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A Natural History of Uncommon Birds - Gleanings of Natural History Exhibiting Figures of Quadrupeds, Birds, Insects, Plants, &c
by Edwards, George
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Printed for the author, at the College of Physicians, in Warwick-Lane, 1764. First edition. First edition, first issue. (Arthur Lisney's first issues throughout with Natural History with Part I having the frontispiece, Part II has pages 121-129 present and numbered correctly; Gleanings Part I has "f's" for "s"s in text, Part II has the front matter of pages i-viii on different leaves. The other parts have only a single issue.) Seven volumes in four, comprised of two works. With hand-colored engraved frontispiece, 362 hand-colored engraved plates, plain plate of a Samoyed in the first work (perhaps inserted but other copies have been observed with this feature as well); uncolored frontispiece portrait in the third bound volume, portrait of the author from another work mounted on the verso of the title page to Vol. I. Printed letterpress descriptions facing the plates. Quarto. Bound in late 18th/early 19th century full red morocco elaborately tooled in gilt. with monogram BG on the covers in gilt, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Very Good, spines rubbed with some chipping to labels, a few scuffs to covers, corners worn, joints tender but holding, a few endpapers loose; soiling and darkening to contents, foxing, offsetting from the plates to the adjacent pages. Early bookplate of Bartlett Gurney of Norwich, explaining the BG monogram on the bindings; other bookplates include that of Jonathan Backhouse, and a Backhouse armorial bookplate.
A complete set of Edwards' esteemed work on natural history, with the full complement of striking hand-colored plates. The entire work is often referred to as A Natural History of Uncommon Birds, the title was changed after the fourth part to Gleanings of Natural History. This was apparently in recognition of the gradual appearance of different animalia (monkeys, opossums, snakes, fish, zebras and more) in the later parts, but in all parts birds make up the great majority, and are indeed uncommon and exotic.
George Edwards (1694-1773), of humble east London roots, rose to become keeper of the library of the Royal College of Physicians and an ornithologist of international renown. Many of the birds he records had never been previously illustrated, contributing, along with its length, to the importance of this impressive work. Anker 124; McGill/Wood, p. 329; Nissen IVB 286-288. "At the date of its issue [...] one of the most important of all Bird Books, both as a Fine Bird Book and as a work of Ornithology. It is still high on each list." Sitwell Fine Bird Books p. 93.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 140946153
- Title
- A Natural History of Uncommon Birds - Gleanings of Natural History Exhibiting Figures of Quadrupeds, Birds, Insects, Plants, &c
- Author
- Edwards, George
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- Printed for the author, at the College of Physicians, in Warwick-Lane
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1764
- Keywords
- birds, birding, England, UK, natural history, biology, animals, flora, fauna, illustrated books, plates, plate books, ornithology
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Portland, Oregon
About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Burnside Rare Books specializes in literary first editions and works of cultural and historic significance. We are located in Portland, Oregon and welcome visitors by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- 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...
- 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...
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