base a l'histoire naturelle des animaux, / et d'introduction a l'anatomie comparée/////// par / une réunion des disciples de Cuvier ////// Les oiseaux. / avec un atlas, / par M. Alcide D'orbigny Two volumes. 26.6 x 18.1 cm. Contemporary gilt-ruled half red morocco and marbled boards. Spine with four gilt-ruled and decorated raised band with gilt lettering in second and fourth compartments, gilt-ruled panels in others. Endpapers coated with patterned white fabric. TEG. Library stamps on title pages. Paris, Fortin, Masson et Cie, (1836-1849). Printed by Paul Renouard. Third ("Disciples'") edition.
Texte (from volume title page) [1]4(+1)2-474[$1 signed]; 189 ll. Pp. (4)[iii]iv-v(1)[1]2-370. 11r, series title page; 11v, blank; 12r, volume title page (Les oiseaux); 12v, blank; iii, des vertèbrés en général; 1, oiseaux, introduction; 13, classification and list of birds, vultures-mergansers with brief descriptions of European birds, citations for others; 365, systematic index with reference to pages and plate numbers. Contains extra copper-engraved series title leaf printed by N. Remond with a medallion of Cuvier.
Atlas (from volume title page) π2. Pp. (4). All text and plates mounted on guards. π1r, series title; π1v, blank; π2r, volume title; π2v, blank. Contains extra engraved series title leaf and 102 engraved plates printed by Remond, numbered Vertèbrés Ovipares 1-2 and Oiseaux 1-100, each with facing sheet of letter-press printed on thin paper, verso only. Of the plates, 94 (colored) were drawn by E. Traviès; the others, one colored, seven (one double-page) uncolored, were drawn by Verner, Werner, and Orbigny. Most of the engraving was done by Guyard, Fournier and Annedouche. Other engravers included Schmelz, Victor, Visto, Oudet, Manceau, Mougeot, Bourrey, Guillard, Giraud and Legrand.
This celebrated work was published in 262 parts between 1836 and 1849. It comprised 10 volumes each, of text and plates. The ornithological section, volumes 3 and 4, appeared in 27 parts, probably between 1838 and 1843. Its text, rather superficial and mainly concerned with classification although it does cite virtually all known species, was apparently little changed from the antecedent (second) edition of 1829-1830 and was thus probably written by Cuvier rather than a "disciple". The explanations for these new ornithological plates for the disciples' edition were written by Orbigny, a disciple. This sumptuous edition was primarily distinguished from its predecessors by its content of close to 1000 beautiful plates, almost all of which were colored. The ornithological plates each contain two figures drawn by Traviès that are superbly printed in color and finished by hand. Their artistic appeal is compromised by the presence on the plates of detailed uncolored anatomical parts such as bills. This feature has protected the work from attacks by print dealers and does not detract from the attraction of the finely drawn and colored figures themselves, so perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. On page 46 of L'Art Français…., Ronsil remarks "Mais les figures les plus finement gravées et imprimés en coleurs sont, sans contredit, celles de 94 planches de l'ouvrage magistral de Georges Cuvier…". Similar accolades are awarded by Mengel, Wood and Zimmer.
Mengel, 610; Wood, p. 307; Zimmer, p. 156. Also listed by AMNH, Harvard Trinity. Not listed by Cornell. Yale does not specify edition.
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.