Rare books from Ken Spelman Books Ltd

ALFRED MALHERBE (1804-1865). - The Woodpecker Man.A fine original portrait, of Alfred Malherbe, titled and dated 1845.Alfred Malherbe was a French lawyer and judicial officer with a passion for natural history and a particular fondness for birds, which he collected from all over Europe. He was the president of his local natural history society in the Lorraine region of NE France and director of the museum in Metz for the last twenty years of his life.In the 1840s and 1850s, Malherbe published a number of books on Algerian and Sicilian birds and contributed articles to ornithological journals, including papers on newly discovered species in the Picidae family. His magnum opus - on woodpeckers - was published in four volumes between 1861 and 1863. The two text volumes outline the physical characteristics and classification history for more than 200 species of the Picidae family, half of which were discovered by Malherbe or first described in his detailed publication. The plate volumes feature more than… Read More

Seeley, Burnside, 1846. Hard Cover. Very Good. [MAYO, Elizabeth]. Lessons on Shells, as Given to Children Between the Ages of Eight and Ten, in a Pestalozzian School, at Cheam, Surrey. Illustrated by ten plates, drawn from nature. Third edition. xiii, [3], 228pp., half-title., 10 engraved plates each with leaf of text identifying the specimens. A very good copy bound in full contemporary green calf, ornately decorated in gilt. Wide gilt borders, central gilt panel with corner piece ornaments, and gilt panelled spine. Original morocco label just chipped at one corner, and some foxing. 8vo. Seeley, Burnside and Seeley. [1846]. ~ Charles (1792-1846) and Elizabeth Mayo (1793-1865) were brother and sister educational reformers and followers of Pestalozzi. Charles Mayo opened a school in Epsom in 1822, which his mother and sister helped run. They wanted children to learn by observing, touching, and experimenting with the things around them, and they developed a practical curriculum including these 'object… Read More