THE WATER BIRDS of NORTH AMERICA, 2 Volumes, Complete. by Baird, S.F., Brewer, T.M. and Ridgway, R - 1884

Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1884. First edition. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED BIOLOGY OF AMERICAN WATER BIRDS BY FIRST CURATOR OF SMITHSONIAN. Two hardcover volumes 10 3/4 inches tall, mustard cloth binding, gilt title to spines, numerous wood engravings throughout. Vol. I, xi, 537 pp; Vol. II, [vi], 552 pp. Fine--as new. SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD (1823 - 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He would eventually serve as the second Secretary of the Smithsonian, from 1878 until 1887. He published over 1,000 works during his lifetime. He was dedicated to expanding the natural history collections of the Smithsonian and upon his death, had done so by expanding the collection from 6,000 specimens in 1850 to over 2 million upon his death. Cited by Newton in Science, Technology, and Society in the 19th Century (2001): "One of Baird's first projects at the Smithsonian was the… Read More

Boston: Little Brown, 1884. hardcover. near fine. 2 volumes. With hundreds of woodcut text illustrations, some hand colored. Thick 4to, original gilt pictorial green cloth, t.e.g. partly uncut. Boston: Little Brown, 1884. First Edition. Near Fine.<br/> <br/> Baird, "described what he saw and in such fashion that no subsequent observer had any doubt as to what he meant. Persistance in accuracy is the foundation of the "Baird School" in ornithology." DAB I, 514.<br/> <br/>