Archives & Special Collections G
Skip to Main ContentSoffer Ornithology Collection Notes (alphabetical by author)
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Gabler, Ambrosius (1762-1834). Fringilla Coelebs. Linn.
Gallagher, Michael (Desmond), and Martin W. Woodcock. The birds of Oman.
Gallatin, Frederic, Jr. (Auction Catalogue, Anderson Galleries). The Frederic Gallatin, Jr. collection of books on ornithology.
Gallatin, Frederic, Jr. Catalogue of a collection of books on ornithology.
Gätke, Heinrich (1814-1897)(translated by Rosenstock, Rudolph). Heligoland as an ornithological observatory The result of fifty years' experience.
Gay, Claudio[Claude] (1800-1873), (Aves, Des Murs, Marc Athanase Parfait Oeillet [1804-1878]). Historia fisica y politica de Chile....
Gee, N(athaniel) Gist(1876-1937), Lacy I. Moffett, and G(eorge) D(urand) Wilder. A tentative list of Chinese birds.
Gee, N(athaniel) Gist (1876-1937), Lacy I. Moffett, Lacy. A key to the birds of the lower Yangtse valley.
Gentling, Stuart (1942-), and Scott Gentling (1942-)(with an essay by John Graves [1920-]). Of birds and Texas. Trade edition
Gentling, Stuart (1942-), and Scott Gentling (1942-)(with an essay by John Graves [1920-]). Of birds and Texas.Limited edition
Gentry, Thomas G(eorge). Nests and eggs of birds of the United States, bound
Gentry, Thomas G(eorge). Nests and Eggs of birds of the United States, Original wrappers
Géroudet, Paul. La vie des oiseaux....
Géroudet, Paul (French adaptation) Les oiseaux nicheurs d'Europe.
Gervais, Paul (1816-1879) Atlas de zoologie ou collection de 100 planches comprenant 257 figures d’animaux nouveaux ou peu connus classés d’après la méthode de M. de Blainville
(Giacomelli, Hector [1822-1904]). Beautiful birds drawn by / Giacomelli.
Giglioli, Enrico Hillyer (1845-1909) Iconografia della avifauna Italica (print)
Gilliard, E(rnest) Thomas (1912-1965). Birds of paradise and bower birds.
Ginn, P(eter) J., W. G.(eoffroy) McIlleron, and P(eter) le S. Milstein (compilers). The complete book of Southern African birds.
Giraud, J(acob) P(ost), Jr. (1811-1870). Birds of Long Island.
Gitz-Johansen (Aage[1897-]). Mennesker og fugle men and birds.
Gmelin, Carl Christian (1762-1837). Gemeinnützige systematische....
Godman, Frederick Ducane (1834-1919). A monograph of the petrels / (Order Tubinares).
Godman, F. D. Godman collection of watercolors for Gould's Birds of Asia and Trogons
Godwin-Austen, H. H., Anderson, A. Indian birds. Collection of six offprints
(Goeldi, [Göldi] Emilio Augusto [1859-1917]). (Album de aves Amezonicas Belem, [Para], 1900-1906).
Good, A-(lbert) I(rwin) (1884-1975). The birds of French Cameroon.
Goodman, Steven M. , Meininger, Peter L (Editors). Baha El Din, Sherif, Hobbs, Joseph J. , Mullié, Wim C. The birds of Egypt
Goodwin, Derek (illustrations by Robert Gillmor). Crows of the world.
Gordon, W. J. Our country’s birds and how to know them.
Goss, N(athaniel) S(tickney) (1876-1937). History of the birds of Kansas.
Gosse, Philip Henry (1810-1888) (assisted by Richard Hill). The birds of Jamaica.
Gosse, P(hilip) H(enry) (1810-1888). Popular British ornithology....
Gould, John, (1804-1881) Loose Prints
(Gould, John, [1804-1881]), and Allan McEvey. The Birds of Australia, and the adjacent islands.
Gould, J. (1804-1881). A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and the adjacent islands.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A[bram] Rutgers). Birds of Asia.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A[bram] Rutgers). Birds of Australia.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A[bram] Rutgers). Birds of New Guinea.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A[bram] Rutgers). Birds of South America.
Gould, John (1804-1881). An introduction to the Trochilidae or family of humming-birds.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (plate by J[ohn] and E(lizabeth, 1804-1843] Gould). On a new genus in the family of Corvidae.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (biography by Maureen Lambourne). John Gould's birds.
Gould, John (1804-1881). A monograph of the Trogonidae or family of trogons.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A[bram] Rutgers). Birds of Europe.
(Gould, John [1804-1881]). John Gould's hummingbirds.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (edited and introduced by Eva Mannering). Mr. Gould's tropical birds.
Grahame, James (1765-1811). The birds of Scotland, with other poems.
Granberg, Gunnar. Bird life.
Grant, Robert F. On the structure and characters of Loligopsis.
Grant, Robert E. On the anatomy of Sepiola vulgaris, Leach....
Grant, Robert, On the nervous system of Beroë pileus, Lam., and on the structure of its cilia
Granvik, H. Contributions to the East African ornithology..Mt Elgon
Gray, G. R. (1808-1872). A fasciculus of the birds of China.
Gray, John Edward (1800-1875) (Janson, Oliver E., Tomlin, J. R., le B., Bather, F. A.). Spicilegia Zoologica / conclusion.
Gray, J. E., Gray, G. R. Catalogue of the mammalia and birds of New Guinea
Greene, W. T. Birds I have kept in years gone by
Greenewalt, Crawford H. (1902-). Hummingbirds.
Greenway, James C(owan), Jr. (1903). Extinct and vanishing birds of the world.
Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp, and Tim Inskipp. A guide to the birds of India.
Grinnell, Joseph (1877-1939). A bibliography of California ornithology.
Grinnell, Joseph (1877-1939), Harold Child Bryant, and Tracy Irwin Storer. The game birds of California.
Grinnell, G. B. Audubon Magazine
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959) (with the cooperation of the Linnaean Society of New York). Birds of the New York City region.
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959). The distribution of bird-life in Guatemala.
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959). The birds of Dutchess County
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959), and Edith V. Folger. The birds of Nantucket.
Griscom, Ludlow, and Guy Emerson. Birds of Martha's Vineyard.
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959), Greenway, James C. Jr. Birds of lower Amazonia
Gromme, Owen (1896-1991) The birds of Wisconsin
Gromme, Owen (1896-1991) (introduction by Peterson, Roger Tory; biography by Mentzer, Michael; commentary by Coopey, Judith Redline). The world of Owen Gromme.
Grönvold, H.(enrik)(1858-1940). Illustrations to the birds of South America.
Grossinger, Joanne Bapt(ista) (fl. ca 1790-1800). Universa historia physica....
Grosvenor, Gilbert and Wetmore, Alexander (1886-). The Book of Birds.
Guérin-Méneville, F. E. (1799-1874). Iconographie du règne animale.
Guillemard, F(rancis) H(enry) H(ill) (1852-1933). The cruise of the Marchesa to Kamschatka and New Guinea.
Gundlach, D. J. Catalago de las Aves Cubanas.
Guthrie, William (1708-1770)A new geographical, historical, and commercial grammar; and present state of the several kingdoms of the world. containing, /////////////////////////
Fringilla Coelebs. Linn. (Chaffinch) 49.2 x 39.8 cm(image size 45.3 x 34.6). Hand-colored engraved aquatint plate from Wolf, Johann (1765-1824) and Meyer, Bernhard (1767-1836), Naturgeschichte der Vögel Deutschlands in getreuer Abbildungen und Beschreibungen Nürnberg, J. F. Frauenholz, 1805(-1821). The plate is on wove paper and watermarked J Whatman 1801.
The magnificent folio of Wolf and Meyer, in which this print appeared, is one of the most beautiful and rarest of all ornithological books. It appeared in 30 parts and a complete copy is said to contain 180 plates although some of the 16 known copies, like that in the Bradley Martin, BM(NH) and Yale collections, contain 176 and are lacking a supplement that appeared in 1821. Most of the plates were drawn and engraved by Gabler. Wolf was the author of an earlier work (1799) Abbildungen und Beschreibungen der in Franken brütenden Vögel that was supposedly co-authored, and also published by Frauenholz. According to the dealer from whom I bought this print, it appeared in both works. However, the 1799 book, while listed by Nissen (#1005), Fine Bird Books and Engelmann (p. 400) is not present in any collection or library of which I know and I believe the alleged book may have been simply the first three parts (18 plates) of the Naturgeschichte der Vögel…
In any event, the present very rare and superbly produced print contains, in engraved manuscript at the lower right: "Ambros. Gabler pinx et sculps" and at the lower center "Fingilla Coelebs Linn. Der Buchfink 1. Mas. 2. Femina" It depicts a male (upper) and female (lower) Chaffinch and is printed on wove paper watermarked 1801. The engraving is quite elaborate and contains considerable aquatint.
The "Naturgeshichte der Vögel…" is listed in the catalogs of the Bradley Martin collection, #239; BM(NH), p. 2348; Yale, p. 189; and as "wanting" by Wood, p. 633. It is #1007 in Nissen.
Gallagher, Michael (Desmond) and Woodcock, Martin W.
The / birds of Oman 30.4 x 21.7 cm. Pp. (6)[1-2](2)3-310. Original publisher's green cloth. Flat spine with gilt lettering. Endpaper colored maps. Pictorial dust jacket. Manuscript letter and card from Woodcock to RLS laid in loosely. London and New York, Quartet Books, 1980.
First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, colored frontispiece; second: recto, title; verso, quotation from Koran; third: recto, dedication to Sultan Quaboos Bin Said; verso; copyright 1980; First published by Quartet Books 1980; designed by Namara Features Limited; printed in Great Britain by Lund Humphries, Bradford; bound in Great Britain by Leighton-Straker Bookbinding Company Limited, London; ISBN 0 7043 2216 1; 1, contents; 2 foreword by the Sultan; unpaginated leaf: recto, colored photograph of standing Sultan; verso, blank; 3, introduction; 5, acknowledgements; 7-8, colored photographic plates I-III; 9, Oman-the country; 23, Oman-the birds; 37, observing birds; 45, glossary; 47, systematic list of families and index to plates; 48, plates and text; Podiceps nigricollis-Emberiza melanocephala comprising about 372 species; 289, checklist of birds; 294, additional (new) species (two); 295, species requiring confirmation; escapes; 296, ringed birds recovered in Oman; 299, bibliography (about 140 entries); 303, index of English and Latin names. Contains: colored plates 1-120, included in pagination and printed on recto in half-tone with facing text printed on verso of preceding plate; colored text photographic "plates" (not full-page, but so titled) I-XII of habitat; colored frontispiece and portrait of Sultan; text figures 1-2 (colored graphs); uncolored half-tone plate of topography of bird with several figures printed in half-tone.
Compared with Europe and Africa, the Middle East has received relatively little ornithological coverage, both in the field and in the literature. This contribution aids in bridging the gap. It is very well illustrated by Woodcock whose bold and often scenic plates are nicely printed. Although brief, the text for each species conveys a good deal of information including size, global distribution, status in Oman, field identification, habitat, and often details of nests and eggs.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Gallatin, F. (Auction Catalogue, Anderson Galleries)
The Frederic Gallatin, Jr. Collection of Books on Ornithology 23 x 15 cm. Pp. [1-2, title, conditions of sale]3-52[53](1). Binder’s buckram, wrappers included. Anderson Galleries, sale 1551, New York, February 1, 2, 1921. Contains uncolored frontispiece of a watercolor by Audubon. Prices realized are added in pencil.
The catalogue contains 465 entries including an almost complete set of Gould, an elephant folio and two watercolors of birds by Audubon. The nature of the collection suggests that Gallatin was very interested in ornithology. Emphasis is on important and scientific ornithological works of the nineteenth century and virtually every magnum opus fitting that description is present. The prices are extremely interesting. An annotated catalogue of the collection was published privately in 1908.
Catalogue / of a Collection of / Books on Ornithology / in the Library of / Frederic Gallatin, Jr. 24.0 x 16.3 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-177[178](2, “Compiled by the Knickerbocker Book Shop”, design of Gilliss Press.); 90 ll. Contemporary morocco-backed, paper-covered boards with printed upper cover. Later paper label on spine. New York, privately printed, 1908.
1, Half-title; 3, title; 5, “The books in this library comprise..” ; 7, catalogue. Three unnumbered, unpaginated plates, each with accompanying leaf of tissue guard with printed letter-press. The frontispiece plate representing an original unpublished painting of “Morton’s Finch” by Audubon is hand-colored on a tinted background and is either a very light lithograph or a watercolor. The other plates are uncolored photogravures after an oil portrait of Audubon by F. Cruikshank and an engraved portrait of Wilson by James Craw.
Gallatin’s was one of the great ornithological collections of the early 20th century and was eventually auctioned at Anderson Galleries in February, 1921. My library also contains a copy of that auction catalogue. The collection contained not only virtually every important book on American ornithology, but also almost all of the more valuable European ornithological books including rarities such as the imperial folio issue of Elliot’s Bucerotidae. The bibliographic information in this book is scanty. There is a verbal indication of size, no indication of pagination, and an inconsistent description of illustrations.
This privately printed catalogue is rarer than the subsequent auction catalogue. The plates and printing of this volume are of high quality. The colored depiction of “Morton’s Finch” is not called for by either Wood or Zimmer and the plate is uncolored in the only other copy of this work that I have seen.
Wood, p. 351; Zimmer, p. 235. Unlisted in Trinity and Yale.
Gätke, Heinrich (1814-1897)(translated by Rosenstock, Rudolph)
Heligoland / as an ornithological observatory / The result of fifty years' experience 24.4 x 16.3 cm. [a]4b2A-2O82P4 χ11[$1 signed]; 317 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-x[xi](1)[1-3]4-599(1)(22, publisher's advertisements). Original publisher's black cloth with gilt vignette of light house on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Maroon endpapers. TEG, others uncut, partly unopened. Edinburgh, David Douglas, 1895.
i, Half-title; ii, printer designation: T. and A. Constable at Edinburgh University Press; iii, title with vignette of island; iv, blank; v, preface to English edition by John A. Harvie-Brown dated May 8, 1895; ix, author's preface to German edition dated May, 1890; note from author, dated May 14, 1895, claiming list to stand now at 398 species; xi, contents; 1, migration of birds; 149, colour-changes without moulting; 165, systematic accounts of 396 species; 589, corrections; 589, index of English and Latin names; X1r-X11v, publisher's advertisements. Contains uncolored photogravure frontispiece portrait of the author by Meisenbach Riffarth & Co., Berlin; full-page half-tone photograph of author in shooting attire, printed on one side only and not included in pagination; and 14 unnumbered sketches in the text by the author, two full-page.
This book summarizes the results of what may be the most thorough ornithological scrutiny of a small area that has ever been carried out. The author observed and recorded the birds of Heligoland for more than 50 years and, in addition, had access to antecedent records and specimens. Heligoland is a formerly British island in the North Sea that was ceded to Germany in the 19th century. It is basically a rock that is less than one square mile in area. Gätke provides detailed accounts of 395 species including synonymy, dates, abundance and anecdotal material with literature references when appropriate. The early part of the book is a treatise on migration based on his extraordinary experience.
Most of the recorded species were collected either by or for Gätke who had a remarkable museum that ultimately enabled him to win acclaim from the reputable ornithological community. This did not happen quickly. For many years he was ignored by most and maligned by detractors who refused to visit him and visualize his evidence. Eventually, Gustav Hartlaub and Henry Seebohm helped establish his credentials and Richard Bowdler Sharpe became one of his strongest advocates. There is an interesting discussion of his collection and of Heligoland in the section on the Aquatic Warbler in Sharpe's A Chapter on Birds (London, 1895). The original German edition of this book was published in 1891.
Wood, p. 352; Zimmer, p. 236. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Gay, Claudio[Claude] (1800-1873), (Aves, Des Murs, Marc Athanase Parfait Oeillet [1804-1878])
Historia / Fisica y Politica / de Chile / segun Documentos asquiridos en est Republica / durant coce años de Residencia en ella ////// Zoologia (Fauna on wrapper) / Tomo Primero Two volumes in matching binding, text, 22.7 x 14.0 cm, and atlas, 37.1 x 31.0 cm. Contemporary half black morocco, with marbled sides. Spines with four gilt raised and ruled ridges, gilt lettering in second and third compartments. Marbled endpapers not matching the marbled sides. Paris, en casa del Autor, 1847 (1854, wrapper), Chile, en el Museo de Historia Natura de Santiago. Bradley Martin copy with the bookplate affixed by Sotheby's at the time of the sale of his library.
Text volume. [1]82-318[$1 signed]; 248 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-496. 1, Half-title; 2, printer designation: Paris, Imprenta de Maulde y Renou; 3, title; 4, blank; 5, foreword by Gray dated 1847; 16, author's note; 17, vertebrates, overview; 19, mamiferos; 183, aves; 495, index of orders, families and genera.
Atlas. No preliminary leaves. Contains 25 plates, 11 (nine colored) of mammals and 14 (13 colored) of birds. All of the plates are mounted on guards.
The mammal plates contain, at the upper right, the designation "Mammalogia No" : The numbers 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 10 have been engraved whereas the other numbers have been written in manuscript. 10 (eight colored) of the mammal plates are engraved. The printing firm is Imp. de Lesauvage. The artist is Werner and the engravers are Annadouche (9) and Sebin (1). There is a single osteological hand-colored lithograph by Delahaye with the lithography and printing by Becquet Frères. The two uncolored engravings are also osteological.
The ornithological plates contain, at the upper right, the designation "Ornitologia No" save for No. 5 which has "Zoologia No". The numbers 1 and 2 are engraved, the others have been written in manuscript save for the uncolored osteology plate which is unnumbered. Nine of the plates (eight colored) have been engraved. The printing firm is Lesauvage. Werner was the artist for the osteological plated. Gay (1) and Prévost (7) were the artists for the colored engravings. Gayard (7) and Annadouche (2) were the engravers. There are five colored lithographic plates by Becquet Frères after the artist (Paul) Oudart.
According to Zimmer, the ornithological section was written by Des Murs with the field notes contributed by Gay. Gay must have had training in natural history since he wrote the mammalian section and contributed an excellent colored plate of the Many-colored Rush-tyrant. The section covers about 250 species for which it provides synonymy, local names, a description with measurements, local distribution and status and a variable discursive account. Considerable attention is paid to generic characters.
The complete work is one of the great French travel treatises and contained 28 text and two atlas volumes published 1844-1871. The atlases were colored, as here, and uncolored. Of the text volumes, eight were devoted to zoology of which this one is the first. Zimmer feels that the dating of the present text is reasonably certain as 1847[-1848] but that the dating of the atlas is unclear. For example, Fulica chilensis, which is pictured in the atlas, was not described in the text until volume VIII which was published in 1854 and contains a small amount of additional ornithological material.
Wood, p. 352; Zimmer, p. 237. Also listed for AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Gee, N(athaniel) Gist(1876-1937), Moffett, Lacy I., Wilder, G(eorge)D(urand)
A Tentative List of Chinese Birds / Part I. / From Columbiformes through Coraciiformes (actually includes parts 2 and 3, (sic)see below). 25.1 x 17.5 cm. Pp. (6 comprising three preliminary leaves including journal title leaf, journal dedication leaf and article title leaf)i-viiiIX-XII1-140(2, leaf printed on verso only "Reprint from The China Journal, 1926, 5, 261. On An Apparently New Form of Yungipicus Kuzuki From China / by / Nagamichi Kuroda)141-370 12-82 (6)[I]II-LXVII(3)LXVIII-LXXV. Original printed grey journal wrappers: Natural History Bulletin I / Chinese Birds / by / Wilder, Gee, and Moffett. / Sales Agent: China Booksellers, / Hotel de Pekin, Peking. Peking Society of Natural History, 1926(-1927).
i, Bulletin of the Peking Society of Natural History, a prefatory note; iii, introduction; vii, list of authorities; IX, introduction to parts 2 and 3 (sic!), pages 145-354; XI, abbreviations and corrections; 1, text; 355, English index; 362-370, Chinese index; 12-82, errata and corrigenda. Remaining 42 leaves comprise (from first leaf): The Peking Society of Natural History / Bulletin, 1926-27 / Volume I, Part 4. / Proceedings / Collected Papers / and / Membership List / Founded 1925.
