Alpheraky, Sergius. The Geese of Europe and Asia. Being the description of most of the Old World species.
1st. Ed. Pub. Rowland Ward. 1905 pp.viii, 198 with 24 colour chromolithograph plates of geese and their bills by F.W. Frohawk and coloured frontispiece by Dr. P.P. Sushkin. Royal 4to. In original green cloth boards, lightly rubbed, o/w. thor. vg. Minor, scattered foxing to contents, which are o/w. in fine condition. TEG. Bookplate of Arthur B. Duncan to front paste-down. A very pleasing copy.
Dedication copy from Rowland Ward which reads ‘Captain Stanley Flower, with Rowland Ward[s] Kind Regards 1906’ to ffep. Captain Flower (1871-1946) was Director of the Cairo Zoological Gardens, Egypt between 1898 - 1924.
£495.00 [ref: 50785]

view all images for this item

Baker, E.C. Stuart. The Indian Ducks and their Allies.
1st. Ed. Pub. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 1908 pp.xii, 292 plus 30 hand-finished chromolithograph plates and additional illustrated title page. Imperial 8vo. Hardback. A minor amount of spotting, largely confined to text o/w. contents in fine condition. In original publishers binding of half morocco leather with green boards; spine gently and evenly faded o/w. in fine condition. Limited to 1,200 copies. A nice example.
Edward Charles Stuart Baker worked as a police officer in Assam. In his spare time, he studied and collected Indian birds. Through these pursuits he amassed nearly 50,000 birds eggs, some of which he donated to the Natural History Museum. The text is a mixture of anecdotes, references to the key people and works of the period and in-depth insight into the birds. The highly talented artists Gronvold, Lodge and Keulemans contributed the plates for this work.
£250.00 [ref: 34471]

view all images for this item

Bewick, Thomas. A General History of Quadrupeds.
4th. Ed. Pub. Newcastle upon Tyne. 1800 pp.[v], vi-x, 525, [i] page errata with woodcut engravings throughout. 8vo. Hardback. Contents very clean indeed and in very near fine condition. More recently rebound in full morocco leather with blind decoration to boards, lettered in gilt to spine, all in fine condition. Marbled end-papers with early bookplate to front pastedown. All edges marbled.
£275.00 [ref: 54210]

view all images for this item

Bree, Charles Robert. A History of the Birds of Europe. Not observed in the British Isles.
2nd. Ed. Pub. George Bell and Sons. 1875-1876 Five volume set with 252 fine hand-coloured/finished wood-engraved plates of birds and eggs. Large 8vo. Some sections uncut. A handful of text leaves a little clumsily opened, one closed tear neatly repaired. A little spotting, o/w. contents very clean indeed and in fine condition. More recent full green morocco, raised bands, gilt lettering and decoration, all in fine condition. A most pleasing set. (Fine Bird Books, Sitwell 1990).
The preferred edition, containing 14 more plates than that found in the first edition.
£1,500.00 [ref: 56339]

view all images for this item

Buchanan, Robert. The Life and Adventures of John James Audubon, the Naturalist. Edited, from materials collected by his widow.
1st. Ed. Pub. Sampson Low, London. 1868 pp.vii, 366, [1], 24 page publisher’s catalogue. 8vo. A small amount of foxing to last few pages of the publishers catalogue at rear of book, to the tissue guard facing the frontis. and to the fore-edges of the text block, o/w. contents very clean and in fine condition. In original green cloth boards, with gilt decoration and lettering to spine, all in thor. vg. condition. A thoroughly vg. copy of the 1st edition.
£400.00 [ref: 47767]

view all images for this item

Butler, Arthur G. Birds of Great Britain and Ireland. Order Passeres.
1st. Ed. Pub. Brumby & Clarke. 1908 Two volumes with 107 chromolithograph plates of Birds and 8 of Eggs. Large 4to. Hardbacks. TEG. One plate a little creased in margin, one with short repaired closed tear in margin. A little spotting, o/w. contents fine. Original quarter buckram over blue cloth, letttered in gilt to spine, all in vg. condition.
These volumes were superbly illustrated by H. Gronvold and F.W. Frohawk.
£275.00 [ref: 55077]

