Rare books from Natural History Books

London: R. Havell, Marshall Simpkin and Thomas Richardson, 1838. First edition (reissue).. Green morocco on the spine is lightly sunned, a few plates trimmed along the lower margin occasionally touching plate-marks but with no effect to color images, there is no plate number for plate 41; a tight, bright and clean copy in near fine condition.. Pp. (vi), 55 hand-colored copper-engraved and aquatint plates by Havell after Margaret Roscoe's drawings on wove paper with J. Whatman Turkey Mill watermarks dated 1828, interleaved with letterpress descriptions facing each color plate, section titles (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter). Finely bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe in three-quarter dark green morocco over pale green cloth boards, spine with five raised bands, gilt-lettered in three compartments and gilt floral decorations in other compartments, top page edge gilt, 4to (11.5 x 9 inches; 29 x 23 cm). The author was William Roscoe's daughter-in-law and was better known as a botanical artist… Read More

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1862. Second edition.. A hint of soiling in the outer margins of two plates with no effect to the color images; a truly spectacular copy in fine condition in a fine binding.. Pp. viii, 298; 50 splendid hand-colored lithographic plates. Later one-half black morocco leather, spine with 5 raised bands, lettered in gilt on two compartments and decorated with gilt rectangular patterns highlighted with small feathers in the remaining 4 compartments, over green marbled boards with matching green marbled endpapers, lg 8vo (10.75 x 7.5 inches). This is the second edition of John Cassin's beautifully illustrated work on Western birds. The volume features 50 brilliant hand-colored lithographic plates, including many of species discovered after Audubon's Birds and intended to supplement that great work. "In the spring of 1845, John James Audubon, North America's most widely-celebrated naturalist and best-known painter of birds, met for the first and last time… Read More

Boston: Society of Natural History, 1919. First edition.. The original printed wrappers bound in at the rear show light browning, the blank side of the final color plate is soiled, the entire text and all fine color plates are very bright and clean; a near fine copy in a very attractive period one-half leather binding.. Pp. (2), 325-431; 16 full page plates (14 of which are fine chromolithographs finished by hand-coloring, 2 black-and-white photo plates). Recent one-half green goat-skin morocco leather with five raised bands, lettered in gilt in two panels on the spine, over light green English marbled boards, and with matching marbled endpapers with the original pale green printed wrappers bound in at the rear, lg 4to (12 x 9 3/4 inches). Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, volume 8, no. 3. A very rare work issued in a limited edition of only a few hundred copies subsidized by a grant from the Gurdon Saltonstall Fund. Most copies of the original printing were sold by subscription… Read More

London: Published by the editors, F. DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin, 1885-1902. First edition. The cloth binding, text and the lithographic plates of the Reptilia and Batrachia volume are all very bright and clean with few signs of use, the printed wrappers for the prospectus of the series bound in at the rear are edge-worn and a bit soiled; a tight and clean copy in near fine condition.. Pp. i-xx, 1-326; 76 full page lithographed plates by James Green, Mintern Brothers and Peter J. Smith (4 are hand-colored, 8 are chromolithographs with some retouched by hand-coloring; the remainder are fine half-tone lithographs). One-half maroon-red cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, over olive green cloth boards, thick sm folio (12.5 x 10.25 inches; 32 x 26 cm). Bound in at the rear of the volume is the 47 page prospectus for the entire Biologia Centrali-Americana series covering zoology, botany and archaeology in the original printed pale-green wrappers. This prospectus includes an un-colored bird plate… Read More

London: published and sold by the Author, (1770-) 1777. First edition.. The frontispiece is lightly foxed, the 2nd and 76th colored plates show slight flaking of the green pigmentation, occasional offsetting from some uncolored plates onto the facing text leaves, a few faint mars to the outer leather boards, this large attractively-bound volume weighs about 40 pounds; a bright, clean copy in near fine condition.. Pp. (120), engraved emblematic frontispiece, engraved title, subscriber's list, with 108 fine hand-colored engraved plates heightened with gum Arabic (4 hand-colored engraved plates of leaf shapes + 104 hand-colored engraved plates of flowers) and 108 uncolored plates printed in black (all plates in this work appear in two states, one state is hand-colored and the other is monochrome). Bound to style by the Studio Bindery of Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, England, in speckled calf, the covers paneled in blind with on-laid light brown speckled panel surrounding a central area cross-hatched… Read More