This volume comprises the entire Bulletin I of the Peking Society of Natural History. Most, namely parts I, 2 and 3 are devoted to the important article by Gee et al., however part 4 contains other interesting material concerned with the founding of this small and isolated group of naturalists many of whom were missionaries and missionary physicians. This volume, which has a very homespun appearance, must have had a small print run and is probably quite rare. The extra leaf inserted between pp. 140 and 141 is not an integral part of the article but is appropriate and relevant to the material to which it is adjacent.
The ornithological work is important as the first attempt at a complete list of the birds of China since the lists of Swinhoe and of David and Oustalet in the 1870s. 1031 Species and subspecies are enumerated. The text is in English and in Chinese with names in Chinese "gathered from various sources". For each species, a Latin name is given in addition to these, the overall distribution is summarized and the status in China is described. Most workers on Chinese birds for the next 40 years used the numbers assigned the species in this work as the basis for their own lists.
There were 38 charter members of the Society of which Wilder was President and Gee, Organizing Secretary.
Trinity, p. 96; Wood, p. 352 (brief incorrect titles and pagination); online catalogs of Harvard University and the American Museum of Natural History. Absent from Yale, online catalogs of Cornell and Kansas.
Gee, N(athaniel) Gist (1876-1937), Moffett, Lacy I.
A Key to the Birds of the / Lower Yangtse Valley / with popular descriptions of the species commonly seen 21.7 x 13.5 cm. Pp. [i-iii]iv[1]2-221(1)[i2]ii2-xix(1); 123 ll. Printed blue wrapper (20.5 x 12.8 cm) mounted on brown card (21.7 x 13.5 cm) reinforced with red tape at corners and spine. Printed tan paper title label glued to spine. Shanghai, Shanghai Mercury Limited Print., 1917.
i, Title; ii, mounted printed list "Mohkanshan Birds"; iii, errata; 1, introduction; 5, classification; 7, systematic text; i2, index. Unillustrated
I believe that this rare volume is the first 20th century treatise on the birds of China written in English. Save for an intrepid band of missionaries, teachers and doctors, nobody was able to investigate the avifauna of this huge country between the expeditions of David and Swinhoe in the 19th century and the end of the second World War. The members of this small international community included, amongst others, Gee, Moffett, Durand, La Touche, the Caldwells, Wilkinson, Shaw and Hemmingsen. The difficulties of publication for this group were enormous. The present work may be viewed as the original and pioneer publication of this period. Wilkinson, in (p. xviii) Shanghai Birds (1929) says this work "was first published as a series of newspaper articles and subsequently in book form".
The authors tell us that approximately 400 species of birds have been recorded for the area their work encompasses, about half of those known for all of China at the time. They choose to cover the commoner of these, approximately 200. For each, they provide English and Latin names, length, a careful description emphasizing points of identification,world-wide and local distribution, details of nidification for breeders and "notes" usually dealing with some behavioral aspects. In introductory sections, they also describe the characteristics of each order and family.
The sheet mounted on ii, a list of the "Mohkanshan Birds" seems to have been something they provided to readers who asked for the information after publication of the book. They make reference to "Mohkanshan" as "the mountain" and I think perhaps it may be the mountain now known as Emei (or Omei) Shan which is an important ornithological site that arises from the flatlands of the red basin.
Absent from Trinity, Wood, Yale, Zimmer. Listed in on-line catalogs for Cornell University and the American Museum of Natural History but not that of Harvard.
Gentling, Stuart (1942-), and Scott Gentling (1942-)(with an essay by John Graves [1920-]).
Of birds / and Texas 32.6 x 25.0 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-223[224]. Publisher's brick red cloth with rectangular gilt-framed gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Yellow endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Austin, University of Texas Press, 2001.
1, Half-title; 2, colored frontispiece painted for centenary of Audubon Society in Texas; 3, title printed in red; 4, copyright 2001; first (trade) edition; ISBN 0-292-72834-4(alk. paper); 5, dedication; 6, blank; 7, contents; 9, preface by Stuart Gentling; 13, acknowledgments by Stuart Gentling; 15, of birds and Texas, Audubon and us by Stuart Gentling; 43, self-portrait with birds by John Graves; 59, dedication to the folio edition by Stuart Gentling; 61, foreword to the folio edition by Harry Tennison; 65, introduction to the folio edition by Stuart Gentling; 71, the land; 93, the birds; 193, remarques; 223, bibliography (33 entries); 224, credits: printed and bound by C&C Offset Printing Co., Ltd., Hong Kong. Contains: Ten unnumbered colored plates of landscapes and 40 unnumbered colored plates of birds reproduced from the original folio edition; 28 unnumbered colored remarque plates; colored frontispieces; six unnumbered colored text illustrations (one full-page), four after Audubon, one portrait of Audubon, and one portrait of the Gentling twins. Illustrations all printed in half-tone, most with consecutive text on obverse and all included in pagination.
In 1986, the Gentling twins, commercially successful artists, published a limited edition portfolio at $2500, containing 10 large colored plates of landscapes, 40 large colored plates of birds, accompanying text concerning each picture, and the essay by Graves. The brothers are great admirers of Audubon and tried unabashedly to copy his style in their pictures. Since they are fine artists, they were able to do this and their pictures could easily be mistaken for those of Audubon because of the grandness of their composition, their inchoate drama, and the dynamic shapes, postures and activities of their birds. The present work is a trade edition of the folio with extra material concerning the history of the original edition, as well as 28 remarques, each of which was painted into the copy of a specific early subscriber.
The text of this work suggests that the authors possess considerable knowledge of birds and of the history of ornithological art. However, the remarque designated yellow-throated warbler depicts a yellowthroat and that called a wood thrush shows a veery.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale (folio edition) and Trinity.
Gentling, Scott (1942-2011), Graves, John (1920-2013), Gentling, Stuart (1942-2006)
Of birds and Texas 71 x 56 cm. A total of 137 leaves (see below) printed on one side only of very thick matte paper and numbered [i-iv]v-xii(1, half-title, recollections of a Texas bird glimpser) 1-124, the numbers appearing only on text leaves although the 50 half-tone colored plates are included in pagination. Presented in two beige linen-covered board portfolios which themselves are contained in a beige covered board solander box with titular labeling piece on upper cover. Gentling Editions, Fort Worth, 1986.
[i], Signed limitation leaf (three authors); # 98/500; designed and printed by David Holman at Wind River Press, Austin; illustrations printed by offset lithography (color half-tone); text printed by Centaur Monotype on Mohawk Superfine paper; [ii], half-title; [iii], contents; [iv], title, itself printed in red;
Portfolio one
v, acknowledgments; vii, dedication to Audubon with round, colored portrait of him by Stuart Gentling; viii, foreword by Harry Tennison; x-xii, introduction by Stuart Gentling; [1, half-title, recollections of a Texas bird glimpser); 1, John Graves / recollections of a Texas bird glimpser;
[12], half-title, the land); 13, plate I, sanctuary, text; 14, plate I (plate and text designations are printed on text leaves only; plates contain no printed words or numbers); 15, plate II, limestone ledge, text; 16, plate II; 17, 18, plate III, deer stand, text and plate; 19, 20, plate IV, lost and found; 21, 22, plate V, red oak; 23, 24, plate VI, wild turkeys; 25,26, plate VII, snow goose; 27, 28, plate VIII, winter grass; 29, 30 plate IX, harvest; 31, 32, plate X, updraft;
Portfolio two
33, Half-title, the birds; 34, list of bird plates XI-XL; 36, dedication of portfolio; 37, 38, plate XI, turkey vulture; 39, 40, plate XII, cardinal; 41, 42, plate XIII, cattle egret; 43, 44, plate XIV, pigeon hawk; 45, 46, plate XV, American oystercatcher; 47, 48, plate XVI, wild turkey; 49, 50, plate XVII, purple gallinule; 51, 52, plate XVIII, burrowing owl; 53, 54, plate XIX, American woodcock; 55,56, plate XX, acorn woodpecker; 57, 58, plate XXI, roseate spoonbill; 59, 60, plate XXII, house wren; 61,62, plate XXIII, sharp-shinned hawk; 63-65, plate XXIV, snow goose; 66, 67, plate XXV, scaled quail; 68, 69, plate XXVI, black-crowned night heron; 70, 71, plate XXVII, barn swallow; 72-75, plate XXIII, red-shouldered hawk and a facsimile leaf of the manuscript describing it; 76, 77, plate XXIX, red-billed pigeon; 78, 79, plate XXX, bufflehead duck; 80, 81, plate XXXI, mourning dove; 82-84, plate XXXII, flammulated owl; 85-90. Plate XXXIII, great-tailed grackle; also includes a text colored illustration of the “great crow blackbird” which is a copy of the original colored illustration by Audubon for Bonaparte’s “American ornithology……”; the Gentling brothers recognized this painting in a dealer’s catalog; 91, 92, plate XXXIV, pyrrhuloxia; 93, 94, plate XXXV, rufous-sided towhee; 95, 96, plate XXXVI, purple martin; 97, 98, plate XXXVII, crested caracara; 99, 100, plate XXXVIII, mockingbird; 101, 102, plate XXXIX, bobwhite quail; 103, 104, plate XL, six (actually seven!! There is an unremarked golden-cheeked warbler) migrating warbler species; 105, 106, plate XLI, canvasback; 107, 108, plate XLII, Rivoli’s hummingbird; 109, 110, plate XLIII, road runner; 111, 112, plate XLIV, cliff swallow; 113, 114, plate VLV, chuck-wills-widow; 115, 116, plate XLVI, zone-tailed hawk; 117, 118, plate XLVII, scissor-tailed flycatcher; 119, 120, plate XLVIII, Lichtenstein’s oriole; 121, 122, plate XLIX, ring-necked pheasant; 123, 124, plate L, surf scoter.
This work contains an essay by John Graves and 40 colored prints of birds as well as ten of Texas scenery with anecdotal letter-press by the Gentlings.
The Gentling twins were successful commercial artists in Texas having been responsible for official portraits of two governors. They had a lifelong fascination with natural history, particularly a somewhat hunterly interest in birds and they much admired the works of Audubon. They recognized and provided good evidence that an unassigned painting which they bought from a catalog was the original Audubon work which eventually appeared, somewhat altered, in Bonaparte’s “American ornithology…” as Audubon’s first published picture.
The present magnificent series of prints was a labor of love for the Gentlings. They state explicitly that they have tried, in these pictures, to emulate Audubon’s style and they have been extraordinarily successful in so doing. If I didn’t know Audubon’s oeuvre, I would certainly think that he was responsible for this work. A few of the birds, particularly some in flight such as the Mockingbird, Rivoli’s Hummingbird Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Barn Swallow appear somewhat contorted, however, so did quite a few of Audubon’s birds. And it is the dynamism of the depictions that renders this work so beautiful.
Nests and Eggs / of / Birds of the United States 29.6 x 23.0 cm. No signatures. Pp. [i-v]vi-x (including chromolithographed title page)[1]2-300; 155 ll. Original publisher's maroon, gilt-ruled half morocco with beveled pebbled cloth sides. Spine with four raised ridges, gilt lettering in second compartment, gilt design in other four. Gilt decoration of hummingbird at nest on upper cover. Rehinged. AEG. Philadelphia, J. A. Wagenseller, (1880-)1882.
i, Half-title; ii, entered according to Act of Congress, 1882; iii, chromolithographed and printed title page; iv, blank; v, preface; ix, contents; 1-300, species accounts. Contains engraved portrait of author as frontispiece. Also contains chromolithographed title page with Chipping Sparrow included in pagination, four unlisted chromolithographic plates depicting eight species without their nests and chromolithographed plates I-L, so numbered in contents and in species accounts but not on the plates, depicting nests alone (9) or single species with their nests (41), after Edwin Sheppard (unsigned) and not included in pagination.
According to Zimmer, this work was issued in 25 parts, 1880-1882. The scope is unusual in that Gentry has limited the species described to 50 "representative forms." He wanted to describe their life history during their sojourn in the United States and he was particularly interested in "curious phases of bird-life which are present during the breeding-period,…" Despite the title, one of his selections is the Red-throated Diver (Loon) which does not breed in the lower 48 states. Other selections such as the Razor-billed Auk and Black-crested Flycatcher (Phainopepla) are not exactly what most ornithologists would call "representative" birds of the contiguous states. Whatever the case, his discussions of each species are copious, interesting and filled with material based on personal observation.
Most of the plates depict a single species with its nest and eggs. Apparently he had planned to present illustrations of the nests only but popular demand called for pictures of the birds as well. Therefore, there are four early plates that show two species of birds each with no nest, and nine early plates that depict only a nest. The bird omitted from the 50 plates, Chipping Sparrow, is illustrated on the title page. The plates have a certain naïve quality that is rather distinctive. The title page is the most attractive of the chromolithographs. According to Zimmer, the illustrations are by Edwin Sheppard. Presumably they were lithographed and printed by the Wagenseller firm.
Wood, p. 354; Zimmer, p. 240. Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Nests / and / Eggs / of / Birds of the / United States (c.2) (from upper wrapper). 29.6 x 23.0 cm. No signatures. Pp. [i-v]vi-x (including chromolithographed title page)[1]2-144, 157-300 (lacking 145-156). Unbound, mostly in twos (conjugate leaves) with loose upper wrappers for parts 1-3, 4-25 and 25 lower wrappers. Philadelphia, J. A. Wagenseller, (1880-)1882.
i, Half-title; ii, entered according to Act of Congress, 1882; iii, chromolithographed and printed title page; iv, blank; v, preface; ix, contents; 1-144, 145-300, species accounts. Contains chromolithographed title page with Chipping Sparrow included in pagination, four unlisted chromolithographic plates depicting eight species without their nests and chromolithographed plates I-XXIV, XXVII-L (lacking XXV-XXVI), so numbered in contents and in species accounts but not on the plates, depicting nests alone (9) or single species with their nests (41), after Edwin Sheppard (unsigned) and not included in pagination. Also lacks engraved portrait of author found in some copies. This copy lacks the text and plates for Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Red-throated Diver.
This work was issued in 25 parts but the wrappers are seldom found since most copies (as my other one) were bound by the publisher. The gray wrappers are lithographed. The external surface of the upper wrapper contains the part number at the upper left, the price ("50 Cts") at the upper right, a decorative design including a bird at its nest with eggs and a smaller bird below it on the left with the designation "Loncacre-Co." The title is lithographed with decorated letters and the name of the author and publisher is also given. At the base below the lithographed surface is printed "copyright by J. A. Wagenseller, 1881", this date on all of the parts. Indeed, the only difference amongst the wrappers for the various parts is the printed (?) part number. The upper covers of this copy are all stamped in red "Caie & Montgomery / Booksellers / and Bookbinders / 31 Johnston Building / Cincinnati, O." The lower wrapper is printed on the external surface only and presents a prospectus including the fact that there are 25 parts at 50 cents per part and that "the drawings for the work were done chiefly by Mr. Edwin, Sheppard….acknowledged as the best ornithological artist in America". Unfortunately, all of the upper wrappers are loose so the composition of the parts can't be determined. A few of the lower wrappers are still attached. A peculiar feature of this book (all copies) is that the tissue guards for the plates are all glued in a way such that the plates must be bound with the blank surface as the recto.
Wood, p. 354; Zimmer, p. 240. Also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. The Bradley Martin copy (#1570) is the only one in wrappers which I've encountered.
La Vie des Oiseaux / Les Passereaux / et Ordres Apparentés 17.0 x 12.3 cm. Part of a general series, "Les Beautés de la Nature". Delaxhaux & Niestlé, Neuchatel and Paris. Printed in Switzerland. Three volumes.
Volume I. Du Coucou aux Corvidés 1951 Pp. [1-5]6-232(4, publisher's advertisements, date [1 June 1951] of printing);118 ll. Original publisher's green cloth with black lettering on upper cover and spine, block design of hoopoe on upper cover. 1, Half-title; 2, Series (Les Beautés de la Nature) titles; 3, title; 4, copyright; 5, introduction; 9, text; 223, bibliography; 225, list of plates; 227, contents including those envisaged for volumes II and III. Contains plates 1-48 (27 colored after Leo-Paul Robert) printed on 24 leaves and not included in pagination. Also contains uncolored text figures 1-40, 37 after Robert Hainard 11 of which are full-page.
Volume II. Des Mésanges aux Fauvettes 1954 Pp. [1-5]6-316(4, advertisements and date [2 December, 1951] of printing; 160 ll. Publisher's mauve cloth with black lettering on upper cover, spine and block design of great tit on upper cover. 1, Half-title; 2, series list; 3, title; 4, copyright; 5, avant-propos; 7, text; 307, list of plates; 309, contents including those envisaged for volume III. Contains plates 1-48 (32 colored after Robert) on 24 unpaginated leaves. Also contains text figures 1-37 including 35 after Hainard (two full-page), two after Manfred Reichel.
Volume III. Des Pouillots aux Moineaux 1957 Pp. [1-5]6-293(3, publisher's advertisements for ornithological books, series titles, and date[2 December, 1957] of printing); 148 ll. Publisher's tan cloth different from volume II, black lettering on spine, block design of goldcrest with no lettering on upper cover. 1, Half-title; 2, series designation; 3, title; 4, copyright; 5, avant-propos; 6, bibliography; 7, text; 277, corrections and additions to the five antecedent ornithological publications in La Vie des Oiseaux; 279, index of French and Latin names for the three Passereaux volumes; 291, contents for this volume only. Contains 48 plates (32 colored after Robert) printed on 24 unpaginated leaves. Also contains text figures 1-38, 32 (nine full-page) after Hainard, two after Reichel and four after Paul Barruel.
This treatise, La Vie des Oiseaux, was begun in 1940 and three volumes on nonpasserine birds preceded those described here. The series was intended to describe the birds of Switzerland, France and Belgium as if the birds were French speaking! A description, measurements, and a discursive and interesting life history is presented for each species. The depth of discussion reflects the abundance of the species in these French-speaking countries. The ornithological material in the text is authoritative, interesting, and often based on first-hand observation, however, it is the graphics that distinguish this work.
"In my opinion, the three volumes of passerines contain some marvellous (sic) portraits which are among the best that have ever been done". So wrote (p. 86) the distinguished modern ornithological artist Lars Jonsson discussing Leo-Paul Robert in his Birds and Light (2002). Robert (1851-1923) has always had a passionate band of admirers who consider him a nonpareil. His masterpieces were "Les Oiseaux dan la Nature" (1878-1880) which was badly printed by chromolithography and "Les Oiseaux de chez nous" which was published in the late 1920s and early 30s by the same firm that published the present work. According to Géroudet in the introduction, some of Robert's plates in the present work had never been published whereas others were taken from "Les Oiseaux de chez nous". In the case of the latter, I noticed that only a fraction of the picture is reproduced, for example, one of two or three birds. This artwork by Robert is superb as are the text figures by Robert Hainard, a later talented Swiss artist and a friend and contemporary of Géroudet.
This work is listed for Cornell, Harvard, Yale and Trinity.
Géroudet, Paul (French adaptation)
Les oiseaux nicheurs / d'Europe Four volumes. 29.4 x 20.8 cm. Publisher's red cloth with gilt ornithological design on upper cover, gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jackets. Zürich, Éditions Silva.
Premier volume / Passereaux "4e édition 12.59"(printed on lower flyleaf). Text by Ulrich A.[lfred] Corti [1904-], illustrations by Walter Linsenmaier)Pp. (4)7-130. First preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, copyright; impression Fretz frères S. A. Zürich; second: recto, contents, plates; verso, blank; 7, introduction; 8-127(1), mounted paginated half-tone colored plates 1-60 (two of eggs) with running text on versos describing and illustrating about 160 species; 129, alphabetical index of French names.
Deuxième volume / Pics, Coraciformes, Martinets / Engoulevants, Coucous, Rapaces nocturnes, / Rapaces diurnes / Pigeons, et Gangas 2e édition 3.59 (lower flyleaf). Text by Géroudet, plates by Paul Barruel. Pp. (4)7-129[130] (pp. 129/130 is lower flyleaf). First preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, copyright; impression Fretz Frères S. A. Zürich; second: recto, contents, plates; verso, blank; 7, introduction; 1-128, mounted colored plates 1-60 with running text comprising about 80 species; 129, (flyleaf), alphabetical index of French names.