view all images for this item

Coles, Charles. Game Birds. Foreword by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Illustrated by Maurice Pledger.
Ltd. Ed. Pub. Collins. 1981 pp.117 with 24 full-page mounted colour illustrations, plus supporting, highly detailed, b/w. illus. Folio. TEG. Handsomely bound in quarter morocco over cloth. A fine hardback in fine slipcase. From a limited edition of 250 copies, this being No.23. Signed by both author and illustrator. A super work.
Maurice Pledger’s work is held in very high esteem, likened to both Archibald Thorburn and John Gould. In his foreword, Prince Philip wrote ‘The marvellous illustrations by Maurice Pledger are in the very best tradition of bird paintings and for those, like myself, with an interest in game birds and a weakness for such pictures the book will give endless pleasure.’
£300.00 [ref: 45956]

Dresser, Henry Eeles. Eggs of the Birds of Europe. Including all the Species Inhabiting the Western Palæarctic Area.
1st. Ed. Pub. by the Author, at the Office of The RSPB. [1905]-1910 Two volume set (text and plates) with 106 colour plates and further illustrations in text. Original wrappers for all parts bound in at end of plate volume. Royal 4to. Hardbacks. Bookplates of Walter Somerville Gurney (1858-1942). Old crease to last leaf of index. Light coloured foxing to margins of several plates. Scattered spotting to fore-edge of text-block of text volume; internally very minor spotting to several leaves. Otherwise contents fine. Contemporary red half-morocco, spine gilt lettered and richly decorated in six compartments; lightly rubbed, o/w. in fine condition. A superb set.
A superb set of this important work recording ‘the nesting habits and breeding ranges of European birds with half-tones of the nests and nesting sites: also coloured figures of the eggs ad naturam’ (Wood). Walter Rothschild declared the work to be ‘a very real valuable addition to zoological literature, and its best praise is to say that while it completes and rounds of his [Dresser’s] ‘Birds of Europe’, it outshines it in many details’ (British Birds).
£2,250.00 [ref: 56741]

view all images for this item

Dunn, Robert. The Ornithologist’s Guide to The Islands of Orkney and Shetland.
1st. Ed. Pub. by the Author. 1837 pp.x, [2], 128 with lithographic plate and 2 folding maps. 8vo. With plate and map bound at rear. Contents very clean and in near fine condition. Bound in original blue cloth boards in near fine condition. Scarce.
This book describes Hull taxidermist and natural history dealer Robert Dunn’s visits to Orkney and Shetland in the years 1831-35, and includes a record of the birds he encountered. We no longer look on birds in the way that Dunn did - he was a serious collector of birds and their eggs. For the facsimile of this work, published by Peregrine Books (2007), Martin Limbert wrote that it is ‘a window into those times, an essential reference for anyone, whether birder, naturalist, historian or island-goer, interested in the Northern Isles of seventeen decades ago’.
£625.00 [ref: 53591]

view all images for this item

Dunn, Robert. The Ornithologist’s Guide to The Islands of Orkney and Shetland.
1st. Ed. Pub. by the Author. 1837 pp.x, [2], 128 with lithographic plate and 2 folding maps. 8vo. With plate bound as frontis. Some foxing to plate and borders of maps, o/w. contents very clean and fine. Bound in original burgundy cloth boards, gently faded in places, with some wear to cloth on spine., o/w. vg.
This book describes Hull taxidermist and natural history dealer Robert Dunn’s visits to Orkney and Shetland in the years 1831-35, and includes a record of the birds he encountered. We no longer look on birds in the way that Dunn did - he was a serious collector of birds and their eggs. For the facsimile of this work, published by Peregrine Books (2007), Martin Limbert wrote that it is ‘a window into those times, an essential reference for anyone, whether birder, naturalist, historian or island-goer, interested in the Northern Isles of seventeen decades ago’.
£400.00 [ref: 55028]

view all images for this item