Hereford, England: Jakeman and Carver, 1876-1885. First edition.. Just of touch of foxing to the top or bottom margin of six color plates only (plates 6, 9, 17, 60, 65 and 70) - all of the color plates are very bright and clean, there is light foxing to the title page to the following quotation page, additionally the last two text pages show some scattered foxing as do a few other text pages only, the bottom corner of the front cover has an old crease that has been repaired, the cloth on spine has been professionally rebacked with no loss to cloth; a bright, tight and clean copy in very good condition.. Pp. 453 (un-numbered), 77 full-page fine chromolithographed plates from watercolors by Edith E. Bull, Alice B. Ellis and W.G. Smith, lithographed by G. Severeyns of Brussels, 380 line-drawings of fruit in cross-section as text-figures. Contemporary full dark green pebble cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, original salmon-colored endpapers, thick folio (14.75 x 12 inches; 375 x 300 mm). The… Read More

New York + Washington DC: + Doubleday, 1901 + Smithsonian Institution, 1910-1914. Doubleday edition + Smithsonian edition. Private ownership signatures or bookplates in three volumes only, a few corners with slight bumps; a uniformly bright and clean set in near fine to fine condition.. Pp. (vol. I): xxxvii, 1-183; (vol. II): (vi), 185-383; (vol. III): xii, 1-231; (vol. IV): x, 1-173; (vol. V): ix, 1-424; (vol. VI): (not published); (vol. VII): (not published); (vol. VIII): ix, 1-238; (vol. IX): ix, 1-284; (vol. X): x, 1-337; (vol. XI): xii, 1-251; (vol. XII): xiv, 1-355; (vol. XIII): xii, 1-250; (vol. XIV, part 1): xii, 1-408; (vol. XIV, part 2): 1-220; with 452 plates including one tinted lithograph, 2 lithographs printed in two colors, 55 chromolithographs), and 10 chromolithographic maps (5 are folding), 750+ text-figures. Publisher's original dark-green ribbed cloth, spine lettered in gilt with gilt vignettes on the covers featuring a walrus or the Smithsonian seal), sm 4to. In 1899,… Read More

New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1927-1943. First edition.. Some light soiling to the rear cloth covers of two volumes, small bump to front outer corner of volume 4, light wear to cloth at the head and foot of the spine of volume 10, there is an ownership signature of Mary E. Coffey and James E. Coffey on the front attached endpaper of volume 10, there is also an oval name stamp of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the front endpapers of Vol. 1, 4, and 11 and a very small circular stamp of the same institution at the bottom of the title page of the same three volumes, there are no other ownership marks and almost no signs of use; a bright and clean copy in near fine condition.. Pp. (vol. l): l, 1-678, color frontis, 128 photo-plates, 12 text-figures, 3 folding maps; (vol. 2): xxxi, 1-475, color frontis, 43 full page photo-plates/maps, 161 text-figures; (vol. 4): xliii, 1-665, 35 full page halftone plates, 1 color folding geological map, 68 text-figures, (vol. 9): xxxvi, 1-322, 10 full… Read More

Paris: Gabriel de Gonet, (circa 1850-1852).. A bright and clean copy in near fine condition.. Pp. (5), 1-258, (1, index); (8), 1-232; 35 hand-colored plates (2 engraved color frontispieces, 33 engraved color wood engravings). Publisher's original one-quarter calf leather over red textured cloth boards, spine with elaborate gilt decorations surrounding the volume title and number, all page edges with speckles, sm 4to (10 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches; 274 x 186 mm). The text by Nus and Meray are illustrated with fanciful-inspired and characterized butterflies by Amédée Varin. The beautiful hand-colored illustrations are like those seen in Grandville, Les Papillons. They show anthropomorphic depictions of butterflies in a precursor of Surrealism. No ownership marks and only a few signs of use.

Hanoi: Institut Océanographique de l'Indochine, 1942. First edition.. Light foxing to the front endpaper only, a bright and clean copy in fine condition.. Pp. x, 547 (6), 191 fine text-figures, 1 map, 4 full page fine color plates. Early dark green cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and with gilt panel lines at the head and foot of the spine, thick small folio (32 x 22.5 cm). According to Adler, History of Herpetology, volume 1, p. 107: this is the first herpetological review of the amphibians of French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos). From the private research collection of Cornell University herpetologist Kraig Adler with his small bookplate on the front attached endpaper and his signature in the top corner of the title page. This work in now very scarce.