Troisième volume / Gallinacés, Turnix, Grues, Outardes / Rallidés, Limicoles, Laridés No date. Text by Géroudet, plates by Barruel; Pp. (4)7-130. First preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, copyright; impression Fretz Frères S. A. Zürich; second: recto, contents, plates; verso, blank; 7, introduction; 8-129, mounted colored plates 1-60 with running text comprising about 85 species; 129, "bibliographie" (two entries); 130, alphabetical index of French names.
Die Brutvögel Europas / Vierter Band / Seetaucher, Lappentaucher, Sturmvögel / Pelikane, Tölpel und Kormorane, Reiher und Störche / Flamingo, Schwäne, Gänse und Enten, Alken. (1962). Text by Martin Schwarz and Ernst Sutter (1914-), plates by Barruel. Pp. [1-6]7-132. 1, title; 2, copyright 1962; Druck Gebr. Fretz AG Zürich; 3, contents, plates; 4, blank; 5, introduction including references; 6-127, mounted colored plates 1-60 with running text comprising about 69 species; 128, systematic index of orders for all four volumes; alphabetical index of German species names for volumes II-IV.
This work was originally issued as a promotional tool by Silva for their confections. Coupons enclosed in their packages were exchanged for colored plates which were then tipped in by the recipients at the designated pages. Despite this unpromising background, the work is extremely nice. According to the introduction in the last volume, it illustrates, with a popular text, about 395 of the 420-430 accepted European species. Géroudet was the author of "La Vie des Oiseaux" (1940-1957), a six-volume set devoted to European birds and illustrated by Leo Paul Robert.
The pictures by Linsenmaier, better known as an entomological illustrator, are exceptionally good and some of them display highly unusual compositions and color arrangements. Barruel's plates are also very good.
The work was published in French, German, and at least the first volume in Italian. It isn't clear to me whether the French and German texts are independently written or translations, one from the other. In my set, Géroudet is credited with an "adaptation" of Corti's text in the first volume and then is apparently designated as the writer for the second and third volumes. The German language fourth volume specifically credits Schwarz and Sutter fpr the text. The first Italian volume, which I also possess, is specifically designated as a translation from the first German volume by Corti.
The first volume is usually cataloged under Corti. These volumes are all complete despite irregular pagination.
AMNH lists the first volume of Oiseaux nicheurs with the date 1956; Cornell lists the first three volumes of Oiseaux nicheurs with dates1957-1960 and the first Italian volume dated 1956; Harvard lists the first three volumes of Oiseaux nicheurs dated 1957-1960 and the first two volumes of Brutvögel Europas dated 1958-; Trinity lists the four volumes dated 1957-1962, but describes only the first three, of Oiseaux nicheurs. Yale lists the first volumes only of the German and French versions.
Atlas / de zoologie / ou / collection de 100 planches / comprenant / 257 figures d’animaux nouveaux ou peu connus / classés d’après la méthode de M. de Blainville / avec une explication / par M. Paul Gervais Text, plates and tissue guards 22.8 x 14.2 cm interleaved with blank sheets 22.8 x 15.7 cm. [1]28. [$1 signed]; 16 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-32. Near contemporary half red morocco with gilt demarcation rules, marbled boards. Spine with four raised bands, gilt printing in second and fourth compartments, double box gilt frames in others. TEG. Silk endpapers. Paris, Germer Baillière, Londres, H. Baillière, 1844.
1, Half-title; 2, list of publications from Germer Baillière Librairie Médicale; 3, title; 4, blank; 5, avertissement dated Mai, 1844; 7, explication; 7, classe des mammifères, planches 1-13; 9, classe des oiseaux, pls. 14-50; 13, classe des reptiles, pl. 51; 14, classe des amphibiens, pl. 52; 14, classe des insects, hexapodes; pl. 53; 15, classe des arachnids, pl. 54; 15, classe des myriapodes, pls. 55-57; 16, classe de céphalidiens, pls. 58-59; 17, classe des acéphaliens, pls. 60-69; 23, classe des échinodermes, pls. 70-76; 25 (misprinted “24”), classe des arachnodermaires, pls. 77-82; 26, classe des zoantheres, pls. 83-93; 30, classes des zoophytaires, pls. 94-100.
Plates 1-100, so numbered only in text, are all mounted on guards and protected by a leaf of tissue. They have been engraved on metal, printed in color, and finished by hand. Almost all of the plates were drawn by J. G. Pretre with a few by Meunier (6) and Vaillant (7). Of the 37 ornithological plates (14-50), all drawn by Pretre, 20 were engraved by Mme. Massard, five by Gayard, four by Coutant, four by Mlle. Adèle Massard, two by Visto and two by Pardinal. Most of these ornithological plates were printed by Langlois, the firm responsible for printing many of the great flower books of the era.
The title page states “Ouvrage complémentaire des dictionnaires et des traités d’histoire naturelle”. Gervais explains in the avertissement that “Les 100 planches….étaient destinées au ‘Supplement’ du grand ‘Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles’ don’t M. Pitois-Levrault commençait la publication lorsque la mort est venue le surprendre”. According to Ronsil, the “Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles..” was published by Levrault in 60 volumes, 1816-1830 with at least one supplementary volume in 1840. Gervais also tells us that most, but not all (for example, those depicting the hoatzin, kiwi and swans) of the ornithological plates were taken from Lesson’s “Centurie zoologique” and that most of the figures of “Animaux radiares” (plates 70-98) were solicited by M. de Blainville to finish his section on “Actinologie”. The remaining plates were apparently solicited by Gervais, specifically for the present work.
The scant text is, for the most part, similar or identical to the figure legends, including identifying letter press in French and Latin, a reference and location.
The plates, however, are remarkable. The printing is as good or better than that in either Orbigny’s “Dictionnaire…” or the disciples edition of Cuvier’s “Règne Animale…”, the most highly regarded of the comparable contemporary French octavo natural history atlases. Furthermore, the ornithological plates contain only a single subject instead of the two found in most of the plate leaves of the other works. While Pretre’s figures are not as lifelike as those of Traviès, they are exquisitely executed portraits.
This seems to be quite a scarce work, unlisted by Ronsil, Wood or Zimmer. This is the only copy I’ve seen in more than 30 years. OCLC locates about 20 examples.
(Giacomelli, Hector [1822-1904])
Beautiful birds / drawn by / Giacomelli 28.7 x 21.7 cm. Unpaginated. Contains 49 leaves printed on one side only as described below. Original publisher's green cloth with black and gilt impressed decorated frame enclosing mounted color plate with title on upper cover. London, Edinburgh, New York, Thomas Nelson and Sons, No date (1878[?]).
Contains title with vignette and 24 unnumbered colored plates each facing a leaf with identifying title for the plate and a related poem probably intended for children. Title and text pages each contain a wood-engraved vignette, which, with the printed material, is enclosed within a double-ruled decorative frame. The title page is entirely printed in purple, the text pages in either brown or blue. The plates contain some aquatint and chromolithography and are probably printed by a Baxter-type technique.
Hector Giacomelli was a French naturalist painter who illustrated a substantial number of French and English books containing poetry related to natural history. Most of these contained uncolored wood engravings and the pictures were often more romantic than scientific. The best known is Michelet's L'Oiseau, originally published in 1856 with many later French and English printings.
The present work contains some extremely interesting pictures of European and exotic birds. There is a stunning depiction of a ruby topaz at the nest and a beautiful series of four plates showing the Eurasian robin at the nest with young at various stages. The style of these latter resembles closely that of L. P. Robert.
The book is apparently little known and very rare. The only place I could find it listed (without any details) is the Scottish National Library where it is included as part or all of "The Queen's series of children's picture books drawn by Giacomelli (1878)". Two copies are located by OCLC.
The present copy is in poor condition save for the plates which are fine and very beautiful.
Giglioli, Enrico Hillyer (1845-1909) (Manzella, Alberto, artist)
Iconografia della avifauna Italica One print only. 49.5 x 34.3 cm. Hand-colored lithograph of Aquila di mare, Haliaetus albicilla (White-tailed Sea-Eagle) drawn by Alberto Manzella and lithographed by Litografia Benetto & Gambi, Firenze. Specie XI.
This beautiful hand-colored lithograph comes from one of the rarest of the great bird books. “Iconografia della fauna Italica” was published in 54 parts between 1879 and 1906 with virtually all of it done 1879-1894. The complete work, or at least the most complete that I could find on the internet, contains 265 plates. The last copy that I saw for sale was listed in a 1976 catalogue by David Evans and, as of now, 2008, I have never seen a copy. It was not offered at the auction of Bradley Martin’s library in 1989-1990.
This work is probably the finest of the four great Italian ornithological treatises. The others are: “Storia naturale degli Ucelli” by Severio Manetti (1723-1785) published in Florence, 1767-1776 and containing 600 hand-colored engravings; “Iconografia della fauna Italica” by Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857) published in Rome, 1832-1841 and containing 180 hand-colored lithographs, of which, however, only about 20 were of birds; and “Storia naturale degli ucelli…Lombardia by Eugenio Bettoni (1845-1898) published in Milan, 1865-1868, and containing 120 exceptionally attractive chromolithographs.
OCLC lists eight copies of the complete work.
Gilliard, E(rnest) Thomas (1912-1965).
Birds of paradise / and bower birds 24.1 x 16.7 cm. [A]8B-HH8[$1 signed, 24 letter alphabet lacking J and Q]; 256 ll. Pp. [i-x]xi-xxii(2)1-60(2)61-485(1). Publisher's green cloth with gilt rules and lettering on spine. Endpaper maps. Pictorial dust jacket with printed price of 6 gns on upper flap. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1969).
i, Half-title; ii, series title: The world naturalist, Richard Carrington, editor; in memoriam. E. Thomas Gilliard, New York, 26 January, 1965; iii, title; iv, copyright 1969; printed in Great Britain by Ebenezer Baylis & Son Limited; v, contents; vi, list of text illustrations; viii, list of maps; ix, list of plates; xi, foreword by Ernst Mayr; xvii, introduction; xxi, acknowledgments by Dean Amadon; unpaginated leaf: recto, "Part One"; verso, blank; 1, biogeography of New Guinea; 10, origin of animal stocks; 15, discovery of the home of the bird of paradise; 21, era of commercial plume hunting; 30, conservation today; 40, evolution of birds of paradise and bower birds with a suggested sequence of genera; 49-60, evolution of bower-building; unpaginated leaf: recto, "Part Two"; verso, blank; 61, introduction; 80, birds of paradise, species accounts, Loria loria-Paradisaea rudolphi, comprising 42 species; 258, bower birds, Ailuroedus buccoides-Chlamydera lauterbachi, comprising 18 species; 399, birds of paradise of Little Tobago; 415, list of ornithological explorations in the New Guinea and Molucca regions; 462, bibliography (about 225 entries); 479, general index including English and Latin names. Contains: colored photographic plates I-IX printed in half-tone on both sides of four leaves not included in pagination; uncolored photographic half-tone plates 1-32 printed on both sides of 12 leaves not included in pagination; 49 unnumbered, uncolored half-tone text thumbnails of individual species reproduced from Sharpe's Monograph of the Paradiseidae…(1891-1898) and Elliot's Monograph of the Paradiseidae…(1873); one text diagram of relationships; 22 text line maps (9.1-9.10, 10.1-10.11 and A2.1).
Gilliard, a veteran of New Guinea exploration, died shortly after completing the manuscript for this very comprehensive monograph. The coverage of each species includes: original citation; length; distribution; extensive description of plumages of both sexes at every stage; remarks; ecology; voice; analysis of display; nesting; elaboration of subspecies. In addition, there is extensive discussion of the evolution of the bizarre forms and of the elaborate bower building activities and other interesting ancillary material.
This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Ginn, P.(eter)J., McIlleron, W. G.(eoffroy), Milstein P.(eter) le S.(compilers)
The complete book of / Southern African / birds 32.0 x 24.2 cm. Pp. [1-11]12-760. Publisher's blue cloth with framed silver vignette of secretary bird on upper cover, silver lettering on spine. Pictorial dust jacket. Cape Town, Struik Winchester, 1989.
1, pictorial half-title; 2, colored frontispiece; 3, title partly printed in red; 4, copyright 1989; "First published 1989"; reproduction by Unifoto (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town; printed in Singapore; ISBN 0 947430 11 3 (standard edition); 5, publisher's note; 6, colored plate; 7, foreword by Eric Hoskings (bird photographer); 8, colored plate; 9, preface by Ginn; 10-11, sponsor logos and blurbs; 12, contents; 14, the origin of birds; 17, classification; 20; anatomical and behavioral adaptations; 27, breeding adaptations; 32, species accounts, Struthio camelus-Emberiza impetuani (species 1-887); 718, new records (10 species, irregularly numbered); 724, bird habitats and distribution; 737, selected reading list (about 74 entries); 738, glossary; 739, parts of a bird (five line diagrams); 740, acknowledgements; 741, contributors; 742, subscribers (about 1,800 for standard edition); 749, index of common names; 753, index of scientific names; 757, index of Afrikaans names; 760, uncolored map of Southern Africa region. Contains: about 1,000 unnumbered colored photographs (two double-page, 24 full-page) printed in half-tone depicing mostly individual species but some of habitats; about 40 colored figures by Graeme Arnott depicting individual species; figures 1-3, full-page colored plates dealing with classification, heads and feet of birds by Ray Holing and three other unnumbered colored figures dealing with the origin of birds; South African distribution maps for every species and five colored text maps as well as full-page uncolored map.
Although I find no inspirational acknowledgement, this volume follows very closely (even including the title) the style, format and approach first used in the Reader's Digest complete book of Australian birds (1976). The bulk of the volume is devoted to accounts, written by 36 "contributors", of about 900 species, most of which are illustrated by a good colored photograph and described superficially with respect to distribution (map), appearance, voice, behavior, food, and breeding biology. About 150 photographers supplied the pictures, some of which were taken in the extralimital range of the species.
Listed by Cornell, Yale (with 1990 copyright). Not listed by AMNH, Harvard, Trinity.
Giraud, J(acob) P(ost), Jr. (1811-1870).
Birds of Long Island 22.6 x 14.4 cm. [A]4B-C41-494504(-504)[$1 signed]; 211 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-xxi[xxii-xxiv][1]2-397(1). Original publisher's black cloth with blind floral frame design on covers. Spine with gilt lettering and gilt design of Pinnated Grouse (Heath Hen). New York, Wiley & Putnam, 1844. Perforated stamp of Syracuse Public Library on title.
i, Title; ii, registration (copyright); iii, introduction; ix, systematic classification of families, genera and species (286); xxii, errata; xxiii, blank; xxiv, illustration with two figures showing bird topography; 1, systematic accounts of 286 species, Cathartes aura-Podiceps rubicollis; 385, index of scientific names; 393, index of English names. Contains single page with two illustrations showing bird topography. Otherwise, unillustrated.
This work, and the almost simultaneous (1843) volume on birds by James De Kay in the Natural History of New York series are the first extensive regional ornithological books to be published in America. The avifauna of Long Island is amongst the most extensively characterized in the United States and this highly important book remains the basic reference point. Giraud provides synonymy, a description and a detailed discussion of status, including general arrival and departure times and, when appropriate, remarks on nesting and eggs. Griscom, writing in his Birds of the New York City Region (1923) remarks (p. 48) " Ornithological history in our territory may definitely be said to begin…with the work of Giraud and his friends on Long Island." The gilt illustration of a Heath Hen on the spine of this book bears testimony to the changes that have occurred in this avifauna of the area during the past two centuries.
The book is often said to be quite uncommon. Chapman, in his The Birds of the Vicinity of New York City (1906) writes (p. 83) "Only 200 copies of this work are supposed to have been placed in circulation". I think that figure may be a bit too low. Giraud is also the author of A Description of 16 new species.. ,(1841), a report of new birds that he found in Texas, which was controversial at the time, and is one of the rarest of American bird books.
Wood, . 359; Zimmer, p. 244. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Mennesker / og fugle / men / and / birds 30.8 x 21.6 cm. Pp. [1-4]5-64[65](1). Publisher's gray card wrappers with fine black white and red woodblock design on upper printed cover. Housed in publisher's original cardboard shipping slipcase with pasted paper labels containing red and white abstract designs on upper and lower covers. Copenhagen, Munksgaard, 1960.
1, Half-title; 2, copyright 1960; printed in Denmark; 3, title, partly printed in red; 4, blank; 5, wood engraving of bird's head; introduction in Danish; 9, introduction in English; 13, section title leaf: woodcuts; 15-62, plates; 63, titles of engravings in Danish; 64, titles of engravings in English; 65, printed by Simon Gullander, Skjern, Denmark; 500 copies only, with the original blocks cut in birchwood. Contains 24 unnumbered, uncolored (reproduced ?) wood-engraved plates (11 of birds) included in pagination with versos blank save for page number. Also contains one text wood-engraving of a bird's head.
This exceedingly unusual suite of plates is by the artist who illustrated Salomonsen's Birds of Greenland (1950-1951). It contains an introduction in Danish and English followed by a series of weirdly and uniquely impressionistic plates that are manly representations of arctic birds and peoples (Laps). There are also depictions of ancient artistic symbols that have clearly influenced the artist.
Listed by Harvard, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity. Harvard describes illustrations as "reproduction of woodcuts." The colored cover does not appear to have been reproduced by a photographic process.
Gmelin, Carl Christian (1762-1837)
Gemeinnützige systematische / Naturgeschichte / für / gebildete Leser. / Nach dem / Linnéischen Natursystem / entworfen ///// Zweiten Theils erste Abtheilung / Vögel (zweite und lezte Abtheilung / der / Vögel ). Two parts in two volumes. Wove paper. 20.0 x 12.0 cm. Fine red straight-grained morocco with decorated gilt panels on covers, flat richly gilt spine containing two brown morocco lettering pieces. AEG, marbled endpapers. Mannheim, in neuer Industrie-Contor, 1806 (Abtheilung II,1807)
Abtheilung I. π31-98χ3[$1 signed]; 78 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[1]2-144(6). π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r-π3v, foreword; 1, introduction; 20, I Ordnung, Raubvögel-Accipitres; 48, II Ordnung, Azeln-Picae; 96, III Ordnung, Schwimmvögel-Anseres; X1-X3, Legends for plates. Contains hand-colored, engraved plates (Tab.) I-XIV, XVA(folding), XVB, XVI-XXX i.e. 31 plates containing figs. 1-71.
Abtheilung II. π21-128132*4; 104 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-195[196](8). π1r, Title; π1v, blank; π2r-π2v, list of subscribers accounting for 91 copies; 1, IV Ordnung, Sumpfvögel-Grallae; 61, V Ordnung, Hausvögel-Gallinae; 90, VI Ordnung, Singvögel, Passeres; *1-*4,Legends for figures. Contains hand-colored engraved plates XXXI-LXXXVI containing figs. 72-150. i. e. 56 plates containing 79 figures.
Gmelin's primary interest was botany but he was well versed in zoology and this work is the ornithological section of a general natural history the first edition of which comprised a section on mammals as well as this one on birds. He did a second edition in 1809 which was expanded by inclusion of sections on fish and amphibia. In the present work, he provides a Linnaean overview of ornithology by defining the criteria for the various genera in each of the six original orders and then describing several or more species from these genera. The species descriptions touch rather superficially on appearance, range and habits.
Gmelin tells us that the illustrations for the first volume are by Eckert and those of the second "von den Herren Rieger". He explains that those which he designates "eigene Zeichn(ung)" are original drawings specifically commissioned for this work whereas the others have been copied from antecedent works of which he cites those of Levaillant. I recognize figures from Albin, Buffon, and Edwards as well as a sizeable number from those of Levaillant. The engraving and coloring have been superbly executed.
This is an exceptionally beautiful copy of a rare book in a very fine contemporary binding.
BM(NH), p. 684 (1809 edition); Martin, #1576 (1809 edition); Wood, p. 360 (1809 edition). Unlisted by Trinity, Yale, Zimmer.
