Outlines of the Seven Volumes of Geo. Edwards's History of Birds." [Album of Manuscript Sketches and Text after Edwards's "A Natural History of Uncommon Birds" and "Gleanings"; as well as Catesby's "Natural History of the Carolinas."] 4to - 1778

s.l.: s.n., 1778. 4to. (10 x 7 1/4 inches). Over 370 ink-over-pencil sketches in outline of birds and other animals after Edwards and Catesby across at least seven hundred pages. Some sketches seen with ink washes, watercolor, and pastel. Accompanied by ink manuscript notes taken from Edwards and Catesby, with "Some Brief Instructions for Etching or Engraving on Copper Plates with Aqua Fortis," the catalogue of the names of the birds, the alphabetical index, extracts and sketches from Catesby's Natural History of the Carolinas (1731), and a shorty entry about purchasing Edwards's drawings at "Edsal's sale" Half red morocco ruled gilt over marbled boards, five raised bands forming six compartments on richly gilt spine, gilt-lettering in second, third, and fourth compartments and gilt foliate design in rest, uncut on laid paper

Eighteenth-century ink manuscript album of ornithological sketches and specimen descriptions after Edwards and Catesby, following their works page-by-page.

This voluminous, charming, and painstaking manuscript, titled by its anonymous creator Outlines of the Seven Volumes of Geo. Edwards's History of Birds, is a remarkable eighteenth-century document of close scientific reading and learning. The work includes over 370 fine ink illustrations of all the birds and other animals included by Edwards across his seven volumes, together with the following text sections copied in ink manuscript: a synopsis of Edwards's preface; "A Catalogue of the Names of the Birds" based on the printed version from 1776 with Latin names by Linnaeus; a 12-page "Some Brief Instructions for Etching or Engraving on Copper Plates with Aqua Fortis"; a one-page note on the dates of publication for Edwards's first edition; two drawings captioned in pencil "The starfish I had from Yeats"; a section of "Extracts and Sketches from Catesby's Natural History of Carolina &c.," illustrated in pencil and ink wash; and a note recording: "Novr. 1778. Purchased the following drawings at Mr. Edsal's sale drawn by Mr. Edwards: 1. A very uncommon Parrot from W. Indies." It would appear the work's creator was an amateur orinthologist or natural history illustrator, practicing their own craft by emulating two masters in Edwards and Catesby. Edwards, a contemporary and correspondent of Linnæus, "has been well described as an unscientific but very accurate describer and painter of animal life, and his writings will always remain of paramount authority, from the faithfulness of his description of many new birds, subsequently incorporated in the Linnaean System. He had the simplicity and piety of Izaac Walton, and may be looked upon as one of our greatest worthies." [Mullens and Swann]. The illustrations in Edwards's Natural History and Gleanings are charmingly off-beat and resonate with a contemporary verve. Edwards undertook his prodigious color-plate project after he was chosen Librarian to the Royal College of Physicians through the influence of the eminent collector Sir Hans Sloane. "Almost immediately after he commenced the preparation of a series of colored drawings of animals and birds; for these he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Society and subsequently elected a Fellow." [Lisney] Trained as a botanist, Catesby traveled to Virginia in 1712 and remained there for seven years, sending back to England collections of plants and seeds. With the encouragement of Sir Hans Sloane and others, Catesby returned to America in 1722 to seek materials for his Natural History; he traveled extensively in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and the Bahamas, sending back more specimens. A lovely and important work, Catesby's Natural History is the most impressive record made during the colonial period of the natural history of an American colony, and is considered the most significant work of American natural history published before Audubon's The Birds of America.

Anker 124-126. Fine Bird Books, p.93. Lisney 191, 196, 199, 202, 207, 210, and 212. Mason, George Edwards: The Bedell and His Birds, passim. Mullens and Swann, pp. 195-196. Nissen IVB 286-289. Zimmer pp.192-194; 196-199.