The Natural History of the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland Vols I-IV: Birds of Prey; Incessores; Rasores and Grallatores; and Natatores by Sir William Jardine - 1838

Edinburgh: W H Lizars, 1838 A complete 4 volume set of the Birds of Great Britain from the Naturalist's Library. With 4 black and white frontispieces; 4 vignette title pages of which 2 are hand coloured; and 129 hand coloured plates. This set has been rebound in plain green cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. The page edges have been trimmed and marbled and new endpapers added. The bindings are in near fine clean condition. Vol I: Birds of Prey - frontispiece portrait of Sibbald; black and white vignette title page; plain title 1838; advert; contents listing; memoir and text 315pp; 34 hand coloured plates at the rear. Vol II: Incessores - frontispiece portrait of Smellie; hand coloured vignette title page; title 1839; advert; contents; memoir and text 409pp; and 30 hand coloured plates at the rear. Vol III: Rasores and Grallatores - frontispiece portrait of Walker; hand coloured vignette title page; plain title 1842; advert; contents list; memoir and text 349pp and 34 hand coloured plates. Vol IV: Natatores - title 1843; frontispiece portrait of Wilson; vignette title page; advert; contents list; memoir and text 313pp; note to binder and 31 hand coloured plates. Contents are in very good to near fine condition. In Vol I plate 22 has been bound the wrong way so the top of a bird's head is trimmed and there is also a small piece missing from the gutter which does not affect the image. In Vol III plate 13 has slight loss to one edge. In Vol IV the plate paper is lightly toned and in some plates, the rough edge between plates on the original plate paper is showing.