Godman, Frederick Ducane (1834-1919)
A / Monograph / of the / Petrels / (Order Tubinares) 33.0 x 25.6 cm. No signatures. Pp. [i-v]vi-lv(1)1-381(1); 219 ll. Publisher's (?) full brown hard-grained gilt-paneled morocco with gilt albatross on upper cover. Spine with four gilt-ruled and decorated raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and fourth compartmens, albatross in other three, and paneling in all five. Elaborately ornamental gilt dentelles; marbled endpapers. TEG, others uncut. All five sets of original printed gray wrappers bound at end. London, Witherby & Co., 1907-1910.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title with monograph and petrels printed in red; iv, limitation statement, this No. 168 of 225 copies; v, dedication to wife; vi, errata and corrigenda; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, preface; xii, blank; xiii, introduction; xv, on the systematic position of the petrels, by W. P. Pycraft; xxii, blank; xxiii, classification with generic and specific keys; 1, systematic accounts of 123 species; 369, index. Contains 106 (1-5, 5a, 6-98, 98a, 99-102, 102a, 103) hand-colored lithographic plates of which 102 drawn and lithographed by J. G. Keulemans printed by Hanhart (most) and Mintern Bros.( a few) and four drawn and lithographed by H. Grönvold, printed by Witherby.
Wrappers: the upper wrapper rectos contain the title page information, part number and date; the lower wrapper versos contain the contents and plates; the internal parts of the wrappers are blank save the upper wrapper verso of part III which contains an apology for lateness due to illness of the author. The dates of the parts are: I, December, 1907; II, March, 1908; III, September, 1908; IV, April, 1909; V, May, 1910.
This is the last of the great Victorian monographs, a nineteenth century book with a twentieth century date. According to Godwin, the idea was inspired by his friend Osbert Salvin (1835-1898) who had a special interest in this group and had written the section (volume xxv, 1896) covering it for the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum. Salvin had planned with Godman to extend this work to a monograph and they had solicited most of the plates from Keulemans before Salvin's death. Godman decided to continue the task after being assured, assisted and encouraged by Richard Bowdler Sharpe, the Curator of Birds at the British Museum.
The work is fine and scholarly. Godman covers 123 species most of which are beautifully illustrated with the very careful coloring done by Sharpe's "talented daughters". For each species, Godman provides us with a bibliography comprising synonymy; a brief statement in Latin of key diagnostic points; distribution; a description in English with measurements; and a description of nests and eggs. Godman and Salvin had amassed a collection of 80, 000 skins which they gave to the British Museum so they did not lack for material. Moreover, Godman was well wired into the worldwide ornithological elite and received much correspondence.
Parenthetically, Godman had a magnificent collection of natural history books and paintings including a large number of paintings by Henry Constantine Richter and Joseph Wolf that were used for Gould's Birds of Great Britain and Birds of Asia. These were auctioned in London during the 1990s.
Wood, p. 361; Zimmer, p. 248. The work is also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
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.
Godwin-Austen, H.(enry) H.(aversham)(1834-1923), Anderson, Andrew (1808-1878)
Indian birds. Collection of offprints. 21.0 x 13.5 save Godwin-Austen’s “Descriptions….” which is 21.0 x 12.5 cm. Six coverless offprints bound together in old tanned paper wrappers. Calcuttta, 1870s.
Godwin-Austen Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol. XLV, Part II, 1876. List of the birds collected on the expedition into the DaflaHills, / Assam, together with those obtained in the adjacent Darrang Terrai Double pagination: [63]64-85; [1]2-23. Hand-colored lithographs III and IV, III undesignated (Godwin-Austen), IV, M & N Hanhart after J. Smit.
Godwin-Austen Annals and Magazine of natural History, November, 1876. Descriptions of supposed new birds from the Khási Nágá / Hill-ranges south of the Brahmaputra River, Assam Pp. [1]2.
Godwin-Austen. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal XLV, Part II, 1876 Fifth list of the birds from the hill ranges of north-east frontier of India Double pagination: [191]192-204; 1-14. Hand-colored lithographs V, VI, IX (sic), V after Smit by Hanhart, VI and IX after Austen by Maclure & Macdonald, London.
Anderson On the nidification of certain Indian birds-Part IV The Ibis 17, 2, April 1875. This is an extract unlike the others in this group which are offprints. Pp. [199]200-204.
Anderson Stray Feathers [1870s ?] Notes on a visit to the Lucknow Museum Pp. [1]2-5(1).
Anderson Stray Feathers Volume 3, 1875. On little or unknown Himalayan oology Pp. [1]2-8.
(Goeldi, [Göldi] Emilio Augusto [1859-1917])
(Album de aves Amezonicas Belem, [Para], 1900-1906)
An album bound with text and plates on mounts in half-simulated maroon leather and boards with floral motif. The album contains chromolithographic plates numbered 1-48 on card, each plate signed E. Lohse in the image and with an overlying sheet of tissue containing identifying letter-press. Included also are 22 unpaginated leaves as follows: I. / Wiederholung / der auf den losen Deckblätter befindlichen Erklärungen des / jeweiligen Tafelinhalts (also in Portuguese): 10 leaves, the first containing just the above title with blank verso, eight printed leaves, and the last leaf entirely blank.
II. / General-Register / zu den wissenschaftlichen Namen (also in Portuguese: four leaves, the first containing just the above title with blank verso, two printed leaves, and the last leaf entirely blank.
III. / General-Register / zu den volkstümlichen Benennungen (also in Portuguese): four leaves, the first containing just the above title with blank verso, two printed leaves, and the last leaf entirely blank;
Anleitung / zu einer / definitiven Numerierung der Tafeln / nach systematischen Gesichtspunkten zum Zwecke des Einbinderns (also in Portuguese): four leaves, the first containing just the above title with blank verso, two printed leaves, and the last leaf entirely blank.
The album was issued in three parts contained in printed portfolios, 1900, 1902, and 1906, containing respectively 12, 12 and 24 colored plates intended to supplement the author's text, Aves do Brazil (Rio de Janeiro,1894-1900). Zimmer describes that the first two portfolios were issued without printed text but that the third contained "title, pp. 1-46 +1 l., 12 ll. (9 printed)." The description of the text issued with the atlas by Anker includes precisely the sections I have noted above.
The first preliminary section described above contains the legends repeated on the overlying tissue guards for the plates including the name of each illustrated species in Latin and Portuguese and a reference to it in Goeldi's text. The second preliminary section contains an index of the Latin names referenced to the plates. The third section contains an index of the Portuguese names referenced to the plates. The last section provides a systematic sequence of the plates in Roman numerals referenced to the provisional sequence in Arabic numerals. The plates here contain only Arabic numerals and are bound in the provisional sequence. These plates were done by Ernst Lohse, a Swiss artist and museum draughtsman, and printed by the Polygraphisches Institut, Zürich (Anker.) Save for plate 10 which is somehow an adapted chromolithograph from a photograph of Scarlet Ibises, each shows up to 10 species in an appropriate tropical environment. The pictures are quite unlike any others I have seen, and, while not "fine", are rather pleasing. They depict around 420 species and for more than half a century, this was the most comprehensive atlas of Brazilian birds.
Anker, #165; Wood, p. 361; Zimmer, p. 248-249. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Good, A-(lbert) I(rwin) (1884-1975)
The Birds / of French Cameroon Parts I and II. 28.0 x 22.7 cm. Original printed cream and blue wrappers. Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire, Centre du Cameroun. Série: Sciences Naturelles No 2 (3). (Dakar), 1952 (1953[but 1954]).
Part I. (Nonpasseres) Uncut. [1]82-138[$1 signed]; 104 ll. Pp. [1-11]12-203[204-206](2, blank). 1, Blank; 2, blank; 3, half-title; 4, blank; 5, title; 6, blank; 7, avertissement (notice in French); 8, blank; 9, acknowledgement of antecedent books from which illustrations are taken; 11, preface; 19, map; 20, blank; 21, systematic text covering species 1-339; 187, index (scientific); 191, index of families; 193, English names; 197, French names; 201, native names; 205, date of printing, 10 September, 1952; 206, blank. Contains uncolored map included in pagination and uncolored text figures 1-52 from antecedent works on West African birds.
Part II. (Passeriformes) Uncut and unopened. [1]82-178; 136 ll. Pp. [1-7]8-269[270-272]. 1-2, Blank; 3, half-title; 4, blank; 5, title; 6, blank; 7, systematic text covering species 340-748; 195, addenda to volume I (11 new species, many new localities); 205, other birds (183) likely to be found in Cameroon; 239, bibliography; 243, index of scientific names; 249, index of families; 251, English names; 259, French names; 267, native names; 271, date of printing, 13 January, 1954. Contains text figures 1-19.
This remarkable book was written by an American missionary and published by a French organization with offices in Douala and, apparently, printing and publishing facilities in Dakar. The work lists 748 species and subspecies as occurring in French Cameroon and for each provides a brief description with measurements, a summary of local distribution, and anecdotal observations by the highly knowledgeable and experienced author, apparently a good friend of Chapin and Oberholser. It is quite extraordinary that the English text was printed by a French provincial press. Although it is present in most major libraries, the work is very difficult to acquire and was probably published in a very small print run. It is one of the early comprehensive works on West African avifauna and still the first and only one devoted to Cameroon.
Listed in on-line catalogs for AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Smithsonian. Volume I only listed for Yale. Lacking from Trinity.
Goodman, Steven M. , Meininger, Peter L (Editors). Baha El Din, Sherif, Hobbs, Joseph J. , Mullié, Wim C.
The birds / of / Egypt 24.5 x 18.8 cm. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xxi(1)[1-3]4-551(1). Publisher’s blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Uncolored endpaper maps, the upper one printed upside-down. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 1989.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright (the authors); ISBN 0-19-857644-7; printed in Great Britain by the Alden Press, Oxford; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, contents; ix, figures; xiii, tables; xv, preface; xvii, acknowledgements; 1, part 1; 3, introduction; 22, geography; 67, nature conservation; 75, bird hunting; 96, responses of birds to changing environments; 111, part 2; 113, the birds of Egypt (421 species); 481, appendix 1, species rejected; 491, appendix 2, gazetteer; 509, references (more than 700); 536, scientific names; 542, English names; 546, “official” Egyptian Arabic names (transliterated); 549, “official” Egyptian Arabic names (Arabic script). Contains half-tone colored plates 1-6 illustrating 41 species after Baha and an introductory leaf printed on glossy paper and not included in pagination. Also contains 70 text figures including graphs, maps and photographs numbered separately for the various sections.
This work summarizes in great detail the various changes in Egyptian ornithology since the publication of Nicoll’s Birds of Egypt by Meinhartzhagen in 1930. The current local status of each species is extensively elaborated with numerous detailed maps. The work is not a handbook and does not deal with identification or life histories of the various species.
OCLC lists almost 150 locations.
Goodwin, Derek (illustrations by Robert Gillmor)
Crows of the / world 27,3 x 21.4 cm. Pp. [i-iv]v-vi1-354; Original publisher's green cloth, gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket with original price fo $28.50 on upper flap. Ithaca, Comstock Publishing Company, a division of Cornell University Press, in cooperation with the British Museum (Natural History), 1975.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title with vignette; iv, copyright; "First published 1976 by Cornell University Press"; ISBN 0-8014-1057-6; printed and bound in Great Britain by Unwin Brothers Limited, The Grasham Press, Surrey; v, list of colour plates; 1, introduction; 3, acknowledgements; 5, nomenclature; 9, adaptive radiation; 13, plumage and coloration; 19, behavior; 60, man and crows; 63-345(1), systematic generic and specific accounts, Corvus monedula-Platylophus galericulatus, comprising about 116 species; 347, index of common names; 351, scientific names. Contains: plates 1-3 displaying 22 species printed on one side only in color half-tone, the leaves not included in pagination; paginated facing letter-press contains running text on obverse; text figures D1-D8 showing presumed generic and intrageneric relationships; approximately 67 unnumbered text line drawings; unnumbered text distribution maps for all species.
This work is a very comprehensive monograph on crows, jays and their relatives. There are long technical essays on the various genera followed by exhaustive species accounts that include sections on the following : a distribution map; a detailed description of all plumages; field characters; habitat; feeding and general habits; nesting; display and social behavior; other names; references. Oddly, there are no measurements.
This work is listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale. A second edition was published in 1986.
Our Country’s Birds and how to Know them. A Guide to all the Birds of Great Britain. 19.6 x 14.2 cm. A-K8 plus inserted leaf of advertisement[$1,2 signed]; 80 ll. plus advertisement leaf. Pp. [i-ii]iv-v[vi]vii[viii][1]-6[7]8-10[11]12-14[15]16-28[29]30-39[40]41-42[43]44-54[55]56-61[62]63-74[75]76-130[131]132-139[140]141-152 plus advertisement leaf. Original decorated cloth. Day & Son and Simkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., London (1892). Contains 33 chromolithographic plates depicting 398 species and several text illustrations by G. Willis and R. E. Holding.
Peter Tate remarks about this book in his A Century of Bird Books (p. 179); “A bird recognition book which might qualify as the first rudimentary field guide is Our Country’s Birds...“ He includes a reproduction of one of the plates in his work. Like Wood, Zimmer and myself, he considers these pictures pretty bad. However, this is the first work that illustrates every species of an area, that can be taken into the field, and that is devoted almost entirely to identification. So it is certainly reasonable to consider it the first field guide.
Gordon seems to have been a competent jack-of-all-trades and this intelligently and knowledgeably written book was one of his “Our Country’s..” series. Zimmer’s copy contained “Nineteenth thousand” on the title page so the work was common and reprinted. Yale also lists a presumably later copy under the imprint "Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co " omitting Day & Son. Freeman (No. 1364) describes the book as "Day, London [1892]". My example lacks a date of publication or copyright and is probably an early issue. The work is said to have first been published in 1892. A facsimile of the book entitled Birds of the British countryside was published in 1988 in the "Country Heritage Series" by Omega
Wood, p. 363; Yale, p. 111(later issue); Zimmer, p. 249(later issue). Unlisted in Trinity catalogue.
Goss, N(athaniel) S(tickney) (1876-1937)
History / of the / Birds of Kansas 25.1 x 17.2 cm. Pp. [1-5]6-692[693-694]; 347 ll. Original red pebbled cloth with panels in blind, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine. Marbled edges, patterned endpapers. Privately published, Geo. W. Crane, Printers & Binders, Topeka, 1891.
1, Title; 2, copyright; 3, dedication; 4, illustration, topography of a bird; 5, explanations; 6, text; 661, additions; 663, glossary; 685, index to scientific names; 689, index to popular names; 693, index to plates. Contains uncolored photogravure plates I-XXXV depicting 529 stuffed specimens. These plates are printed on 35 leaves not included in pagination.
This important early book on midwestern American birds covers 343 species and subspecies. The descriptions (specific characters) are taken from other works, mostly from Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, but the remainder of the voluminous text is original and reflects enormous knowledge and experience pertaining to species not necessarily nesting or common in Kansas. The information for each species includes status in Kansas, overall distribution, description, and various aspects of life history including behavior as well as nests and eggs. The author and his brother, to whom the book is dedicated, maintained large ornithological and oological collections. The photogravure plates each show multiple examples of specimens from the author's collection. They are neither artistic nor helpful for purposes of identification. However, this method of presentation is decidedly unusual and perhaps of interest on this account.
Trinity, p. 100; Wood, p. 363; Yale, p. 111; Zimmer, p. 250.
Gosse, Philip Henry (1810-1888) (assisted by Richard Hill)
The / birds of Jamaica 18,.8 x 12.3 cm. [A]6(-1)B-T12U10(-U10)[$1, 2, 5 signed]; 230 ll. Pp. (2)[i-ii]iii-iv, [vii]viii-x (complete; pp. v/vi omitted by printer's error)[1]2-447[448](2, publisher's advertisements). Later marbled boards with white paper lettering piece on spine. TEG. London, John Van Voorst, 1847.
A1r, Half-title; A1v, blank; i, title; ii, printer designation: London: S. & J. Bentley, Wilson, and Fley; iv, preface; v, synopsis of the birds of Jamaica; 1, systematic accounts of almost 200 species, Cathartes aura-Podiceps Dominicus; 445, index of English names; 448, printer designation. Contains errata slip inserted at x/1.
This is an extremely important book as it is the first comprehensive treatment of Jamaican birds and provides the basis for modern Jamaican ornithology. Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), the founder of the British Museum and mentor of Catesby and Edwards, had touched upon the subject in his A voyage to the islands….(1707-1725). Gosse spent 18 months in Jamaica and was fortunate in having the assistance of Hill, a permanent resident of the island, who must have been an extremely able ornithologist. Gosse was later to become a prolific author and popularizer of natural history however, the present work is a study of considerable substance. Virtually all the information it contains was completely new, including several species, and both Gosse and Hill made copious observations and kept meticulous notes. For each species, Gosse provides the original nomenclature with synonymy, a description with measurements, and often a considerable life history. Gosse produced a complementary atlas volume (Illustrations of the birds of Jamaica) containing 52 very good hand-colored lithographs in 1849. This was certainly the ornithological phase of his life for in 1849 he also published Popular British Ornithology.
Wood, p. 363; Zimmer, p. 250. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Gosse, P(hilip) H(enry) (1810-1888)
Popular / British ornithology; / a familiar and technical / description of the birds / of the / British Isles 16.1 x 12.6 cm. [A]2B-X8χ6[$1, 2 signed]; 168 ll. Pp. [I-iii]iv[1]2-320(4)12-82. Later blind roll-ruled quarter turquoise morocco and marbled boards by Starr Bookworks. Spine with five blind-ruled raised bands, gilt red morocco lettering pieces in second and fourth compartments. London, Reeve, Benham, and Reeve, 1849.
i, Title; ii, printer's imprint: Reeve, Benham and Reeve; iii, preface; 1, species accounts (about 190) in monthly framework; 298, systematic arrangement; 311, English alphabetical index; 316, Latin alphabetical index; X1r-X6v, publisher's advertisements. Contains hand-colored lithographic frontispiece and plates I-XIX, drawn and lithographed by Gosse, printed by Reeve, Benham, and Reeve. The section of advertisements includes sample hand-colored lithographic plates of plants for Popular field botany, of butterflies for Popular British Entomology, and of algae for Popular British Algology, those for the latter two drawn respectively by W. Wing and by Fitch.
This little volume on British birds was intended for " young naturalists….incipient ornithologists." (p. iii). There are separate chapters for each month starting with an essay and including discussions of birds that are particularly noticeable in that month. The birds are arranged systematically within each month and for each species, Gosse provides a description, a length measurement, approximate date of arrival, and information about the song, nest, and eggs. The final chapter provides a synoptic overall classification. The book was reprinted in 1853.
Gosse, a prolific author and popularizer of natural history, is discussed at some length by Peter Dance in (pp. 196-200) The art of natural history (1978). He was schooled in the art of miniature painting so it is not surprising that his pictures here and in Illustrations of the birds of Jamaica, published by Reeve, Benham, and Reeve the same year as this volume, are good. He seems, at this point in his career, to have been especially interested in birds, but he was later to be much better known for his books on marine life and his best known book is probably The aquarium (1854). He was a deeply religious man and wrote a number of books on natural history that were published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Wood, p. 363. Also listed by AMNH, Trinity Yale. Amongst these, only AMNH lists this first printing. The others list that of 1853. Not listed by Cornell, Harvard, Zimmer.
Gould, John (1804-1881)
Gould, J.(ohn)(1804-1881). &. E.(lizabeth)(1804-1841) lithog. Printed by C. Hullmandel. Three (of four) hand-colored lithographs , 31.8 x 24.5 cm, from “On the quails and hemipodii of India” by Lieut.-Colonel William Henry Sykes (1790-1872) in Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, II, 1-24, 1841 (Communicated April 14, 1835.)
Pl 1, Coturnix erythrorhyncha
Pl 2, Coturnix Argoondah
Pl 3 Coturnix Pentah
The images are all of natural size.
(Gould, John) Three hand-colored lithographs, probably proof prints, from “The zoology of the voyage of H. M. S. Sulphur under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher during the years 1836-1842 Birds” by John Gould, Parts III and IV, London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1843, 1844. These prints are on soiled paper and their versos contain unrelated, uncolored lithographs. There are no mechanically printed words on the present colored prints but there is some identifying manuscript printing.
Pl 20 Pipra Lineatis 31 x 20.4 cm. (natural size)
Pl 28 Pteroglossus Erythropygius 30.4 x 20.7 cm (1/2 natural size)
Pl 30 Pterocles Personatus 27.9 x 22.0 cm. (1/2 natural size)
The Goulds furnished a total of 16 colored plates for this work.
