Birds and Ornithology

1884. GREENE, W. T. PARROTS IN CAPTIVITY, 3 VOLUMES. London: George Bell and Sons, 1884 - 1887. First editions. Three different 8vo. green cloth bindings, the third volume being about 1/2 inch taller. x + 144 pp/xiv + 114 pp/viii + 144 pp. Volume 3 lacks the last three plates. Light soil and wear to cloth, corners bumped. Gilt slightly faded on Vol. 1 and 2's spines; Vol. 3 has a printed paper spine label. Hinges cracked in first 2 volumes, third sound with light foxing to endpapers. Light pale foxing to edges of frontispiece in Volumes 1 and 3; else the plates are fine. Total of 78 beautiful chromolithograph plates.

LONDON: George Bell & Sons, 1870 A nice set of the second edition of Morris's History of British Birds. In 6 volumes with original decorative cloth bindings and 365 hand coloured plates as called for. The bindings are all clean with bright gilt pictures of birds to each front board and gilt titles and decoration to spine. There is some wear: volume I has some cloth splitting at the hinges and splitting at the rear endpaper with rubbing to corners; volumes II, III and IV have very slight pulling to top and bottom of spine and a little rubbing at corners; volume V has very small splits at the top and bottom of the spine; and volume VI has a 1 inch tear at the top of the spine (with no loss) and scuffing at the corners. Internally all have the original endpapers; the first section including the frontispiece is becoming loose on volumes I, II, and III; volume IV is sound but the stitching is looser than on the others. There is a little spotting to some plates and text pages but in general the… Read More

Bewick, Thomas: (1753-1828) History of British Birds. The Figures Engraved on Wood by T. Bewick. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 containing the description and history of land birds etc. Newcastle: Sol. Hodgson; Edward Walker 1797; 1804, 1804. 2 vols. 8vo. xxx, [ii], 335, [1]; xx, 400 pp. With 233 cuts of birds in the text. Contemporary half-polished calf over boards, spine gilt; an excellent copy with respect to the interior of the book. Unfortunately the board is detached and nearly off. This copy is signed by Henry Oates and resented to him by his Aunt Ann Rayner in Dec. 1797. Ascended from Joseph Henry Oates to Lawrence (Titus) Oates who accompanied Scott on his expedition to the South Pole.
First edition, second issue as shown by the presence of the words "Wycliffe, 1791" from the figure of the sea eagle on p. 11 of Volume I. Mottled calf over paper boards with some damage to the leather on volume one and volume two. Occasional spotting but otherwise a nice clean and internally bright copy. This is a very… Read More

LONDON, CASSELL. A SUPER COPY, NEWLY REBOUND IN RED HALF-LEATHER OVER MAROON CLOTH, RAISED BANDS, GILT TITLES ON BLACK LABELS, NEW MARBLED ENDPAPERS, ELABORATE GILT DESIGN TO SPINE PANELS. NO DATE BUT CIRCA 1890. WITH 50 FULL COLOUR PLATES FROM PAINTINGS BY J W LUDLOW AND MANY OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. EXTRA POSTAGE WILL BE REQUIRED. PIGEONS, BIRDS,

Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Charles Stuart & Co , 1890. Gilt decoration. Raised bands to spine. All gilt edges. Marbled endpapers. Minor marks to boards. Foxing to early and late pages. Previous owners name to each volume. Tissue guarded colour plates. Volumes 4, 5 and 6 only of a 6 volume set. . Full Leather. Very Good/No Jacket. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall.

Long Cane Press, 2004. Hardcover with dust jacket. Used- Fine condition. Signed by the author. Book is number 537 of the numbered and signed first edition. Book is clean and tight. Book shows light shelf wear. Slight crease along the bottom edge on the front cover of the dust jacket. No further markings on the inside of the book. Photos are of the book we have here at Barbed Wire Books.

Chromolithograph by Julius Bien. 654 x 970 mm; 25 3/4 x 38 1/4 inches. A nice cleaned image with closed tears to lower portion (which see).

Bungay: Printed and published by Brightly & Childs. Published also by T Kinnersley, 1815 A fair to good 2 volume set in new quarter cloth and marbled board bindings with 151 of 152 hand-coloured plates. As is usual with the Bungay publications, the paper quality is poor, tending to attract dirt and staining. The plate collation is always haphazard. An interesting work however and scarce. The bindings are in fine condition with leather title labels to spines. Contents: Vol I: title; contents list, plate directions and introduction xxxv; text pp 1-586 with 70 of 71 plates. The plate of the American Redstart is lacking. Vol II: title; text pp 1-700 with 81 plates. There is a lot of offsetting from plates to text and staining/grubby marking. There is some professional paper repair including to p25 in Vol II where there is some text loss at the bottom corner. Please ask for additional images if you would like to further assess condition.

