NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE

1813. WHITE, Gilbert. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE, by the late Rev. Gilbert White, A. M., Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. To which are added, The Naturalist's Calendar Miscellaneous Observations, and Poems. A new edition, with engravings. In two volumes. London: Printed for White, Cochrane, and Co., (et al.), 1813. Mitford's royal octavo edition of 1813, issued the same year as the quarto edition. It is called the Mitford edition because the notes of the Rev. John Mitford, of Benhall, make their first appearance in White's "History." Illustrated with the 4 engraved prints that are called for, including the hand-colored print of the "Hybrid Bird," plus an additional 17 plates from other sources. Two octavo volumes. 21 x 12.5 cm. Contemporary bindings of three-quarter, medium brown calf with marbled sides, gilt-lettered labels and blind-stamped deoration on spines, all edges speckled. Bindings show general light shelf wear, though a bit more at heels and crowns, and labels are abraded and, in one instance, chipped. Text and plates are clean. Included among the extra illustrations are Gainsborough's portrait of Thomas Penant, engraved by J. Byrne, and prints of birds and animals found in the Selborne area. Three of the plates are taken from Christie's 1813 edition of Goldsmith's "Animated Nature." Five others are engraved by J. Pass and dated 1798-1803, three of which list G. Edwards as the artist. An appealing set in original condition. (Martin, pp. 107-108; Notes & Queries, 5th S. VII. Mar. 31, 1877, p. 242).