Gould, John (1804-1881)
Three exceptionally fine hand-colored lithographs from works by Gould that are mounted in 24 x 20" mats. The prints are on wove paper, 56 x 38 cm. They are Calyptorhynchus funereus and Callocephalon galeatum (Black and Gang-gang Cockatoo), plates 11 and 14, volume V, The Birds of Australia[1840-1848]), and the hummingbird, Eucephala hypocyanea (plate 334, volume V, A Monograph of the Trochilidæ....[1849-1861]). All are designated J. Gould and H. C. Richter del. et lith., Hullmandel & Walton, Imp.
(Gould, John, [1804-1881]), and Allan McEvey.
The / Birds of Australia, / And the adjacent Islands 542 x 365 mm. Pp. One unnumbered initial explanatory leaf, 64 unnumbered, exact facsimile leaves and pp. [i-v]vi1-13(3, blank); 76 ll including final blank leaf). Original publisher's beige buckram with oval portrait of Gould on upper cover surrounded by maroon leather panel and exterior sepia design. Sepia lettering on spine. Sepia, faux leather-patterned end papers. Melbourne, Lansdowne Editions, 1979.
The facsimile is printed on ivory paper whereas the section by McElvey is printed on white paper. The initial leaf is on white paper and is an explanatory note describing the facsimile nature of the volume. There follow 64 leaves containing the two title pages, two final blanks, and coverage of 20 species (ten per part) on 60 leaves comprising a colored plate, a blank leaf, and a page of text with blank verso for each species. There is also a slip "NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS" inserted after the title leaf of the part II. McEvey's section follows: i, Title without publisher; ii, blank; iii, title with publisher; iv, copyright and publisher's note; v, contents; vi, explanatory note; 1, appendix A, historical and bibliographical aspects of the "cancelled parts"; 8, appendix B, table of nomenclature and concordance of cancelled parts with Gould's "Synopsis.." and later "Birds of Australia"; 10, appendix C, recorded copies; 11, appendix D, recorded loose plates; 12, appendix E, recorded drawings; 13, limitation statement #285/500, McEvey signature. Contains 20 unnumbered facsimile colored plates after J. and E. Gould save for the Cormorant ("Phalacrocorax..") after E. Lear and the Cockatiel ("Nymphicus…") after I. (sic) and E. Gould copied from a drawing by E. Lear. Also contains two photographs of pages of Gould's original manuscript concerning this work.
This is a very handsome facsimile of by far the rarest of Gould's folio volumes. Gould produced his large octavo "Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and the adjacent Islands" as well as the present folio before he actually went to Australia. When he returned and began his major folio opus on the Birds of Australia. , he cancelled these two parts and replaced them with the relevant parts of the new and comprehensive work that was to earn him the sobriquet of "Father of Australian Ornithology". Nine of the 20 prints first issued in the cancelled parts were also used for the larger work.
The present facsimile was done by Lansdowne during the period when the press was producing its finest ornithological works and the quality of the production is high. McEvey, who assembled the scholarly text material, was Curator of Birds at the National Museum of Victoria.
Cornell lists neither the original nor the facsimile. AMNH, Harvard and Yale list only the original folio whereas Trinity lists the facsimile but lacks the original. In more than 20 years, I have only seen four copies of the original for sale.
A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and the Adjacent Islands 27 x 18 cm. 2 Preliminary leaves (title, contents for each of four parts, I and II issued in January, 1837 and III and IV issued in April, 1838) followed by 73 leaves of letter-press, each opposite a hand-colored lithographic plate depicting the head of one or more species, followed by four leaves (pp. [1]2-8) containing “ Descriptions of new species of Australian birds. Principally in the author’s collection, with characters of several new genera.” This latter being the first appearance in print (preceding that in the Society’s own Proceedings) of a report read before the Zoological Society on December 5, 1837. Contemporary half green morocco with green pebbled cloth sides, marbled end papers, and five raised bands on gilt-decorated spine by Blunson & Co. AEG. London, by the author, 1837-1838. White call number on spine and book plate of the Free Public Library of Worcester.
This is an exceedingly important work because it describes many new species from Australia for the first time. The material for each of the 168 species is restricted to a colored portrait of the head by Mrs. Gould, a description of its external characteristics and, if not new, its synonymy. The appendix describes additional new species. Gould received many or all of these from two of Mrs. Gould’s brothers, whose adventures in Australia were the initial inspiration for his own interest. He started this Synopsis before beginning the so called “canceled parts”, his first, and abortive folio on the birds of Australia. After having finished the Synopsis and those two parts of The Birds of Australia and the Adjacent Islands, he realized that he would have to go to Australia in order adequately to describe its birds. This eventually resulted in his greatest folio work, The Birds of Australia, and the recognition of him as the “Father of Australian Ornithology”. He represents to Australian ornithology exactly what Audubon does to that of America. He was not exactly the first to describe its birds (antecedent relevant works by White, Phillips, Shaw, Latham and Lewin), but he certainly produced the greatest and most enduring work on its avifauna.
Wood, p. 364; Yale, p. 112; Zimmer, p. 254. Unlisted in Trinity catalogue.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A.[bram] Rutgers)
Birds of / Asia 24.3 x 18.0 cm. Pp. (10)[1]2-321(1). Publisher's gray cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. London, Methuen & Co Ltd, 1969.
First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, "First published in Great Britain 1969.."; copyright 1968 by N. V. Vitgeverij Littera Scripta Manet, Gorssel, Holland; printed in Holland; third-fifth preliminary leaves, contents; 1, brief biographies of Gould and Rutgers with a few words about the original Birds of Asia; 2-321, plates and text. Contains 160 colored plates printed on both sides of 80 leaves in half-tone with facing pages of text, all included in pagination.
The original birds of Asia was published in 35 parts, 1850-1883 (finished by R. B. Sharpe) and contained 530 hand-colored lithographs after Henry Constantine Richter, William Hart and Joseph Wolf. Some of the spectacular plates of pheasants by the latter are reproduced here.
This is the third title in this series of volumes reproducing many of the plates from the works of Gould. As in the others, Rutgers supplied the current nomenclature and a brief essay about each species.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by Abram Rutgers).
Birds of / Australia 24.5 x 18.2 cm. Pp. (10)[1]2-321(1). Publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. London, Methuen & Co Ltd, (1967).
First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, copyright 1967 by N. V. Vitgeverij Littera Scripta Manet, Gorssel, Holland; printed in Holland; Third-fifth preliminary leaves: contents; 1, brief biographies of Gould and of Rutgers; 2-321, plates and text. Contains 160 unnumbered colored plates printed in half-tone on both sides of 80 leaves with facing page of text, all included in pagination.
This is the second title in the series, made and originally published in Holland, that reproduces many of the hand-colored lithographs from Gould's works. Gould's Birds of Australia was published in 36 parts, 1840-1848, with a supplement in five parts, 1851-1869. The first work contained 600 plates after Elizabeth Gould and Henry Constantine Richter, the supplement 81 after Richter.
This book is similar in format to the antecedent volume on Birds of Europe (1966). It differs in that Rutgers's first name is spelled out on the title page and page one contains brief biographies of Gould and of Rutgers. This work was issued by some publishers in two volumes instead of one.
Current nomenclature and a brief text for each species are supplied by Rutgers.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity. Not listed by Yale.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A[bram] Rutgers)
Birds of / New Guinea 24.3 x 18.0 cm. Pp. (10)[1]2-321(1). Publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. London, Methuen & Co Ltd, 1970.
First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf: recto, title, verso, "First published in Great Britain 1970.."; copyright 1966-1970 (the four series volumes) by N. V. Vitgeverij Littera Scripta Manet, Gorssel, Holland; printed by Drukkerij Ened, Holland; third-fifth preliminary leaves: contents; 1, brief biographies of Gould and Rutgers with a few notes about the original work for this volume; 2-321, plates and text. Contains 160 unnumbered colored plates printed in half-tone on both sides of 80 leaves with facing text pages, all included in pagination.
The original work, finished by R. B. Sharpe, was published in 25 parts, 1875-1888 and contained 320 hand-colored lithographs after William Hart. The large number of parrots and birds of paradise render it among the more striking of Gould's titles.
This the fourth of the series reproducing many of the plates from the works of Gould with current nomenclature and a short text for each species by Rutgers, a Dutch ornithologist and specialist in aviculture.
Listed by Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by AMNH.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (text by A[bram] Rutgers).
Birds of / South / America 24.4 x 18.4 cm. Pp. (10)[1]2-321. Publisher's bright orange cloth, gilt lettering to spine. London, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1972.
First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, "First published in Great Britain in 1972.."; copyright 1966-1972 (the entire series) by N. V. Vitgeverij Littera Scripta Manet, Gorssel, Holland; printed by Drukkerij Ened, Holland; third-fifth preliminary leaves, contents; 1, brief biographies of Gould and Rutgers with part titles of works from which pictures for this volume are were reproduced; 2-321, plates and text. Contains 160 unnumbered colored plates printed in half-tone on both sides of 80 leaves with facing text pages, all included in pagination.
Gould did not publish an area treatise on the birds of South America but did treat many South American birds in his family monographs. The plates (160) in this volume come from hand-colored lithographs in the following works:
Monograph of the Odontophorinae or family of American partridges, published in three parts, 1844-1850, with 32 colored plates after Henry Constantine Richter (12).
Monograph of the Trochilidae or family of humming-birds, published in 25 parts, 1849-1861, with 360 plates after Richter, and Supplement, finished by R. B. Sharpe, published 1880-1887, with 58 plates after William Hart (80).
Monograph of the Rhamphastidae or family of toucans Second edition, published in four parts, 1852-1854, with 51 colored plates by Richter (47).
Monograph of the Trogonidae or family of trogons Second edition, published in four parts, 1858-1875, with 47 colored plates after Richter and Hart (21)
The entire five volume series, Birds of Europe, Birds of Australia, Birds of Asia, Birds of New Guinea, and Birds of South America contains 800 colored plates, about a quarter of Gould's entire opus. The pictures give but the slightest hint of the magnificence of the originals. They were reproduced without the printed matter identifying the various responsible craftspeople which detracts from their usefulness. Never-the-less, they do give some idea of the scope, beauty, and technical excellence of Gould's works.
This volume listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity. Not listed by Yale.
An / Introduction / To / The Trochilidae / Or / Family of Humming-Birds 21.7 x 12.7 cm. [A]4B-Q8P4R2(sic)[$1, 2 signed]; 114 ll. Pp. (8)[I]ii-iv[1]2-216. Original red cloth with blind decorations and gilt title on upper cover. London, printed for the author by Taylor and Francis, 1861.
A1, Half-title; A2, title; A3, dedication; A4, notice; i, preface; 1, introduction (text); 183, bibliography; 189, list of generic and specific names; 195, index of specific names; 213, prospectus of Gould’s works. Inscribed in ink on title page: “D. G. Elliot Jr presented by the Author Sept 8th, 1866”.
Gould published his masterful monograph on hummingbirds in 25 parts from 1849-1861. The last part contained introductory matter and represented a kind of synopsis of the entire work. In the “Notice” of this little book, he remarks of this part “Believing that..it might be…useful to many of my scientific friends and others, I have had a limited number of copies printed for distribution among them”. I believe that virtually all were inscribed presentation copies, or so it would seem from this one and those described by Ripley, Wood and Zimmer as cited below. This copy has many pencil annotations that may have been Elliot’s. In addition, laid in are several loose sheets of hand-made paper containing various ornithological notes. An accompanying leaf of modern machine-made paper contains a note that these are not in Elliot’s handwriting.
This is a very defective copy that I bought at an auction where I did not have sufficient time to examine it other than to see the presentation inscription to Elliot. It is lacking the leaf containing pp. 193-194 and the index of specific names is badly and oddly mutilated with many entries having been excised in an apparently specific manner. Other pages including the front free endpaper are loose.
Wood, p. 365; Yale, p. 216; Zimmer, p. 261.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (plate by J[ohn] and E(lizabeth, 1804-1843] Gould)
On a new genus in the family of Corvidae 28.6 x 22.0 cm. (M)4(-M1-3)N4(-N2-4)[$1, {2}, signed]; two leaves. Pp. 87-90. Contains plate 12, J. & E. Gould del et lith. Printed by C. Hullmandell. Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1: 87-90, 1835. Read May 14, 1833. This extract is included in a volume entitled "Natural History Miscellany" bound in late 20th century half brown calf over marbled boards.
This is the original description of Dendrocitta leucogastra, the white-bellied, or southern treepie and the first elaboration of the genus Dendrocitta which had hitherto been encompassed within the genus Pica. It contains the second of six plates that the Goulds were to publish in this journal. According to Root and Johnson, page 345 of Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. An index to the artists(1986), there is a different version of this plate with the identical image but neither signed in the image nor designated as being by the Goulds, that was designated as printed by Hullmandel and Walton. Before committing himself wholeheartedly to his own publishing venture, Gould worked for the Zoological Society (founded 1827), first as a "Curator and Preserver", later (until about 1837) as "Superintendent of the Ornithological Department of the Museum" (page 96 of John Gould The bird man by Gordon Sauer[1982]). In his position at the Society, Gould had the opportunity to examine exotic specimens that were sent to it from abroad and, in many instances, to describe interesting new species or aspects of classification.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (biography by Maureen Lambourne)
John Gould's / birds 33.9 x 26.5 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-239(1). Publisher's red boards with white lettering to flat spine. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $39.95 printed on upper flap. New York, A & W Publishers, Inc., 1981.
1, Half-title; 2, colored frontispiece; 3, title; 4, brief biography of Lambourne; first published in USA in 1981; originally published in Italy as Gli uccelli di John Gould; copyright 1980, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan; based on John Gould die Vögel Grossbritanniens, Harenberg Kommunikation, Dortmund, 1979; English text by Mondadori; printed and bound by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Verona; ISBN: 0-89479-088-9; 5, contents; 7, John Gould, the bird man, by Lambourne; 33, Raptores (birds of prey, owls); 55, Incessores (nightjars, swifts, kingfishers and their allies, perching birds; 97, Incessores (perching birds, cuckoos, woodpeckers); 139, Rasores (pigeons and their allies, gallinaceous birds, and bustards) and Grallatores(cranes, herons and their allies, waders and rails); 187, Natatores(waterfowl, seabirds); 233, systematic list (modern nomenclature, classification and order); 236, index of illustrations (using modern English and Latin nomenclature); 239, bibliography (15 works by Gould, 41 references for "further reading"). Contains: 367 unnumbered illustrations (nine full-page) printed in color half-tone on both sides of leaf and included in pagination; 16 half-tone uncolored, unnumbered text illustrations including portraits of John and Elizabeth Gould.
The original work was published in 25 parts, 1862-1873, and the 367 hand-colored lithographs with their text were bound in five volumes arranged as here. The paintings were done by Henry Constantine Richter, William Hart and Joseph Wolf, based, at least in some cases, on preliminary sketches by Gould. The lithography was by Richter and Hart and most of the printing was done by Walton/Walton & Cohn. Gould's Birds of Great Britain is certainly amongst the most beautiful ornithological books ever published. It is the commonest of Gould's folio titles with perhaps as many as 1,000 copies extant.
This edition has apparently taken a long route to publication. If I understand the production data on page 4 correctly, the Italian firm of Mondadori reproduced the plates from an edition published in Germany in 1979. Presumably, the German publisher used an original copy from which to produce his version.
This edition listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Not listed by Harvard.
A / Monograph / of / the Trogonidae / or / Family of Trogons 54.6 x 36.8 cm. Pp. 3 preliminary leaves (title, dedication, list of subscribers), [i]ii[iii]iv-vii[viii-xii] and 36 unnumbered leaves of letter-press each accompanying 36 unnumbered, hand-colored lithographic plates including the folding plate of the Quetzal, some heightened with gold, drawn and lithographed by J. & E. Gould, printed by C(harles) Hullmandel. Fine full green morocco by Clyde with elaborate panels of gilt rolls on covers and six raised double ridges on elaborately gilt spine. Gilt turn-ins, yellow endpapers. AEG. London, by the author, (1835-)1838.
i, preface; iii, introduction; ix, synopsi specierum; xi, list of plates. Bookplates of Sir Saville Brinton Crossley Bart and Sir Francis Crossley Bart.
This great book was Gould’s second monograph following that on Toucans. Completely altered “second editions” of both these monographs containing different plates were subsequently published. The present work was originally issued in three parts, in 1835, 1836 and 1838, containing respectively 11, 12, and 13 plates and costing 2£ 10s each, for a total of £7.5.
The work covers 36 species, most of which were from the new world and many of which were being described for the first time. The descriptive letter-press contained synonymy, precise descriptions in Latin and English, distribution and various anecdotal information.
This was one of Gould’s less common folios. Christine Jackson writes on page 52 of her book, Bird Illustrators... (1975) that, in 1870, Gould issued a list of subscribers and possessors of his works that accounted for 167 copies of this one. I’ve also read the figure 175. The second edition is commoner.
Yale, p. 112; Zimmer, p. 253. Unlisted by Wood..
Gould, John (1804-1881)(text by A.[bram] Rutgers).
Birds of / Europe 24.3 x 18.2. Pp. (10)[1]2-321. Publisher's red cloth, gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket. London, Methuen & Co Ltd, (1966).
First preliminary leaf: recto, half-title; verso, blank; second preliminary leaf: recto, title; verso, copyright 1966 by N. V. Vitgeverij Littera Scripta Manet, Gorssel, Holland; printed in Holland; third-fifth preliminary leaves: contents; 1, quotation from Gould; 2-321, plates and text. Contains 160 colored plates printed in half-tone on both sides of 80 leaves with facing page of explanatory text, all included in pagination.
This is the first of five books originally printed in Holland that reproduce many of the hand-colored lithographs from Gould's works. The books are less useful as references than they might otherwise be, because the reproductions lack the printed matter on the originals that identified the artist, lithographer and printer. These books were issued in several languages over various imprints. Others in the series included the Birds of Australia (1967), The Birds of Asia (1969), the Birds of South America (1970), and the Birds of New Guinea 1972). The Birds of Australia, and perhaps others as well, was sometimes issued as two volumes rather than one.
The present volume takes its plates from The Birds of Europe which appeared in 22 parts, 1832-1837, containing 448 hand-colored lithographic plates by Elizabeth Gould and Edward Lear and from the Birds of Great Britain, 25 parts, 1863-1873, with 367 plates by Henry Constantine Richter, William Hart and Joseph Wolf. Examples of all of these artists are represented in the book although they are not identified save that Lear's signature is visible on some.
Rutgers provides modern nomenclature and a brief essay on each species. There is no historical overview and none of Gould's original text or nomenclature.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
John Gould's / Hummingbirds 36.0 x 24.7 cm. 250 Leaves, mostly unpaginated as follows: 3 preliminary leaves (half-title leaf with blank verso, title leaf with publication data, acknowledgements on verso, introduction leaf with publisher's note on verso); colored plates 1-360 and 1-58, all full-page; title leaf for notes to plates; pp. 1-74, notes to plates. Original green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Green endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Wellfleet Press (Wordsworth Editions Ltd.), Secaucus, (1990).
This is the American imprint of a facsimile of Gould's Hummingbirds published by Wordsworth Editions Ltd of England. The plates are reproduced with the figures at 0.9x from an original copy in the British Museum whose plates were numbered in pencil by Gould himself. The printing was done in Hong Kong by the South China printing Company. The reproductions include the various blemishes in the original example which is not nearly so nice as the one the Woody Bracey acquired on my advice some years ago. The notes to the plates are Gould's own text. There is an anonymous introduction that comprises a brief biography of Gould. The original Monograph of the Trochilidae or Family of Hummingbirds(plates 1-360) was published in 25 parts between 1849 and 1861. The Supplement (plates 1-58) was published in five parts between 1880 and 1887. Richard Bowdler Sharpe finished the text of the Supplement after Gould's death. The original plates were lithographed and printed by Hullmandel &Walton, Walton, Walton and Cohn and Mintern Bros. after original very rough sketches by Gould that had been worked up to finely finished pictures by Constantine Richter and William Hart.
It is not clear at whose impetus this facsimile was produced and published but it is a nice work of reference and reasonably attractive though giving no indication of the beauty of the original.