WE ARE HAPPY TO PRESENT: Flack, Marjorie. THE STORY ABOUT PING. TRUE FIRST EDITION 1933 VIKING PRESS. 3 lines of copyright information. HARDCOVER. BACK DJ FLAP INCLUDES JUNIOR VIKING COUPON. Matching blue floating duck back board and dust jacket panels do not bear weekly reader logo. PLEASE SEE OUR PHOTO OF DJ BACK PANEL. Unclipped Front DJ flap priced at $1.00 . ILLUSTRATED BY KURT WIESE. QUITE THE FIND. USED. VERY GOOD CONDITION/ GOOD CONDITION DJ. A CLEAN SOLID COPY. PLEASE SEE OUR PHOTOS. Summary " Ping was an adventurous duck who lived on a beautiful wise-eyed boat on the Yangtze River. He liked his life on the riverboat just and liked his large family and his kind master. He didn't like to be the last in line to board the boat at night, for that unlucky duck got a loud spank" . Will ship from Oregon.

Beautifully illustrated in full color folio size. This book is in excellent condition with some wear to points as is to be expected. Gilt stamped front cover. Insides of cover discolored due to age.

Complete set with 144 fine bird plates drawn, engraved and hand-coloured mostly by George Graves, (A few plates after Samuel Howitt and Sydenham Edwards, and engraved by Weddell and Warner.)A nice set of this study of British birds, with many songbirds, game birds, owls and hawks, divers, waders, and sea birds.Second edition of first two volumes (originally published in parts from 1811 and 1821), but first edition of the complete set (the third volume first appearing in 1821).With the title typo: British Ornithology, Being the History, with a Coloured Representation, of Every Kown [sic] Species of British Birds.George Graves (1784-1839), FLS, was an English publisher, artist, engraver and colourist who worked on botanical and ornithological works. Apart from British Birds (1811-1821), he also wrote and illustrated Ovarium Britannicum (1816), The Naturalist's Pocket Book (1817), and A Monograph on British Grasses (1822). From 1817, he oversaw the hand-colouring and publishing with William Jackson… Read More

RARE SIGNED STATED FIRST EDITION: Gaddis, Thomas E.: Birdman Of Alcatraz, The Story of Robert Stroud .1955 Random House 1st. Ed. w/ exlib replacement 1st Ed. DJ is an original HARVEY GABOR White/black jail bars/ bird inset dust jacket protected by a mylar wrap. Unclipped Front flap states 9/55. Used. Good-/Good condition original dust jacket. Front cover states: "The fantastic true story of the prisoner with the longest record of solitary confinement in the United States – who became a leading authority on birds." The original source material for the gripping American film starring Burt Lancaster. Quite the find. Will ship from Oregon.

New York: George R. Lockwood, [1870 or 1871]. Seventh and final edition. Very good condition in good binding.. Octavo (29 cm); two works in 11 volumes, comprising The Birds of America in 8 volumes and The Quadrupeds of North America in 3 volumes. Collated complete (collation upon request) with 500 tinted and hand-colored lithographic plates of birds and 155 of mammals by W. E. Hitchcock and R. Trembly after Audubon, printed and hand finished by J.T. Bowen. Uniformly bound as issued in black half morocco over green marbled boards, with gilt edging where leather and paper meet. Spines in six compartments, with arabesque lozenges and corners in gilt, along with titles and volume numbers. Top edges gilt. Binding has been reinforced to functional condition, with all joints strengthened with Japanese paper repairs, corners and edges rebuilt where necessary, along with spine ends; some gaps in gilding on spines and labels. Bindings are presentable. Interior remarkably fresh and clean, without spots… Read More

Goldsmith, Oliver A History of the Earth and Animated Nature. Glasgow, Edinburgh: Blackie and Son, 1852. 2 volumes, 8vo, modern quarter calfBiologie, Geïllustreerd, Geschiedenis, Natuurlijke historie, Ornithologie, Verzamelwerken - Aantal: 2 - Handgekleurde illustratiesObject: Boek (Meer kavels)Aantal boeken: 2Onderwerp: Biologie, Geïllustreerd, Geschiedenis, Natuurlijke historie, Ornithologie, VerzamelwerkenAuteur/ Illustrator: Oliver GoldsmithBoektitel: A History of the Earth and Animated NatureStaat: Zeer GoedPublicatiejaar oudste item.: 1852Druk: Geïllustreerde drukTaal: EngelsOorspronkelijke taal: JaUitgever: Blackie & Son - Queen St Glasgow, Edinburgh, LondonBand: HalfleerExtra's: Handgekleurde illustratiesAfmetingen: 25,5×16 cm- Oliver Goldsmith- A History of the Earth and Animated Nature - Volume 1 and 2 (complete matching & very handsome set, newly bound, very tight)- Blackie & Son Queen St Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, 1852- Vol I; lxii, 564 pp with a portrait frontispiece and a color… Read More

The Poison Belt. 1913 FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. By Arthur Conan Doyle. Hodder & Stoughton/ George H. Doran. States Hodder & Stoughton on the spine. RARE. Illustrated. Red Boards with gilt titling. Gilting still bright. All 16 B&W plates, including frontis, present and affixed to binding. 2nd
TITLE OF THE PROFESSOR CHALLENGER SERIES. "Being an account of Another Amazing Adventure of Professor Challenger. USED. Bright pages. Good Condition/ No DJ Included. 5 ¼ X 7 ¾. 252 pages. RARE. Plot summary: "The Earth is about to pass through a belt of poisonous gas (ether) that will destroy all life. However, in the interest of science, Challenger has transformed his wife's boudoir and his own room into a single airtight chamber, so the chosen few can gain a few hours and witness the extinction of life on Earth."