Biologia Centrali-Americana: Aves. Vols. I-IV 4 volumes: 3 of text, 1 of plates. royal 4to - 1904

London: Printed by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street; M. & N. Hanhart; Mintern Brothers, 1904. 4 volumes: 3 of text, 1 of plates. Royal 4to. (Variable: 12 1/4 x 9 3/4 to 13 x 10 1/4 inches). Vol. 1: [i-v] vi-xliv 1-512, vol. 2: [6] 1-598, vol. 3: [i-iii] iv 1-510, vol. 4: [i-v] vi-vii [viii] plates 1-79, 15a, 54a, 58a, 58b, 59a. 84 hand-colored lithograph plates by and after John Gerrard Keulemans (82) and Edward Neale (2). Half-bound in navy morocco with gilt ruling on blue cloth boards, spine in six compartments with gilt decoration, title in second compartment: [BIOLOGIA | CENTRALI- | AMERICANA] and volume number and authors' names in fourth compartment, gilt top edges with other fore-edges untrimmed. Blue and gold marbled endpapers

A complete set of this beautifully illustrated "sumptuous monograph of the birds of Central America." (Zimmer)

These four volumes comprise the complete ornithological section, "Aves," of the authors' monumental project to record the flora and fauna of Mexico and Central America, which ran to 66 volumes and was published over thirty-six years. The volumes collect 74 parts issued from September 1879 to April of 1904; the signatures themselves separately dated. The text covers 1413 bird species representing 78 families and 539 genera. For each species, there is presented a synonymy, a description, the distribution, and a discursive section that covers what is known concerning habits, nesting, eggs, and other sundry matters. The 84 plates contained here depict 149 of these species, illustrated in vibrant and faithful detail by J. G. Keulemans and Edward Neale. According to Amherst, Keulemans almost always did his own lithography when he worked in conjunction with Hanhart so most of his plates in this work are autolithographs. "The great value of Keuleman's work as an ornithological draughtsman lay in the sureness of design of the plate and his accuracy in portraying the birds themselves. The bird figures were carefully drawn and executed down to the last scales on the feet. The feathering was neatly delineated with different plumes receiving sympathetic treatment, the fine soft underplumage and the large flight feathers being equally well drawn." (Jackson, Bird Illustrators, p. 90) Biologia Centrali-Americana was the product of numerous expeditions Godman and Salvin undertook accompanied by native guides. They collected more than 55,000 specimens on these tropical forays and presented the collection to the British Museum. Salvin died before the completion of the third volume; the work was finished by Godman with the assistance of William Robert Ogilvie-Grant and Richard Bowdler Sharpe. "As with many large undertakings, if Salvin and Godman had known how long it would take and how much money it would consume, they might have thought twice about doing it . . . The bird volumes alone required twenty-five years to complete . . . As one anonymous writer quipped, the expense of production would have strained the finances of a small state, and would have required a financial vote not likely to have been granted of an enlightened empire. Such amounts are privately wasted every year, but seldom contributed to science, especially to such a sober and non-advertising science as zoology." (LSU)

Anker 437. Bird Illustrators, p. 90. Fine Bird Books, p. 138. McIlhenny Collection, LSU. Nissen IVB 811. Trinity, p. 208. Wood, pp. 360, 549. Yale, p. 251. Zimmer, p. 541.