Gould, John (1804-1881) (edited and introduced by Eva Mannering)
Mr. Gould's / tropical birds / comprising twenty four plates selected from John Gould's folios / together with descriptions of the birds taken from his original text 39.2 x 29.5 cm. Pp. [I-IV]V-XVI. Green pebbled cloth covered card with white paper lettering piece on spine. London, the Ariel Press, (1955). First edition.
I, pictorial card cover; II, blank; III, title printed in green; IV, copyright 1955; acknowledgements; printer designation: K. G. Lohse, Frankfurt am Main; V, biography of Gould; IX, Gould's descriptions of the various species with update of name by Mannering. Contains 12 unnumbered plates finely printed in multi-color half-tone on recto only of matte paper. Also contains reduced rough line copies of these plates adjacent to the species description in the text.
This is the first of the Ariel Press large-format books with reproductions by Lohse of 19th century colored plates. To follow, were Adrian Thorpe's The birds of Edward Lear in 1975 and The birds of Daniel Giraud Elliot in 1979. Lohse also reproduced plates from Levaillant's works (Exotic Birds,1963) and paintings by Rafael Montes de Oca (Hummingbirds and orchids of Mexico, 1963)
The plates here are taken from the first editions of Gould's Toucans (1), and Trogons (5); his Birds of Australia (4); Birds of Asia (8); and Hummingbirds (6). The reproduction is extraordinary, even including the high finish in the plates of those works. Gordon Sauer, in his John Gould the bird man (1982), remarks (p. 297) of these plates "beautifully reproduced".
I doubt that the green cover on this volume is from the original publisher and I am not certain that the original pictorial card cover is included in the pagination as I have indicated above. The book was published simultaneously in New York over the Crown imprint.
Listed by Cornell, Harvard, Yale. Not listed by AMNH, Trinity.
The / birds of Scotland, / with other / poems. 15.7 x 9.5 cm. [A]4B-2D4[$1 signed, 24 letter alphabet lacking J, V]; 112 ll. Pp. [i-iii]iv-vi[vii-ix](1)[1]2-214. Contemporary marbled boards, later, polished black calf backing with gilt rules and lettering. Blank flyleaf stamped "Alexander Harts book". Boston, David and John West, 1807. Printed by David Carlisle.
i, Title; ii, blank; iii, preface; vii, contents; viii, blank; ix, half-title with quotation; 1, the birds of Scotland, part I; 47, the birds of Scotland, part II; 59, the birds of Scotland, part III; 75, biblical pictures; 105, the rural calendar; 141, to a redbreast, that flew in at my window; 144, epitaph to a blackbird killed by a hawk; 145, to England on the slave-trade; 147, the thanksgiving of Cape Trafalgar; 149, notes; 213, glossary.
The author describes (p. iii) that he "endeavored to delineate the manners and characters of birds". The section with notes explains both his literary and his ornithological allusions including laudatory references to contemporary works such as Gilbert White's Natural History of Selbourne and Beilby and Bewick's History of British birds. In addition to his interest in birds, the author had a strong social conscience as indicated by a powerful poem against the practice of slavery.
The original work was published in Edinburgh and London, 1806 and contained pp. 7, 248. Casey Wood (p. 366) describes an undated German translation. In addition to the present American imprint, another, containing pp. 103, was published by S. F. Bradford, Philadelphia, 1807.
The present and Philadelphia editions listed by Cornell, Harvard, Yale. Trinity lists English and Philadelphia editions. Not listed by AMNH.
Bird life / 350 original photographs taken / and described by / Gunnar Granberg 28.3 x 21.4 cm. [1]82-148[$1 signed]; 112 ll. Pp. [1-4]5-223[224]. Publisher's blue-cloth-backed mottled blue boards with gilt raptor on upper cover, gilt lettering and ornithological design on spine. Osakeyhtiö, Finland, Werner Söderström, 1949.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, copyright; Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, Borgå, Finland / Rotogravure 1949; 5, the migratory birds return; 11, capercailzie tournaments; 19, fights and frolics of the black-cock; 29, singer of the air-the skylark; 57, the king of birds-the eagle; 79, snapshots from the seaside; 95, at the nest of the sparrow hawk; 100, the goshawk; 117, an air acrobat-the peregrine; 127, kestrel's life in pictures; 133, the osprey; 153, the eagle-owl; 161, the honey-buzzard; 171, the marsh harrier; 201, water games of the great-crested grebe; 209, the bittern-a hermit in the reed jungle; 218, autumn migration; 224, contents. Contains about 350 unnumbered, uncolored photographs printed throughout in gravure.
This book contains photographic pictorial nesting life histories for about 50 species. The pictures are quite remarkable, almost as though the author were a member of the family of birds he was photographing. The brief text is quite incidental.
The book was reprinted in 1958 and distributed to participants at the International Congress of Ornithology.
Listed by AMNH, Trinity. Not listed by Cornell, Harvard, Yale. Harvard lists a smaller (208) collection of ornithological photographs by Gunnar Jarl Granberg (1895-) published by Söderström in 1946.
On the structure and characters of Loligopsis and account of a new species (Lol. / guttata, Grant) from the Indian seas 28.6 x 22.0 cm. [D]4(-D1-D2)E4(-E3-4)[$1, 2 signed]; four leaves. Pp. 21-28. Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1: 21-28 (1835). Communicated February 12 and July 23, 1833. This extract is included in a volume entitled "Natural History Miscellany" bound in late 20th century half brown calf over marbled boards.
This is another early article in the Transactions. Grant was a major contributor to the first volume and was probably solicited for contributions. This is part of a bound collection of early extracts from the journal, some of which (not this one) are relevant to ornithology.
On the anatomy of Sepiola vulgaris, Leach, and account of a new species / (Sep. stenodactyla, Grant,) from the coast of Mauritius 28.6 x 22.0 cm. [L]4(-L1-2)M4(-M4)[$1, 2 signed]; five leaves. Pp. 77-86. Contains uncolored engraved plate 11 designated "R. E. Grant, ad nat. del. Zeitter, sc." Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1: 77-86 (1835). Communicated March 26, and July 23, 1833. This extract is included in a volume entitled "Natural History Miscellany" bound in late 20th century half brown calf over marbled boards.
Grant contributed a number of articles to the first volume of the Transactions. This one is part of a bound collection of extracts from the journal, some (not this one) pertinent to ornithology.
On the nervous system of Beroë pileus, Lam., and on the structure of its cilia 28.6 x 22.0 cm. B4[$1, 2 signed]; two leaves; Pp. 9-12. Contains plate 2, etched and printed in sepia and blue, designated "R. F. Grant, ad nat. del. Zeitter sc." Extract from Trans. Zool. Soc. London 1: 9-12 (1835). Communicated January 8, 1833. This extract is included in a volume entitled "Natural History Miscellany" bound in late 20th century half brown calf over marbled boards.
This is the second article in this venerable journal and is part of a group of bound extracts, some of which (not this one) are of ornithological interest. The color printing used for the engraved plate here is well done and unusual.
Granvik, Hugo (1889-)
Contributions / to the knowledge / of the / East African ornithology // Birds collected by the Swedish / Mount Elgon expedition 1920 22.4 x 14.5 cm. π21-178184[$1, 2 signed]; 142 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-280. Binder’s half-red buckram, sides marbled boards. Black morocco labeling piece with gilt lettering on spine. (Lund, C. Blom), issued February 15, 1923.
π1r, title; π1v, issued February 15, 1923; π2r, contents; π2v, blank; 1, introduction dated February, 1922; 3, general part; 28, systematic parts, Struthio massaicus-Tarsiger orientalis elongensis comprising about 330 species and subspecies; 259, list of works referred to (about 250 references); 271, generic index; 277, addenda; 278, corrigenda; 280, printer designation: Druck von Otto Dornblüth Nachf. In Bernburg. Contains folding uncolored map; plates 1-10 including 1-5 after Erich Schröder in color half-tone and 6-10 comprising uncolored half-tone photographs numbered Figs. 1-10. There is also a single sheet of letter-press for plate 2. All of these printed on one side only and not included in pagination. In addition, the text contains Figs. 1-3, uncolored photographs.
The expedition took place between 10 April and 24 September, 1920. 1517 ornithological specimens belonging to 330 species and subspecies were obtained. Ten were thought to be new. There are various notes concerning plumage, habits, distribution, racial variation and measurements. The work served as Granvik’s thesis at the University of Lund and was published at Lund by C. Blom. It also was published as the 71 Jahrgang Sonderheft for the Journal für Ornithologie and it is not clear to me whether these were printed separately, or, for that matter, which my copy might be, the thesis or the Sonderheft. The Journal für Ornithologie at the time was published in Berlin by R. Friedländer & Sohn.
Present at AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale but not listed by Cornell.
A Fasciculus of the Birds of China 33.5 x 24.5 cm. Pp.[1-4]5-8. Detached from boards, the latter with the stamp of William Dutcher. (London, 1871). Printed by Taylor & Francis. National Audubon Society blind stamp on page [3].
[1], title; [3], introduction by G. R. Gray dated November 1st, 1871; [4]5-8 text for the 12 species depicted on the plates. Contains 12 uncolored lithographic plates after William Swainson, some of them with his lithographed initials or full name and an 1830 date.
According to Gray’s introduction, this fasciculus was all that came of a project of his brother, J. E. Gray (1800-1875), for an anticipated major work on the birds of China. Evidently the work was started around 1830 when Swainson was recruited to do the illustrations which are very good. Since J. E. Gray outlived his brother, we may ask why it was the latter who finally arranged for publication. Of course, it was G. R. Gray who was the more academically connected of the brothers since he held an important zoological position in the British Museum.
The text for the twelve species includes description and distribution and was done near the date of publication since it incorporates information from Swinhoe, the major English pioneer of Chinese ornithology.
This work is quite uncommon and possesses a certain cachet for reasons that have never been clear to me. Most copies are colored and amongst the references listed below, only that at Yale is uncolored.
Trinity, p. 102; Wood, p. 367; Yale, p. 116; Zimmer, p. 271.
Gray, John Edward (1800-1875) (Janson, Oliver E., Tomlin, J. R., le B., Bather, F. A.)
Spicilegia Zoologica / conclusion 30.8 x 24.1 cm. C4χ[$1, 2 signed]; 5 ll. Pp. [13]14-20[21](1). Publisher's green cloth-backed olive textured paper covered boards. White lettering piece on upper cover. Part III. London, January 1924. 13, Explanatory letter-press for plates; 20, errata; 21, index for all three parts; printer designation: Taylor and Francis. Contains plates XII-XXVII, 28, XXIX-XXXVII of which 11 colored by hand.
The history of this work is explained by the publisher, Janson on page 13. J. E. Gray published two parts in July 1828 and August 1830 containing, in total, pages 1-12 and plates I-XII. A series of continuing plates was completed but not published for lack of text. After almost 100 years, these plates were rediscovered and are here published for the first time. The text is written by Janson and various experts he consulted. This could not have been an easy task since some plates did not contain a legend and parts of some of the birds were left uncolored because they were missing from the original specimens.
The illustrations depict mammals, birds, reptiles, mollusks and echinoderms. The artists are not identified on every plate but they include Gibsone, Gray himself, Sophia Gray, Emma J. Gray, B.(enjamin) W.(aterhouse) Hawkins, G. Morley, G. G. Reid, and W. Wing. Some are copper engravings "published by Treuttel, Wurtz and Co., London." Others are lithogaphs printed by W. Day or by Hullmandel and Walton. In some instances, W. P. Mauger is identified as the lithographer. Elsewhere, he is listed as both artist and engraver! Some of the plates are extremely good, particularly plate XXIII, an uncolored lithograph of a Bewick's Swan, probably the type specimen, drawn by Hawkins and plate XXI, an engraved and colored Cheer Pheasant ("Wallich's Monaul") by an undesignated hand. The plates include nine of birds and one of a nest.
John Edward Gray was the brother of George R. Gray and the author of Illustrations of Indian Zoology (1830-1834) and Gleanings from the menagerie and aviary at Knowsely Hall (1846).
The cost of this volume in 1924 was 60 shillings as indicated on the cover label.
The first two parts are rare.
Wood, p. 367. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale. These listings all include some or all of the first two parts. Not listed by Trinity.
Gray, John Edward (1800-1875), Gray, George Robert (1808-1872)
Catalogue / of the / mammalia and birds / of / New Guinea / in the collection of the / British Museum 21.5 x 13.8 cm.[A]2B-E8χ4[$1,2 signed]; 38 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-63(1)[12]22-82Later gray linen-backed blue boards. London, Trustees of the British Museum, 1859.
A1r, title; A1v, printer designation: Taylor and Francis; A2r, preface by J. E. Gray dated 1 Dec. 1858; A2v, blank; 1, mammalia; 14, list of about 55 mammals; 16, Aves; 54, list of about 470 birds; 12, list of catalogues of the zoological collection of the British Museum; 62, books illustrating or describing parts of the zoological collections. Contains text figures (woodcuts) 1-9.
This work lists all the mammals and birds known from New Guinea, Celebes, Ternate, Amboyna, Banda and Timor and elaborates their distribution on a master chart. Recently described species (by G. R. Gray in the 1858 Proc. Zool. Soc. London) are here described as well. Synonymy is given for all species. Those species of which examples are actually in the Museum are so designated but the lists are not confined to these.
This is an important work, certainly amongst the earliest to list comprehensively the fauna of these remote islands.
Wood, p. 259; Zimmer, p. 273. Also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Yale but not by Trinity.
Greene, W.(illiam) T.(homas)
Birds I have kept / in years gone by / with original anecdotes and / full directions for keeping them successfully 18.3 x 12.4 cm. [A]4B-N8O4(-O4)[$1 signed]; 103 ll. Pp. [I-vii]viii[1]2-198. Original publisher's green cloth with gilt macaw on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine which is misdated 1890. Green endpapers. AEG. London, L. Upcott Gill, 1885.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, blank; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, contents; 1, text discussing 68 species, Jay-Prairie Owl; 198, printer designation: B. Fawcett, Engraver and Printer, Driffield. Contains 16 unnumbered colored plates including frontispiece printed by fine hand-finished chromoxylography on one side only, each with blank tissue guard, all not included in pagination.
William Greene was a specialist in aviculture and cage birds and is best known for his Parrots in captivity, 1884-1887, also printed by Benjamin Fawcett who was a master at producing high quality wood-engraved colored plates at a low price. The species accounts in the present work comprise a brief life history of the bird in the wild state as well as an extensive discussion of its habits, propagation and maintenance in captivity.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity. Not listed by Harvard, Wood, Yale, Zimmer.
Greenewalt, Crawford H. (1902-)
Hummingbirds 28.9 x 21.5 cm. Pp. (2, signed limitation sheet #458/500)[i-iv]v-x[xi-xvi]1-250[xvii]xviii-xxi[xxii];137 ll. Original publisher's full green morocco with mounted colored plate in gilt frame on upper cover, gilt lettering on spine. TEG. Garden City, for the American Museum of Natural History, Doubleday & Company, (1960). Contained in cardboard slipcase with mounted colored plate.
i, Half-title; ii, mounted colored frontispiece; iii, title; iv, copyright; v, foreword; ix, preface; xiii, contents; xv, distribution of species by latitude; 1, behavior and characteristics; 30, photographic portfolio; 169, feather color and iridescence; 203, flight; 241, methods and equipment; xviii, acknowledgments; xx, index; xxii, production details. Contains 69 mounted colored plates comprising frontispiece, plates 1-67 with facing letterpress on verso of leaf containing antecedent colored plate, unnumbered plate with six frames illustrating variation of iridescence. Also contains seven uncolored head pieces on otherwise blank pages and 37 uncolored, unnumbered text illustrations of which 20 (two maps) occupy, with legends, a full page. Many of these uncolored illustrations were by Dale Astle after photographs by Greenwalt.
Greenewalt was the president of Du Pont and was able to make use of a superb technical arsenal in pursuing his interest in photographing hummingbirds. This sumptuous book created quite a sensation because he was able to catch the rapid beating wings of the birds in a still frame. The text is unusual for the application of the principles of physics by someone who really understood them to the problems of flight and iridescence. It does not pretend to provide complete monographic coverage of the family. The production is a very handsome one, particularly in the nice binding of this limited edition.
Present at Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale as trade edition.
Greenway, James C.(owan), Jr. (1903)
Extinct and vanishing / birds of the world 23.3 x 15.3 cm. [i-ii]iii-x1-518; Original blue cloth with gilt lettering to upper cover and spine. Special Publication No. 13, American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, New York, 1958.
i, Title; ii, quotation; iii, foreword by Jean Delacour, President, International Committee for Bird Preservation, dated November, 1954; v, acknowledgments; vi, blank; vii, contents; 1, introduction and summation; 29, geography of extinction; 138, accounts of extinct and vanishing forms, Struthio camelus syriacus-Geospiza magnirostris magnirostris comprising about 135 species; 439, bibliography (around 1,000 entries); 484, museums containing extinct birds; 493, index of English and Latin names. Contains frontispiece printed in color half-tone and text line drawings 1-86 by D. M. Henry.
Declining populations and extinction of birds have the subject of numerous publications directed at a popular audience but have rarely been treated with real scholarship as here. This work has long been regarded as the authoritative one in the field although, with respect to declining birds, it has recently been replaced by the Lynx-Birdlife International Threatened birds of the world (2,000).
According to the author, the manuscript was finished in October 1954 and one can only imagine the tribulations involved in getting the book into print. The section on geographical extinction includes much on island biology and discusses some extinct birds that are not covered in the accounts section. The accounts are variable but where possible include status, suspected causes of decline, range, habitat, description and life history. The very good illustrations are by D. M. Henry.
A Dover edition, slightly revised, was published in 1967.
This original edition listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp, and Tim Inskipp.
A Guide to the Birds of India, / Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, / Bhutan, Sri Lanka, / and the Maldives 24.0 x 16.7 cm. 444 Ll. Pp. [1-7]8-888. Original tan cloth, gilt title on spine, pictorial dust jacket. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1999. First printing.
1, Half-title; 2, blank; 3, title; 4, publication and production data; 5, contents; 8, map of Indian subcontinent; 9, introduction; 10, ornithological history; 11, how to use the book; 16, climate; 17, main habitats; 23, migration; 24, conservation; 28, national and 29, international organizations; 32, references; 33, acknowledgements; 35, glossary; 37, color plates 1-153; 345, species accounts; 859, bibliography; 871, index of English and 882, scientific names. Contains colored plates 1-153, included in pagination and each with facing page of letter press.
This is a monumental identification guide that covers about 1300 species, each of which is illustrated and described. The letter-press opposite the illustration summarizes the distribution and main features for identification. The species account covers description including size and all plumages and geographical variations; voice; habits; habitats; breeding including dates and nests but not eggs; distribution and status including a distribution map.
The plates, which are uniformly good for the purpose of identification, are mainly after Clive Byers, Daniel Cole, Carl D’Silva and Alan Harris with others from John Cox, Gerald Driessens, Martin Elliott, Kim Franklin, Peter Hayman, Craig Robson, Jan Wilczur and Tim Worfolk.
A Bibliography of California Ornithology Three installments. 25.5 x 17.2 cm. Gray binder's buckram, original printed gray wrappers bound in. Cooper Ornithological Club.
Pacific Coast Avifauna / No. 5 A Bibliography of California Ornithology Pp. [1-5]6-166; 83 ll. Santa Clara, May 15, 1909. 1, Title; 3, note; 4, contents; 5, introduction; 6, list covering years 1797-1907; 150, index to authors; 154, index to local lists; 156, list of serial publications containing cited articles; 157, index to bird names.
Pacific Coast Avifauna / Number 16 (sic) Bibliography of / California Ornithology / Second Installment / to end of 1923 Berkeley, September 15, 1924. Pp. [1-4]5-191(1); 96 ll. 1, title; 3, note; 4, contents; 5, introduction; 7, text; 175, index to authors; 181, index to local lists; 183, index to bird names.
Pacific Coast Avifauna / Number 26 Bibliography of California Ornithology / Third Installment / To End of 1938 Berkeley, December 8, 1939. Pp. [1-4]5-35(1); 118 ll. 1, Title; 2, "edited by Alden H. Miller and Hilda Wood Grinnell; 3, note; 4, contents, editors' note; 5, introduction; 7, text; 215, index to authors; 223, index to local lists; 225, index to bird names.
