A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas
by Peterson, Roger Tory
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Signed
- Condition
- Very good/good
- Seller
-
Walnut Creek, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1963. 2nd Printing. Hardcover. Very good/good. Peterson, Roger Tory. Duodecimo size, 336 pp., with signature of Clarence Cottam. Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996) was an imminent naturalist and ornithologist, as well as a talented artist, who first published "A Field Guide to Birds" in 1934, considered the first modern field guide. He went on to author or edit many field guides in what became the Peterson Field Guide series, on diverse topics such as minerals, reptiles, birds, and plants; his field guides are known for containing information accessible to the layperson, focusing on easily noticed visual features rather than technical features. This series garnered attention for the emerging environmental movement, and Peterson himself received every significant American award for natural science, ornithology, and conservation, including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Ludlow Griscom Award.
This volume is Peterson's "A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas", a comprehensive guide to birds native to Texas, with illustrations, both in colour and in black and white, by Peterson, to accompany information on the appearance, location, and voice of the birds.
Affixed to the half-title page of this volume is the signature of Clarence Cottam (1899-1974), the first director of the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation; laid in is a letter from him (secretarially signed) addressed to the prior owner. Mr. Cottam was renowned in the field of ornithology; he earned his doctoral degree while working as a government biologist and taught in the field of ornithology for many years, including while as Dean of the College of Biology at Brigham Young University. The letter is on the letterhead of the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation and is dated May 24, 1966; in it Mr. Cottam thanks the recipient for sending a "Kodachrome" of a "roadrunner with a lizard in its mouth" and compliments him on his "skill as an artist as well as a wildlife observer". The letter must have meant a great deal to the recipient, the prior owner of this volume, which explains why the actual signature of Clarence Cottam was obtained (where or when is not indicated) and is affixed to the book.
___DESCRIPTION: Full blue cloth, black lettering and an illustration of a bird on both the front board and spine, seven-inch ruler markings printed on the back board, pictorial endpapers with silhouettes of birds in black, title page with black-and-white drawing of a bird, black-and-white vignette illustrations of bird species and maps of the Texas area by Peterson thoughout, black-and-white and full-colour plates of illustrations of various bird species by Peterson throughout; duodecimo size (7.5" by 4.25"), pagination: [i-iv] v-xxx [xxxi-xxxii] 1-304, signed by Clarence Cottam on a separate piece of paper stapled to the half-title page. Loosely laid in is a letter addressed to the prior owner from Clarence Cottam, secretarially signed (see description above). In a price-clipped pictorial paper dust jacket with title in white and colour illustrations of birds on the front panel, white lettering on the spine, a list of books in the Peterson Field Guide Series on the rear panel, and a description of the book on the front and rear flaps.
___CONDITION: Volume is very good, with clean boards, straight corners, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright; some rubbing to the edges of the boards and to the head and tail of the spine, a small gold mark to the top of the back board, prior owner name and address is written in pen on the verso of the front free endpaper, and some very slight soiling to the fore-edges of the interior pages. The dust jacket is good only; while the colours remain bright, it is price-clipped with fairly substantial overall edge wear, minor soiling, head and tail of the spine and tops and bottoms of the flaps' hinges are chipped, and there is prior owner writing in pen on the inside of the front flap. The letter is near fine, clean, without wear, folded twice and then folded in half.
___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.
___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.
This volume is Peterson's "A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas", a comprehensive guide to birds native to Texas, with illustrations, both in colour and in black and white, by Peterson, to accompany information on the appearance, location, and voice of the birds.
Affixed to the half-title page of this volume is the signature of Clarence Cottam (1899-1974), the first director of the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation; laid in is a letter from him (secretarially signed) addressed to the prior owner. Mr. Cottam was renowned in the field of ornithology; he earned his doctoral degree while working as a government biologist and taught in the field of ornithology for many years, including while as Dean of the College of Biology at Brigham Young University. The letter is on the letterhead of the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation and is dated May 24, 1966; in it Mr. Cottam thanks the recipient for sending a "Kodachrome" of a "roadrunner with a lizard in its mouth" and compliments him on his "skill as an artist as well as a wildlife observer". The letter must have meant a great deal to the recipient, the prior owner of this volume, which explains why the actual signature of Clarence Cottam was obtained (where or when is not indicated) and is affixed to the book.
___DESCRIPTION: Full blue cloth, black lettering and an illustration of a bird on both the front board and spine, seven-inch ruler markings printed on the back board, pictorial endpapers with silhouettes of birds in black, title page with black-and-white drawing of a bird, black-and-white vignette illustrations of bird species and maps of the Texas area by Peterson thoughout, black-and-white and full-colour plates of illustrations of various bird species by Peterson throughout; duodecimo size (7.5" by 4.25"), pagination: [i-iv] v-xxx [xxxi-xxxii] 1-304, signed by Clarence Cottam on a separate piece of paper stapled to the half-title page. Loosely laid in is a letter addressed to the prior owner from Clarence Cottam, secretarially signed (see description above). In a price-clipped pictorial paper dust jacket with title in white and colour illustrations of birds on the front panel, white lettering on the spine, a list of books in the Peterson Field Guide Series on the rear panel, and a description of the book on the front and rear flaps.
___CONDITION: Volume is very good, with clean boards, straight corners, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright; some rubbing to the edges of the boards and to the head and tail of the spine, a small gold mark to the top of the back board, prior owner name and address is written in pen on the verso of the front free endpaper, and some very slight soiling to the fore-edges of the interior pages. The dust jacket is good only; while the colours remain bright, it is price-clipped with fairly substantial overall edge wear, minor soiling, head and tail of the spine and tops and bottoms of the flaps' hinges are chipped, and there is prior owner writing in pen on the inside of the front flap. The letter is near fine, clean, without wear, folded twice and then folded in half.
___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.
___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Swan's Fine Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 18082502
- Title
- A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas
- Author
- Peterson, Roger Tory
- Illustrator
- Peterson, Roger Tory
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good
- Jacket Condition
- good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 2nd Printing
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Company
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- Date Published
- 1963
- Keywords
- Wildlife, Natural History, Ornithology, Birds, Field Guides, Roger Tory Peterson, Texas, Animals
Terms of Sale
Swan's Fine Books
We cheerfully accept returns for any reason within 30 days, so long as the book(s) is/are returned in the same condition as when sent. We will refund the price you paid for the book, plus shipping if the book was misdescribed.
About the Seller
Swan's Fine Books
Biblio member since 2017
Walnut Creek, California
About Swan's Fine Books
Swan's Fine Books specializes in Fine Press, Illustrated Books, and Books About Books. We also carry a wide array of general antiquarian stock and recently acquired a very nice collection of modern lit. Enjoy browsing our web site and visit our brick-and-mortar shop if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tail
- The heel of the spine.
- Flap(s)
- The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- IOBA
- ...
- Vignette
- A decorative design or illustration placed at the beginning or end of a ...
- ILAB
- ...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- ABAA
- ...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...