DONALD A. HEALD Rare Books, Prints and Maps

124 East 74th Street , New York 10021 Tel: 212 744 3505 Fax: 212 628 7847 [email protected] www.donaldheald.com

California Antiquarian Book Fair February 2016 §§§ Addendum

1] ADAMS, John Quincy (1767-1848). Oration on the Life and Character of Gilbert Motier de Lafayette, Delivered at the Request of Both Houses of the Congress of the United States ... on the 31st December, 1834. Washington, D.C.: Gales and Seaton, 1835. 8vo (8 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches). 94pp. Contemporary full purple morocco, flat spine tooled and lettered in gilt, green endpapers.

First edition: thick paper issue in a full morocco presentation binding.

The former President of the United States and Harvard professor of rhetoric delivered this great oration to Congress to commemorate Lafayette's important contribution to American Liberty. Adams' oration was read before both Houses of Congress on 31 December 1834. The Appendix prints the proceedings initiated by Adams on 21 June 1834 "to consider and report by what token of respect and affection it may be proper for the Congress of the United States to express the deep sensibility of the Nation to the event of the decease of General Lafayette." The resolution was passed unanimously.

Two issues of this work were published, on regular paper and on thick paper (as here), with the latter generally bound in elaborate full morocco bindings like the present.

American Imprints 29946; Sabin 295. (#30490) $ 3,750.

2] AMERICAN REVOLUTION - Edmund BURKE (1729-1797); and William PITT (1708-1778). [Sammelband of three important works by Edmund Burke and William Pitt, regarding American Independence]. London: 1775. 3 volumes in 1, quarto (10 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches). Bound to style in half period russia over period marbled paper covered boards, spine with raised bands in six compartments, red morocco lettering piece. Provenance: Francis Maseres (contemporary ink marginalia and signatures).

An important association copy of three important works, including first editions of two famous speeches by the English orator Edmund Burke.

The works included are as follows (in bound order):

1) Edmund Burke: The Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq; On Moving His Resolutions for Conciliation with the Colonies, March 22, 1775. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1775. [4], 65pp. First edition. "Contains the famous sentence: "Whatever England has been growing to by a progressive increase of government, brought in by varieties of people, by succession of civilizing conquest and civilizing settlements, in a series of seventeen hundred years, you shall see as much added to her by America in a single life" (Sabin). Adams, Controversy 75-17a; Howes B979, "b."; Sabin 9296.

2) Edmund Burke. Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq. On American Taxation, April 19, 1774. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1775. iv, 57, [1]pp. First edition. Burke's famous argument for the repeal of the duty on tea. Adams, Controversy 75-16a; Howes B980, "b."; Sabin 9295.

3) William Pitt. Plan Offered by the Earl of Chatham, to the House of Lords, entitled, A Provisional Act, for Settling the Troubles in America, and for Asserting the Supreme Legislative Authority and Superintending Power of Great Britain over the Colonies. London: Printed for J. Almon, 1775. 14, [1]pp. First edition. William Pitt was one of America's staunchest supporters before the Revolution. This was his grand plea for conciliation, presented in February 1775. Pitt argued for complete sovereignty of Parliament over the colonies, but at the same time requested the King to recall the troops from Boston. His plan was defeated. Rosenbach called the work rare in his seventh catalog in 1913. Not in Adams. Nebenzahl 12:136; Rosenbach 7:480, "rare"; Sabin 63071.

The first two works bound in the sammelband are by Burke. The first, a masterful March, 1775 speech, urges a reconciliation with the colonies. In the second, on the subject of American taxation, Burke urges the Crown to repeal the tea tax. Both of these works are especially rare in their first editions. The third work is a plan put forth by former Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder, proposing the recall of British troops from Boston and a conciliatory policy toward the colonies. Both statesmen, in opposition to the prevailing English administration. hoped to prevent the war which was on the verge of breaking out; needless to say, their voices of reason did not prevail, but these speeches are among the most famous given by English statesmen of the period.