This work is clearly modeled after the American Ornithological Bibliography of Coues. As in that work, entries are sequenced according to their date of publication. Also as in that work, bibliographical information is irregular and is usually rather sketchy. If size is indicated it is by a vague term such as "quarto". Plates and illustrations are also inexactly described. On the other hand, novel information about a species in California is usually elaborated in an annotation by the author who has also made every effort to list all publications concerned with California ornithology. This is the first, and still the most important bibliography of the ornithology of a state. California is amongst the most ornithologically interesting of all states and its literature certainly merits a work of this nature.
The Pacific Coast Avifauna series was designed by the Cooper Ornithological Club for publications too long for their standard publication, The Condor. This publication is thus the equivalent of a "Supplementary Number" of The Ibis or a "Sonderheft" of the Journal für Ornithologie.
Grinnell died during the year of publication of the final installment necessitating editorial assistance in its production. The slight differences in style and presentation of the titles for the different installments are not my typographical errors. The installments have been bound out of order in this copy.
Trinity, p. 268.
Grinnell, Joseph (1877-1939), Bryant, Harold Child and Storer, Tracy Irwin
The Game Birds of California 26.0 x 17.5 cm. Pp. (2, leaf designating semicentennial publication of the University of California)[i-ii]iii-x1-642; 327 ll. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt seal of the University of California on upper cover and gilt lettering on spine. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1918.
i, Title; ii, copyright; iii, preface by Grinnell; v, contents; vii, colored plates; viii, text figures and tables; 1, introduction; 6, diseases; 19, natural enemies; 23, the gun club; 29, non-native game birds; 45, propagation of game birds; 55, legislation; 62, glossary; 67, key to game birds; 79, systematic accounts of species; 611, literature; 633, index. Contains colored plates 1-16 by Fuertes (12) and Brooks (4) printed on one side only and not included in pagination. Also contains text figures 1-94 (mostly anatomical) and tables 1-19.
This book covers 108 non-passerine species most of which are waterfowl and shore birds. Specific coverage is very extensive and includes description of all plumages with measurements, field marks, voice, nest and eggs, general distribution and distribution within California as well as a long discursive section dealing mostly with behavior and various observations by the authors. The colored pictures are excellent and most appeared in this work for the first time including nine by Fuertes that were specifically commissioned for it.
Trinity, p. 105; Wood, p. 380; Trinity, p. 105. Unlisted by Ripley and Scribner.
Grinnell, George Bird[1849-1938])
The Audubon magazine 25.4 x 17.7 cm. Pp.[1-3]4-24. Printed and decorated gray-brown wrappers. Vol. I. No. 1. February 1887 New York, Forest and Stream Publishing Company “…reprinted as a supplement to the March 1987 issue of Audubon”
According to Joseph Kastner in A world of watchers(1986), pp. 79-71, George Bird Grinnell had been a student of Lucy Audubon and, as an enthusiastic supporter of wildlife conservation, he became one of the founders of the AOU and an editor of Forest and Stream. He founded an “Audubon Society” in 1886 and initiated the present magazine as its vehicle. However, he “…had to give up both the Audubon Society and the magazine after a couple of years”. The National Audubon Society, as understood today, was formed as a confederation of State Societies in 1901 and incorporated in 1905. The Massachusetts Audubon Society, established in 1896, was the first state Society.
Thus, the present magazine and the organization it represented should probably not be regarded as bona fide precursors of any long-standing organization or publication. Neither the articles in the magazine, nor the list of vice-presidents on page 20 (Grinnell was the president) suggest that serious contemporary ornithologists were intimately associated with it.
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959), Folger, Edith V.
The Birds / of / Nantucket 19.2 x 14.0 cm. Pp. (12)[1-3]4-156; 84 ll. Original publisher's blue-gray cloth, silver lettering on spine. Photographic pictorial dust jacket. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1948.
Preliminary leaf 1 recto, series title: New England Birds Studies. I. The Birds of Nantucket; 1v, Printer's designation: London, Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press; 2r, title; 2v, copyright, binder designation; 3r, explanation of series; 3v, blank; 4r, preface; 4v, blank; 5r, contents; 5v, blank; 6r, list of illustrations; 6v, blank; 1, half-title; 2, map; 3, introduction; 17, systematic list; 141, bibliography; 149, index of English and Latin names. Contains uncolored photographic frontispiece printed on one side only and 16 other such unnumbered plates printed on both sides of eight leaves. Photographs mostly by Allan D. Cruikshank from the library of the National Audubon Society.
This book was based mostly on second-hand information. Griscom spent little, if any time on the island and gathered historical data, such as William Brewster's notes, from the Harvard Library. Folger did live on the island for some time and secured many records from various ornithological visitors although it's unclear whether she, herself, provided any observations. Her work led to a Master's degree from Cornell. The list contains 274 species. Land birds are said to be very uncommon on the island. For example, the authors were unable to find a record for Swamp Sparrow. Griscom was a great compiler of regional data but an accurate book on Nantucket birds would benefit from more intensive and prolonged first-hand observation.
This book is present in the Libraries of the AMNH, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959) (with the cooperation of the Linnaean Society of New York).
Birds of the / New York City region 20.0 x 14.1. Pp. [1-2]3-400. Original brown cloth with black lettering and osprey design on upper cover, black lettering on spine. Name and address of Henry Hill Collins, naturalist and author, stamped on upper endpaper. American Museum of Natural History / Handbook Series, No. 9. New York, by the Museum, 1923.
1, Title; 2, printer imprint: American Museum Press; 3, contents; list of illustrations; 5, preface; 12, introduction; 53, principal works of assistance in studying the birds…(12 entries); 56, annotated list of birds, Colymbus holboelli-Sialia sialis, comprising about 365 species; 378, extinct and extirpated species, 12, including forster's tern, snowy egret, oyster-catcher, turkey; 384, hypothetical list (13 species); 396, index of English and scientific names; 400, errata. Contains: colored plates I-VI, including frontispiece, four by R. B. Horsfall, two by L. A. Fuertes, taken from Audubon Society leaflets, printed in half-tone and not included in pagination; uncolored half-tone text figures 1-30 including three full-page plates by Courtenay Brandreth and Fuertes, photographs, some full-page, all from antecedent publications and included in pagination; folding, uncolored line map by Rand Mcnally & Co. bound at rear.
No ornithologist was more influential in his day than Ludlow Griscom and no ornithologist, save perhaps his great admirer, Roger Tory Peterson, did more to advance the art of field observation. Griscom was at his peak in the 1920s and was the inspiration and mentor for the boys and young men in the Bronx County Bird Club including Peterson, Allan Cruikshank and Joseph Hickey. Griscom published a book about the birds of virtually every area that he visited and, since he worked for some time at the American Museum, it was only natural that he should describe the status of birds in the New York area. This work was the bible of New York birdwatchers between 1923 and 1942 when it was superceded by that (Birds around New York City) of Cruikshank. If either book had suddenly been obliterated from the face of the earth, it could have been rewritten, word for word, by numerous contemporary New York birders, myself included for that of Cruikshank. The bird life of this area has been carefully documented at regular intervals since 1843 and has changed significantly during the years.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1959)
The birds of Dutchess County / New York / from records compiled by / Maunnsell S. Crosby 28.1 x 16.0 cm. Pp. [1-6]7-184. Original printed gray wrappers. Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York, Volume Three, New York, published by the Society, December, 1933. Press of Urner-Barry Company.
1, Title; 2, blank; 3, dedication to Crosby; 4, “copies $2.0”; 5, contents; 6, note from John H. Baker, president, Linnaean Society of New York; 7, preface and acknowledgments; 9, introduction; 65, systematic list of 254 species; bibliography of about 360 references. Contains three unnumbered, uncolored, unpaginated glossy leaves with half-tone photographs printed on one side only.
This is the model of a useful local list. Earliest and latest dates, as well as records of nests and eggs, are supplied for each species with syntheses of distributional status in the Introduction. Of special interest to me, are a number of representative day lists also contained in the Introduction.
OCLC locates about 47 copies.
The Distribution of / Bird-Life in Guatemala / A Contribution to a Study of the Origin / of Central American Bird-Life Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume LXIV, 1932. 23.3 x 15.4 cm. 220 Pp. [i-iv]v-vii[viii]ix[x][1-2]3-439(1); 220 ll. Contemporary red half-morocco, spine gilt in six compartments with black and green morocco lettering pieces in the second and fourth, the others decorated with a gilt bird motif. Marbled endpapers. American Museum of Natural History, May 7, 1932.
i, Title; iii, dedication to Jonathan Dwight; v, preface and acknowledgment; vii, contents; ix, list of illustrations; 1, half-title; 3, part I including 3, introduction; 4, history of Guatemala ornithology; 11, collecting expedition of Mr. Anthony; 15, physiography; 18, climatic conditions; 23, geological and paleographic summary; 26, summary of palaeontological evidence; 29, life zones and their bird-life; 87, part II distributional list including 87, classification and nomenclature; 88, number of species; 90, North American migrants; 96, systematic list; 407, bibliography; 423, gazetteer; 427, index. Contains two folding uncolored maps and uncolored photographic figures 1-11 on four unpaginated leaves.
This work is amongst the most important original syntheses of Central American ornithology. It covers 736 species and subspecies including, according to Griscom, one new genus, three new species and 39 new subspecies. Originally, it was intended that Griscom and Jonathan Dwight should describe two collections of Guatemalan birds made by A. P. Smith and A. P. Anthony and purchased by Dwight. Dwight died before the writing could commence and delegated the job to Griscom. The collections, particularly that of Anthony, turned out to be so complete that Griscom decided to extend the coverage to include all known Guatemalan birds. For each species he gives reference to the original description and type locality; the Guatemalan localities where it has been obtained; the synonymy from Salvin and Godman’s Biologia Centraliana-Americana and Ridgway’s Birds of North and Middle America; records of all specimens in the Dwight collection; range outside of Guatemala; and brief notes, if indicated, on identification and distribution.
When I was a child, Ludlow Griscom was regarded as a “virtuoso of field identification”. He worked at the American Museum of Natural History in its glory days and subsequently as curator of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. He was something of a polymath, renowned for his fluency in many languages and this skill was useful for intelligence purposes during the second world war. He was the author of numerous works on local avifaunas including that of New York City. I met him at the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge the year of his death. He was confined to a wheel chair and almost totally paralyzed but he could hold a pair of binoculars in his right hand and that was enough to enable him to go birding with a nurse.
Trinity, p. 105; Yale lists the journal but not the specific article.
Griscom, Ludlow, and Guy Emerson.
Birds of / Martha's Vineyard / with an / Annotated Check List 20.3 x 13.9 cm. [i-vii]viii-ix[x-xii][1]2-164; 88 ll not including four blank terminal leaves. Original brick red cloth, gilt title, authors on spine. Pictorial dust jacket (uncolored photograph of greater yellowlegs), pictorial end papers (map). Privately printed, Martha's Vineyard, 1959. Sponsored by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Original price, $4.50.
i, Quotation; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, copyright, printer's designation: The Anthoensen Press, Portland, Maine; v, dedication to Roger Tory Peterson; vi, blank; vii, foreword Roger N. Baldwin, Guy Emerson, Elizabeth B. Hough, Henry B. Hough, William R. Leigh; x, blank; xi, contents; xii, blank; 1, a ticket to Martha's Vineyard by Henry Beetle Hough; 4, four poems; 7, background of birding on Martha's Vineyard; 24, notes on the systematic list; 26, systematic list; 132, hypothetical list; 134, seasonal lists; 147, where to look for birds; 149, list of field observers; 152, references; 157, index to English and Latin names. Contains an eight panel folding map of the island.
A precious book published by a wealthy group of island devotees. The systematic list contains 342 species and the accompanying text describes status, dates, and maxima and lists documentary observations.
Present in the libraries of the AMNH, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Griscom, Ludlow (1890-1957), Greenway, James C.(owan) Jr. (1903-1989)
Birds of lower Amazonia 24.1 x 16.1 cm. Pp. (2, title)[83]84-344. Original publisher’s printed gray-green wrappers. Uncut, unopened, bound in fours (eight pages). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol., LXXXVIII, No. 3, Cambridge, Mass., for the Museum, June, 1941.
Preliminary leaf, recto, title; verso, blank; 83, contents; 85, introduction; 85, principal collections; 86, geographical notes; 93, ecological and distributional notes; 96, migrants or winter visitants; 97, systematic list, Tinamidae-Fringillidae comprising 972 species; 340, bibliography (more than 50 citations).
This work is based primarily on the collections of A. M. Olalla, 4023 skins belonging to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and of Klages comprising 7379 specimens belonging to the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh. W. E. C. Todd published a series of papers on the novelties of the Carnegie Museum collection and agreed that Griscom and Greenway should report on the entire collection. The complete work here describes several novelties, many rarities and numerous range extensions. In general, the authors conclude that there are two distinct faunas in “Lower Amazonia”: the “Guyana-Amazonian”, which is basically jungle, and the higher “campos”. They also note that minor ecological differences can be accompanied by significant differences in avifauna.
For most species, the authors indicate the type locality and describe the sexes of the specimens in the collections and the locations where they were obtained. There is often a discursive section comparing the specimens from the present collections with those that had been previously described by other ornithologists, particularly Snethlage.
This is an uncommon article. It is listed by AMNH and Harvard but not by Cornell, Trinity and Yale. OCLC locates only four examples but those at AMNH and Harvard are not among these.
Gromme, Owen (1896-1991)(assisted by Warren P. Dettmann and by the staff of the Milwaukee Public Museum).
Birds / of / Wisconsin 30.5 x 22.6 cm. Pp. [i-vi]viii-xv[xvi][1]2-219[220]. Publisher's turquoise cloth with gilt ornithological vignettes on upper cover and spine, gilt lettering to spine. Pictorial dust jacket with original price of $22.50 on upper flap. Madison, for the Milwaukee Public Museum by the University of Wisconsin Press, 1963.
i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, sponsor designation: Friends of the Museum, Inc.; iv, colored frontispiece of woodcock; v, title; vi, copyright 1963; engravings by Mueller Engraving Company, Milwaukee; printed by Moebius Printing Company, Milwaukee; binding by Boehm Bindery Company, Milwaukee; vii, foreword by Frederick L. Ott, President, Friends of the Library, Inc.; ix, acknowledgments; x, blank; xi, contents; xii, blank; xiii, introduction; 1, bird portraits, colored plates 1-89 with facing letter-press comprising about 328 species; 181, birds in action and in habitat, 15 colored plates and facing text; 213, index of English, Latin and local names; 220, uncolored map of Wisconsin showing counties. Contains 16 unnumbered tableaux type plates (including frontispiece) and plates 1- 89 depicting several species per plate, all plates printed in color half-tone and included in pagination with letter press or explanation of next plate on verso.
This is the first comprehensive illustrated work on the birds of Wisconsin and the first complete treatment since that of Kumlien and Hollister in 1903. There are two kinds of colored plates. Those produced as artwork and not specifically for this book (16 and unnumbered) and those produced specifically for the book and to facilitate identification, numbered 1-89. The latter contain facing letter-press that includes a designation of status, a chart of monthly occurrence, and a county distribution map. There is no formal text for these plates. The facing explanation for the artistic plates provides a brief essay, sometimes with information about the specific painting.
These pictures are very well drawn with an eye faithful to shape and posture. Unfortunately, the printing is mediocre. Had it been better, this would have been among the more significant atlases of American birds.
Later slightly revised editions of this book were published in 1974 and 1998.
Listed by AMNH, Cornell, Trinity, Yale. Harvard lists only later versions.
Gromme, Owen (1896-1991) (introduction by Peterson, Roger Tory; biography by Mentzer, Michael; commentary by Coopey, Judith Redline)
The world of Owen Gromme Oblong. 26.7 x 33.2 cm. Pp. [1-5]6-240. Original publisher's quarter faux vellum and brown buckram with incised vignette of swans on upper cover, brown printed spine. Brown endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket. Madison, Stanton & Lee, (1983).
1, colored vignette of swans; 2, colored plate; 3, half-title; 4, colored plate; 5, title with colored swan vignette; 6, copyright 1983; acknowledgements; ISBN 0-88361-188-4; LOC # 83-51148; 7, colored plate; 8, dedication, colored plate; 9, colored plate; 10, colored plate; 11, contents; 12, colored plate; 13, introduction by Roger Tory Peterson; 17, biography by Michael Mentzer; 81, colored plates with commentaries by Gromme and by J. R. Redline; 225, color notes with plates of plants; 239, colophon; credits: design by Marian Lefebvre; typeset by Jane Rundell Typography; printed by Straus Printing and Publishing Company; 240, uncolored photograph. Contains the following unnumbered half-tone pictures, all printed on both sides and included in pagination: colored full-page plates, 85; colored text illustrations, 32; uncolored full page plates, 3; uncolored text illustrations, 67.
Owen Gromme was the American animal and bird artist par excellence of the 20th century. He saw and portrayed the Wisconsin countryside through the eyes of the game-friendly hunter or outdoorsman. His seemingly straight-forward tableaux are excellent in a Saturday Evening Post sort of way, and he might be considered a kind of Rockwell Kent of natural history. This book is a feast of such pictures and is very well produced with impressive color printing. It is obvious that the Madison publisher took a special interest in this book. Gromme was serious about his ornithology and wrote and illustrated The birds of Wisconsin (1963).
This work is listed by AMNH, Trinity, not listed by Cornell, Harvard, Yale.
Grönvold, H.(enrik)(1858-1940)
Illustrations to / the Birds / of / South America (from wrapper) 28.3 x 20.0 No signatures. Pp. [1-7]8-11[12]; 6 ll. London, John Wheldon & Co., (1915-)1917. 1, series title; The Birds / of / South America / Vol. II. (Plates); 2, blank; 3, volume title; Illustrations / of the / Game Birds and Water Fowl / of / South America; 4, publisher's note by H. Kirke Swann dated Dec. 1916.; 5, description of plates (by Swann); 12, printer designation; London. Geo. Flower "The Bartholomew Presse". Contains hand-colored lithographed plates 1-36 by Bale & Danielsson after Grönvold. The two works bound in a single volume of half-red morocco with grey buckram sides. Spine with five raised ridges, gilt lettering in second and third compartment. Original gray printed upper wrapper for text and upper and lower wrappers for part I of the Illustrations… (dated October, 1915) bound in.
This is all that was completed of a series that was to have comprised 16 volumes with 400 colored plates but was abandoned after Brabourne's death in battle in 1915. The systematic list provides an original citation with the accepted Latin name, the English name, and a brief note on distribution for 4,561 species, by far the largest number to have been ascribed to South America up to the time of publication. Some of Grönvold's illustrations had already been completed at the time of Brabourne's death and H. Kirke Swann decided to publish them with a brief note by him on each depicted species. According to the wrapper, the first 19 plates were published in 1915 as Part I of the Illustrations. Part II must have contained the second group of 19 and been issued in 1917, the date on the title page. The wrapper to the Illustrations.. tells us that only 200 sets were printed and gives a price of £2 2s for the first 19 plates (i. e. £4 4s for the complete set). On the external side of the lower wrapper there is a list of Dresser's publications for sale by John Wheldon. The monographs on Bee-eaters and Rollers are both offered at £4 10s.
This work is often found as two volumes. The plates had to be slightly trimmed in order to bind them in the same volume as the text. As one would anticipate, the plates are much scarcer than the text.
Wood, p. 253 (as a single work); Zimmer, pp. 85, 276 (as separate works). The two works listed as one are also present at AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity and Yale.
Grossinger, Joanne Bapt(ista) (fl. ca 1790-1800)
Universa / Historia / Physica / Regni Hungariae / Secundum / Tria Regna Naturae. / Tomus II. / Regni Animalis / Pars II. / Ornithologia, / sive / Historia Avium Hungariae 20.8 x 13.7 cm. 20.8 x 13.7 cm. Laid paper with catchwords. 8o. *7 **4A-Ff8[$1-5 signed]; 247 ll. Pp. (8)XI-XXIV[1]2-462(10). Contemporary mottled boards with tan and green leather gilt labeling pieces on spine. Dyed red edges. Posoni & Comaromii, Simonis Petri Weber, 1793.