Caracas, Venezuela: Edicions de la Presidencia de la Republica, 1986-1988. Limited edition.. A fine set in slightly edge-worn dust jackets.. This is a 10-volume compilation of all the writings by the Prussian-Venezuelan naturalist Adolf Ernst. These articles were published in German, English and Spanish in journals from around the world. This commemorative edition was limited to 1000 copies published by the Venezuelan government in 1986-1988 honoring Adolfo Ernst. The 10-volume opus was not released commercially but given only on a complimentary basis to selected individuals and distributed primarily in Venezuela. Very few copies are in private or institutional hands outside of Venezuela. The contents of the set follow: Tomo I: Botanica 1; Tomo II: Botanica 2; Tomo III: La Exposicion Nacional de Venezuela en 1883 1; Tomo IV: La Exposicion Nacional de Venezuela en 1883 2; Tomo V: Zoologia; Tomo VI: Antropologia; Tomo VII: Ciencias de la Tierra; Tomo VIII: Exposiciones Venezolanas en el… Read More

London: G. Bowyer for Soc. for Encouragement of Learning, sold by J. Whiston, etc., 1744. First edition.. Some edge-wear and rubbing to the head and foot of the spine, the text is very bright and clean in a recent clamshell box, a clean very good copy.. Pp. xiv, xxvii, (36), 603, (1); (605)-1128, (86), with engraved title- and end- vignette, and with woodcut ornaments. There is Greek and Latin parallel text throughout. Contemporary brown morocco leather, spine with five raised bands, lettered in one compartment, housed in clamshell box covered in green cloth and with brown morocco title/author label on spine lettered in gilt, 4to. This work by Claudius Aelianus (Aelian) was one of the major attempts to classify animals before Linnaeus. There is a section on herpetology. The work was originally written in Greek and later translated into Latin by Gesner. This London edition is based on the first critical edition by Conrad Gesner (1516-1565) and contains commentaries by D. W. Triller (1694-1775).… Read More

La Haye, France: J. Kips, J. Hz. et W. P. Stockum, 1837. First edition.. Some faint browning to the endpapers, and to the front and rear boards, top and bottom outer corners of the front board rubbed, faint creases to rear side of the three double page maps, a tight and clean copy in very good condition.. Pp. (4), 21 full-page lithographed plates by W.H. Hoogkamer, three double page maps (with color highlights), one double page table, one quadruple page folding table. Original printed paper-covered boards, lettered in black and with an ornate floral-design border surrounding the text block, original gray endpapers, lg folio (17 x 13 inches). Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist who began his career working for Jacob Temminck, Director of the Natural History Museum of Leiden. Schlegel later succeeded Temminck as Director of the Museum. Schlegel early work was mostly herpetological in nature. His most famous herpetological work was “Essai sur la… Read More

London: John Murray, 1872. First edition.. Faint crack to paper only on the inner front hinge (the joint remains tight), faint foxing to front blank endpaper and to the title page, otherwise a tight and clean copy in near fine condition.. Pp. (ii), vi, 374, 4 pp., including publisher's advertisements dated November 1872, with 7 heliotype plates (3 folding) and 19 text-figures. Publisher’s forest green cloth, spine is lettered in gilt and with gilt-decorations, cloth on the front and rear covers is blind-stamped with borders, 8vo. Freeman #1142. The fine heliotype plates are numbered in Roman numerals. This is the first edition of Darwin’s well-known work on animal behavior and communication theory. Darwin studied the movement of facial muscles and how they express emotion in man and animals. The heliotype photo plates are works of art and demonstrate a new breakthrough in Victorian photography. From the research collection of James L. Lack Jr. with his signature dated Boston,… Read More

London: Henry Sotheran and Company, 1887. First edition.. A fine copy with brilliant hand-colored plates in a fine Morocco leather binding.. Pp. (vii), (199); 58 hand-colored lithographs of hummingbirds by John Gould and/or W. Hart, each with a descriptive leaf of text. Full green Morocco leather, spine with five bands, lettered in gilt on two red Morocco title/author labels in two compartments and elaborate gilt-decorations in the four other compartments, front and rear covers with elaborate wide bands of gilt floral designs, outer board edges with single wavy gilt line and gilt turn-ins featuring the same wide band of gilt floral designs, this time framing the dark green silk endpapers, all page edges in gilt, large folio (22 x 14.5 inches). This supplement volume was published in 5 parts of which Part I appeared in 1880, Part II in 1881, Part III in 1883, Part IV in 1885 and Part V in 1887 which included the title page for the Supplement. Gould died after the first part had been issued, but… Read More