Ornithology rare books

First edition; 4to, (28 x 22 cm); dedication and advertisement leaves, 100 hand-coloured engraved plates after Hayes, his wife and children, without the frontispiece plate (as often), some offsetting to prelims, leaves slightly toned; crushed green morocco gilt by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, spine gilt in compartments with bird motifs, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, an excellent example.

First edition. 4to, viii, 266, [10] pp., 16 engraved folding plates (complete), modern tan morocco-backed marbled boards, new endpapers, light offsetting from plates to text, a very good clean copy.

Specially printed offprint from The Ibis, 8vo, 45 pp. numbered 382-425 pp., 3 hand-coloured lithographs by and after Keulemans, original green cloth gilt, a fine copy.

First edition, 3 vols (incl. supplement), 8vo (24 x 16 cm) with an autograph letter signed by the author (3pp), presentation note from W.H. Mullens (author of A bibliography of British ornithology) to Thomas Parkin, 169 hand-coloured lithographed plates, bookplate, marbled endpapers; some slight foxing and marking to some plates but mainly to the verso and few preliminary pages; contemporary half black morocco, marbled boards; spine lavishly gilt decorated and lettered; a fine example.

First edition, number 20 of 21 copies on Japanese Paper, 4to, [ii limitation leaf], xiv, 344 pp., half-title, folding map, 42 plates in all, of which 19 are in two states (10 natural history, plain and hand-coloured; 9 tinted in differing colours), and 4 are plain, plain illustrations in text, original grey printed wrappers.

First edition, deluxe issue, 8vo, xiv, 344 pp., folding map in the rear pocket, 23 plates (including 10 natural history hand-coloured, the bird plates by Keulemans), original green pictorial cloth gilt, spine faded, small reapirs to extremities, a very good copy.

Large folio. Title and text in Latin and German, 132 fine hand-coloured etched plates, (11 of mammals, 121 of birds), UNCUT in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, a little worn, the plates in fine condition with bright colouring, etched by P. Mazell after P. Paillou and others, an excellent copy.

Mitford edition, 2 vols, 8vo (22 x 15 cm); 4 engraved plates including two engraved frontispieces (one hand-coloured in vol. II), some offsetting to title pages, slight marginal spotting throughout, decorated endpapers; restored preserving the contemporary diced calf, spine gilt decorated and lettered, slightly rubbed; pp.viii, 351,364; overall a very attractive set.

First edition in English. Folio (39 x 25 cm); [12], 53, [3], 55-271, [3], 273-441, [7] pp., 80 engraved plates comprising 78 plates of birds showing multiple subjects numbered 1-LXXVIII, and 2 un-numbered plates of netting, bookplate, some minor tears to a few pages; occasional light soiling, contemporary calf, neat restoration to edges and extremities, a very good copy.

Limited editions; 8 vols; large 4to ( 40 x 33 cm) British Birds, (4 vols) numbered 63/105 with 82 plates (including the rare supplement containing 2 extra plates numbered 80a and b, bound in to the rear of volume 4), ; A Naturalists Sketch Book, numbered 66/105 with 24 colour and 36 collotype plates; British Mammals, (2 vols) numbered 146/155 with 50 colour plates , text vignettes; Game Birds and Wild Fowl of Great Britain and Ireland, numbered 85/155 with 30 colour plates, all the colour plates are mounted on card, all captioned and numbered, tissues, letter from Sangorski and Sutcliffe re binding inserted loose, slight spotting to a couple of title-pages; all vols are uniformly bound in contemporary red half morocco gilt with raised bands, gilt lettered and dated on spines, top edge gilt, Game Bird volume slightly faded on upper board; overall an excellent set.