*1r, Title; *1v, blank; *2r- *3v, list of 33 subscribers accounting for 43copies; *4r, half-title: Ornithologia sive Historia Avium Hungriae; *4v, blank; *5r- *6v, preface; *7r- **4v, contents; A1r-C3v, praeliminaria de avibus globi; C4r-Ff6v, historia avium regni Hungariae; Ff6v-Gg3v, Latin and German index of names; Gg4r-Gg4v errata. Contains metal-engraved uncolored frontispiece and four uncolored wood-engraved vignettes.
Apparently this is one volume of a five volume set (1793-1797) describing the animal kingdom of Hungary. I gather from the general title that there may have been other series describing the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. This is the first systematic treatment of the birds of Hungary and among the first of any national ornithologies. The only one of which I am aware, that preceded it by a considerable period was Pennant's British Zoology (1766) which included birds.
The first gathering (*) is confusing. It seems complete with only seven leaves because the first leaf corresponds to the title and there is no disconnect between the seventh leaf and the first leaf of the second (**) gathering. However, the pagination suggests that there is an absent leaf despite any obvious disconnect. Perhaps there may have been an initial half-title that is lacking here or the frontispiece leaf may have represented pages I and II.
This is a very rare volume. It is lacking at the AMNH, Berkeley, Cornell, the Field Museum, Harvard, the Library of Congress, McGill, the NYPL, the Smithsonian, Trinity and Yale. It is referred to by A. Newton in an article on "Ornithology" in the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica. The BM(NH) has volumes 1, 2 and 4 of the five volume series and Oxford has all five. In neither case are any details given for any of the volumes. I once saw for sale, a set of four including Historia Quadrupedum; H. Avium; H. Piscium et Amphibiorum; and H. Insectorum. The present copy came from the Bradley Martin collection although it is lacking the book label that Sotheby's affixed to his better known volumes.
Grosvenor, Gilbert and Wetmore, Alexander (1886-)
The Book of Birds / The First Work Presenting in Full Color All the Major / Species of the United States and Canada Two volumes. 26.0 x 17.4 cm. Original green cloth with gilt lettering on upper cover and spines. End paper maps. Grey brown dust jackets with black printing and black designs of flying ducks in silhouette. National Geographic Society, Washington, (1932-1937) 1939. Second edition.
Volume I. Diving Birds, Ocean Birds, Swimmers, Wading Birds / Wild Fowl, Birds of Prey, Game Birds, Shore Birds, / Marsh Dwellers, Birds of the Northern Seas Pp. [i-iv]v-viii1-358(2, information about the Society); 184 ll. i, Title; ii, copyright; iii, contents (alphabetical rather than sequential); v, foreword by Grosvenor; 5, text; 349, index. Contains 104 full pages of unnumbered colored plates included in pagination and printed on both sides, many unnumbered text photographs and maps.
Volume II. Owls, Goatsuckers, Swifts, Woodpeckers, Flycatch- / ers, Crows, Jays, Blackbirds, Orioles, Chickadees, Creepers, Thrushes, Swallows, Tanagers, Wrens, / Warblers, Hummingbirds, Finches, and Sparrows Pp. [1-4]5-382(2, information about the Society); 192 ll. 1, title; 2, copyright; 3, contents (alphabetical); 5, text; 373, index. Contains 100 colored plates, many text photographs and maps.
This work represents a collection of articles that appeared in the magazine of the National Geographic Magazine between 1932 and 1937. Grosvenor was the president of the Society and his authorship is mostly titular. In most instances, two articles were published together in a given issue of the magazine. The first was anecdotal and the second was systematic with descriptions, ranges and life histories for each of the species in the group of birds, usually one or more orders or families, that had been selected. There were usually eight or 16 colored plates. When I first became interested in birds in the early 1940s, I found out about these articles and bought the individual issues containing them from the Society for 25 cents each. I can still remember the eagerness with which I awaited them and the pleasure that they gave me. Apparently, I did not know at the time that the articles had been assembled into a book. At the end of the foreword to this work, Grosvenor tell us " July 1, 1939. The demand for this work has necessitated a large second edition". I think this probably means that the first "edition" appeared in 1937 and that the work was reprinted in 1939 but this is nowhere elaborated. The present work should not be confused with an antecedent "Book of Birds" produced by the Society from articles which appeared mostly between 1913 and 1920. That first work was illustrated entirely by Fuertes whereas the present volumes are illustrated entirely by Allan Brooks save for a few warbler plates that are taken from the older Fuertes work.
This work can be considered as a popular handbook of North American birds without any technical terminology. The authors, in addition to Wetmore, were T. Gilbert Pearson, Arthur A. Allen, Robert Cushman Murphy, Frederick C. Lincoln, Francis A. Herrick and Major Allan Brooks. There are 204 colored plates depicting 950 individuals, 232 uncolored photographs and 17 maps. A total of 633 full species are covered. It is interesting to compare the paintings by Brooks for this work with those he did earlier for works on the states of Washington and California. The paintings in those beautiful state bird books were clearly modeled after the Victorian bird artists whereas the pictures in the present work are much influenced by Fuertes. Of the four widely known atlases of North American birds done prior to World War II, this is the only one that depicts western birds. The others originally appeared in state bird books before appearing in more general formats. They include Fuertes' plates for Eaton's Birds of New York (1909-1914), Fuertes' plates for Forbush's Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States (1925-1929) and those by several artists for Thomas Robert's Birds of Minnesota (1932). A major fault of the plates in the present work is that they contain considerable explanatory letter-press underneath the illustrations.
Trinity, p. 172; Yale, p. 202, both listed under National Geographic Society.
Guérin-Méneville, F. E. (1799-1874)
Iconographie du Règne Animale de G. Cuvier ou Représentation d’Après Nature de l’une des Espèces les plus Remarquables et Souvent non Encore Figurées, de Chaque Genre d’Animaux. Avec un Texte Descriptif mis au Courant de la Science. Ouvrage Pouvant Servir d’Atlas a tous les Traités de Zoologie Three volumes. 23 x 16 cm. Volume 3. Twentieth century half-morocco and marbled boards selected to resemble those of volumes one and two. Speckled edges. Volumes 1. & 2. Contemporary half-calf and marbled boards rebacked to match volume three. The three volumes with gilt spines containing five compartments. Paris, Baillière, 1829-1844.
This is a very rare and beautiful work for which little bibliographic information is available, particularly as regards the text.
Volume 1. Atlas containing 223 plates as follows: portrait of Cuvier; Mammifères, 52 (A, B, 1-48, 11, 44 bis); Oiseaux, 70 (1-67, 22, 23, 36 bis); Reptiles, 30 (1-30); Poissons, 70 (1-70). In the “avis” of the text, Guérin calls for 223 plates.
Volume 2. Atlas containing 227 plates as follows: portrait of Latreille; Insectes, 110 (1-104, 24, 25, 28 39, 49, 84 bis); Arachnides, 6 (1-6); Annélides, 11(1-10, 4 bis); Crustacés, 36 (1-35, 8 bis); Mollusques, 38 (1-38); Zoophytes, 25 (1-25). Guérin calls for only 225 plates. My collation of plates for each section in each volume agrees perfectly with that of Engelmann.
Of the total of 450 plates, 447 are (partially) colored and three, including the two portraits, are not. There is no title leaf for either volume although Guérin calls for one in each.
Volume 3. Texte explicatif. The text is divided into preliminaries and then specific sections with identical formats as follows:
Preliminaries. Lacks signatures. 9 ll. Pp. (2, general title leaf)[1]2-4[V-VII]VIII-XVI. 1, avis; V, dedication; VII, avant-propos.
Mammifères. π26-94[$1 signed]; 18 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-36. 1, general half-title; 3, specific section title; 5-36, text and index for both text and plates.
Oiseaux. [1]42-54 ; 20 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-40.
Reptiles. π210-114122; 12 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-24.
Poissons. [12]413-164172; 22 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-44.
Mollusques. [1]82-48 ; 32 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-64.
Annélides. No signatures. 7 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-14.
Crustacés. [1]82-38 ; 24 ll. Pp.[1-5]6-48.
Insectes. [17]418-34435-60861-624 ; 288 ll. Pp. [1-5]6-576.
Zoophytes. [1]828(-28); 15 ll. Pp.[1-5]6-30.
Thus, a total of 894 pages. This copy, however, has the initial half-title leaf for only the mammalian section although it is obvious from the pagination that it was present for each of the other specific sections before they were bound into this volume. Guérin calls for 919 pp. plus a title leaf i. e. 921 instead of 894. Unfortunately, he does not break the total into sections. However, my copy lacks a text section on Arachnides which, if it existed, may explain the discrepancy.
It is clear from Guérin’s “avis”, that the text was not published until after approval by a group of academicians who reviewed it in 1842, by which time most, or all of the plates had been issued. Different bibliographers indicate 45 (Ronsil, Engelmann) and 50 (BM[NH], Anker) livraisons for the work but I think the difference is reconciled by Anker who quotes a reference indicating that the plates were published in 45 parts 1829-1838 whereas the text was published later, but by 1844, in parts 46-50. Apparently, all parts, plates and text, contained leaves belonging to different sections and binders must have been very diligent, indeed, to sort them out properly.
In my copy of the text, the sectional title pages have a Belfast Library blind stamp and these early pages as well as the last few pages of each section are foxed whereas the internal pages are not. Moreover, the text binding is mid or late 20th century and does not match that of the atlases although the latter are rebacked identically to the text. This suggests to me that the text was assembled into specific sections which then lay around separately for many years before being bound, at which time their general half-titles, if still present, were probably discarded by the binder as superfluous. Clearly, they were bound at the same time as the atlases were rebacked in order to constitute a complete copy. One can guess from the numbering of the signatures that the section on Oiseaux should have been bound before that on Mammifères and that the section on Insectes was intended to follow that on Poissons. Some of the references mention that the work was issued in both octavo and quarto formats and I wonder whether this perception comes from the fact that it contains gatherings of both fours and eights.
The work contains more than 6, 200 figures and Guérin, alone, or in collaboration with others (usually Traviès), was the artist for most of them. Many of the plates are dated. For the ornithological section, other individual artists or collaborators included Traviès, Bévalet, Prêtre and Delarue and Giraud did all of the engraving save for single plates by Annedouche and Canu. The printing was by the firm of Rémond except for one plate by Langlois. These plates usually contained two colored figures of different species and uncolored representations of various body parts. They were printed in color and finished by hand and are very good. However, the pride of place for illustrations in this work is taken by the fish which were printed with the aid of metallic silver and gold as well as some substance that mimics perfectly the color and reflections of mother-of-pearl. The transparent wings of insects were also simulated in a particularly effective way and some of the reptiles were spectacularly good. The color printing in this work is extraordinary and the effort involved in its production must have been staggering.
In addition to being a superb draughtsman, Guérin, who was editor of the Magasin de Zoologie, was a zoologist with a special interest in entomology. The text for this section is itself a scholarly contribution that adds much to the publication of Cuvier for which this work was intended to serve as a comprehensive atlas. The text of the other sections, in contrast, presents little information other than some synonymy, identification of all accompanying anatomical structures on the plate, a reference to Cuvier and a few sundry notes.
Anker, 191; BM(NH), p. 748; Engelmann, p. 327; Ronsil, Bibliographie, 1284; Yale, p. 119 (ornithological section only and calling for 67 instead of 70 plates). Absent from Ayer, McGill and Trinity catalogues.
Guillemard, F.(rancis)H.(enry)H.(ill)(1852-1933)
The / cruise of the Marchesa / to / Kamschatka and New Guinea / with notices of Formosa, Liu-Kiu, and various / islands of the Malay Archipelago Two volumes. 22.3 x 15.8 cm. Brown mottled calf-backed marbled boards by J. Demonts, J. Macdonald Co. Round spine divided into six compartments by double gilt rules, gilt printing in second, fourth, sixth. London, John Murray, 1886.
Vol. I. [a]4b6B-S8T6[$1 signed]; 152 ll. Pp. [i-vii]viii-xvii[xviii-xix](1)[1]2-284; i, Half-title; ii, blank:; iii, title; iv, printer designation: R. & R. Clarke, Edinburgh; v, dedication; vi, blank; vii, preface; xi, contents; xv, list of illustrations; xviii, blank; xix, list of maps; 1, Formosa; 26, Liu-Kiu Islands; 64, Kamschatka; 187, Bering Island; 209, Kamschatka; 233, history of Kamschatka; 253, notes on Liu-Kiu; 274, birds of Kamschatka (list of 186 species taken directly from Stejneger); 279, index; 284, printer designation. Contains five unnumbered, partly color-printed lithographed maps with route indicated by red line, one folding, by Stanford's Geographical Establishment; illustrations numbered 1-53 in list only including hand-colored lithographed frontispiece of Pericrocotus marchesae by J. G. Keulemans (printer unidentified); 10 full-page wood-engraved plates printed on one side only and not included in pagination; and 42 wood-engraved text figures including three of birds after Keulemans. The engraving was done by Edward Whymper and artists besides Keulemans included Charles Whymper who drew the animals, and H. C. S. Wright and "Mr. Stacey" who interpreted the author's sketches of various aspects of the trip.
Vol II. [A]8(+1, A9)B-2C8; 209 ll. Pp. [i-v]vi-xvi[xvii](1)[1]2-399(1). The last leaf is card and its unprinted verso is blue. i, Half-title; ii, blank; iii, title; iv, printer designation; v, contents; xii, blank; xiii, list of illustrations; xvii, list of maps; 1, Cagayan Sulu; 21 Sulu Islands; 83, British North Borneo; 117, Labuan and Brunei; 131, Sumbawa; 153, Celebes; 216, the Moluccas; 248, New Guinea; 326, Amboina, Banda, Aru Islands; 361, list of collected birds from the various islands; 372, list of collected shells; 374, list of collected Rhopalocera; 378, Sulu vocabulary; 383, Waigou languages; 386, languages of Jobi Island; 390, export tables; 393, index; 399, printer designation. Contains eight maps by Stanford's, two folding, all partly color-printed, one of the folding, hand-colored; illustrations numbered numbered 1-89 in list only including: hand-colored lithographic frontispiece of Eos insularis undesignated but after J. Smit (vide infra); 18 full-page wood engravings including six of birds after Keulemans; and 70 text engravings including five of birds after Keulemans.
This work presents Guillemard's narrative describing the trip he took during the years 1882-1884. The text and wonderful illustrations convey vividly the fantastically exotic ambiance of many of the places that he visited. One of his objectives was to find as many birds of paradise as possible and he managed to collect 17 species. It is clear that birds were a major interest and more than 3000 were collected during the voyage. His findings in Kamschatka were preempted by Stejneger and by Dybowski and Taczanowski the the list that he provides in the first volume is that published by Stejneger (Bulletin 29 of the U. S. National Museum, 1885). However, his lists for various specific islands that appear in the second volume, are exceedingly interesting and important and include, for example, 108 species from Celebes, 92 from the Arfak area, 31 from Batanta etc. Interesting first-hand information is given about such exciting birds as the Maleo, Wallace's Standard-wing and Wilson's Bird of Paradise among others. He published his ornithological findings in detail in six parts in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London during the year 1885.
The work is modeled after Wallace's Malay Archipelago (1869) even to the extent of hiring Keulemans to do the text illustrations. Keulemans is listed as an artist on the title page and specified as the artist for the birds on page ix of the first volume. The irony is that Keulemans (great grandson of the artist) and Coldewey, in their biography of the artist, Feathers to Brush, selected the frontispiece to volume II, Eos insularis, for reproduction in their book. That picture, in the present book is not initialed. However, it first appeared as plate 34 of the PZS in 1885 in part 5 of the series by Guillemard and was there signed J. Smit in the image. Why the signature was erased, and why Guillemard failed to make the proper attribution, is unclear.
A second edition in a single volume lacking the colored plates was published in 1889.
Wood, p. 371; Zimmer, p. 277; also listed by AMNH, Cornell, Harvard, Trinity, Yale.
Catalago de las Aves Cubanas 25 x 16,6 cm. 6-128[$1 signed]; 56 ll. Pp. [81]82-191(1). Uncut, unopened, stapled without covers. (Madrid, Anales Sociedad Espanola de Historia Natural, Tom II), 1873.
EXTREMELY RARE AND IMPORTANT. Johannes Gundlach was the single most important historical contributor to the ornithology of Cuba. He went there from Germany as a young man in 1839 and died there in 1896. His collections and lists form the foundation of Cuban ornithology together with Orbigny’s museum-based contribution to De la Sagra’s monumental, all-encompassing work on the island. Among the historical figures, he is the only one who himself was a great field ornithologist. Lembeye is said by Thomas Barbour to have based much of his 1850 work on Gundlach’s observations. Gundlach did not write a great deal for publication. Most or all of his publications were in poorly known Cuban and Spanish periodicals and the Journal für Ornithologie. This particular contribution is not listed in any standard bibliographical work save that of the British Museum. However, it is listed in the bibliography of W. E. C. Todd’s Birds of the Isle of Pines and is there said to be almost identical to an ealier catalog published in 1866. Todd’s bibliography contains more references to Gundlach’s works on Cuba than any other source I could find.
This copy is unopened and shows no sign at its internal margin of ever having been bound. It looks as though someone found the eight gatherings in their original unbound (and unfolded?) state (and folded ?) and stapled them together from both the front and rear.
BM(NH), p. 752. Unlisted Trinity, Wood, Yale, Zimmer, Zoological Society.
A New / Geographical, Historical, / and / Commercial Grammar; / and Present State of the / Several Kingdoms of the World. / Containing, ///////////////////////// 21.7 x 13.4cm. The Second American Edition Improved. / In Two Volumes……. . Contemporary mottled calf, gilt-paneled spine with red leather labeling piece. Philadelphia, Johnson & Warner, 1815.
Vol. I. [A]4B-4H4[$1 signed]; 308 ll. Pp. (8)[1]2-607(1). A1r, title; A1v, letter of publication by the clerk of the District of Pennsylvania; A2r-A3v, advertisement; A4r-v, contents; 1, introduction; 28, of the origin of nations; 53, of the origin of religion; 57, Europe. Contains 17 unnumbered. uncolored engraved maps, all save one folding.
Vol. II. [A]2B-4G4[$1 signed]; 302 ll. Pp. (4)[1]2-280,285-603(1). Text complete, however, lacking pp. 281-284 due to printer's error. Contemporary mottled calf, gilt-paneled spine with red leather labeling piece. Philadelphia, Johnson & Warner, 1815. A1r, title; A1v, Pennsylvania privilege; A2r-v, contents; 1, Asia; 144, Africa; 216, America. Contains 11 unnumbered, uncolored, folding engraved maps.
"Guthrie's Geography" was first published in England in 1770, having allegedly been compiled by James Knox, a bookseller. The first American edition of 1794 was published by Carey in 1794. The first American edition published by Johnson and Warner appeared in 1809 and their last edition was issued in 1820.
This second Johnson &Warner edition of 1815 is very rare and of special importance for American zoology and ornithology because of an anonymous article, pp. 290-361 of volume II, on the Zoology of North America that was written by George Ord. According to the advertisement in volume I, “The article on the Zoology of North America, is, for its extent, by far the most accurate which has ever appeared. The modesty of its author forbids a personal acknowledgment which the editors would have the highest satisfaction in making.” The essay is the first systematic treatment of American zoology written by an American, and its list of over 500 species of birds, pp. 315-319, includes several new species including a few discovered by Lewis and Clarke that are here first given Latin binomial names. Most of the list is apparently taken from Turton's edition of Linnaeus and there are several species that are not found in North America. The ornithological section comprises pp. 315-357 and, in addition to the list, includes various bird biographies taken from Wilson. Ord is well known because of his association with Wilson and his role in the publication of Wilson's work. The 1809 Johnson & Warner edition lacked the material from the Lewis & Clarke expedition and the 1820 edition lacked the systematic list of birds.
The essay on North American Zoology was reprinted by Samuel Rhoads in 1894 with annotations on the ornithological part by Witmer Stone. Rhoads was able to locate only one copy of the work.
The work is present in microform at a number of libraries but actual copies are listed only for the Smithsonian, University of California library (Melvyl Catalogue), and for the LOC. Whereas the Smithsonian and Melvyl copies seem to have both volumes, the LOC copy apparently has only one. None of these volumes are bibliographically described. OCLC locates six copies not including those cited above.
The work is discussed extensively by Coues in the first instalment of his bibliography, p. 603, and figured prominently in the auction of William Braislin's library in 1923 where it sold for $105, an enormous sum for the time..
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.