The half title of the first work is signed "F. Maseres. May 25, 1775," and this first work includes some ink marginalia in his hand; the titlepages of the second and third works are signed "F. Maseres." From 1766 to 1769, Francis Maseres was attorney general of the new British province of Quebec and was involved in colonial affairs in Quebec after the revolution.

An important assemblage of three important conciliatory efforts by two of the most important American sympathizers of the pre-Revolutionary period, once belonging to an important British official in Revolutionary-era Quebec. (#29390) $ 17,500.

3] - John W. TAYLOR, photographer (1846-1918). [Album containing 154 albumen photographs of Chicago by a noted photographer, including important architectural images, as well as images relating to the preparations for the 1893 World's fair, the stockyards as described by Upton Sinclair, and more]. Chicago: [circa 1890]. Oblong folio (10 3/4 x 13 inches). 152 albumen photographs, most 7 x 9 inches, mounted recto and verso of each leaf within the album. Images captioned in manuscript on the mount below the image, many signed in white ink or in the negative by Taylor. Expertly bound to style in half dark purple morocco over period cloth covered boards, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers.

A remarkable album of early Chicago photography by John W. Taylor: a significant photographic record of Chicago in the late 19th century.

A major photographic record of the city of Chicago and its architecture in the late 19th century, almost entirely the work of the significant photographer John W. Taylor, with his imprint in the negative. Taylor was a bookseller and stationer before advertising himself as a commercial photographer in the late 1880s. He concentrated his work on Chicago-area architecture and city infrastructure. Today he is recognized as a pioneering photographer of architecture, working in Chicago at the very beginning of the skyscraper era. This superb photograph album presents a fairly comprehensive view of Chicago's architecture and life during one of the city's most interesting and vibrant periods, from the highest of the skyscrapers to the interiors of pig pens in the stockyards, with numerous residences, parks, lush interiors, the 1893 World's Fair, and more in-between.

Taylor's importance as one of the earliest significant architectural photographers is addressed in Peter Bacon Hales' Silver Cities: Photographing American Urbanization, 1839-1939: "Photographers of the older generation managed to retain their identities even as they adjusted to their more prosaic role as visual adjuncts to the architects who designed the buildings they photographed. J.W. Taylor of Chicago, for example, made an extensive survey of the "modern" buildings of Chicago and its environs, many of which traveled throughout the globe as architects and engineers converged on the city in the later 1800s and beyond to see the miracle of the Chicago style of building. Taylor's pictures went as far as Melbourne, Australia, in the collection of Australian architect E.G. Kilburn, who made his pilgrimage to the architects' mecca in 1889. Kilburn stared, sketched, and took notes; then he brought back photographs by Taylor of everything from the Pullman company town to the Palmer House."

Chicago has been an especially important architectural center since the period represented in this collection. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed most of the buildings in the downtown area, a special class of architects and engineers flocked to the city, resulting in an architectural boom unequaled in the history of 19th century urban development. Hallowed names such as Louis Sullivan, Dankmar Adler, John M. Van Osdel, Daniel Burnham, William W. Boyington, William LeBaron Jenney, John Wellborn Root, William Holabird, Martin Roche, Edward Baumann, Harris W. Huel, Solon Spencer Beman, and Clinton J. Warren stamped their unique architectural character on the Chicago landscape. Each of these architects is amply represented in the photographs contained herein. There is even one photograph of the magnificent lobby of the Rookery Building, considered the grandest lobby in Chicago at the time. This view is especially interesting to architectural historians because this interior was remodeled a short time later, in 1905 by Adler & Sullivan's former head draftsman, Frank Lloyd Wright. The late 19th century was also a transitional time in building construction, when architects were beginning to leave behind cast iron frames and experiment with steel-frame construction and large areas of plate glass, especially in the "Commercial Style" made famous by Sullivan and others in the Chicago School. As a result, some of the earliest modern skyscrapers are found in Chicago.

A general summary of the photographs in the album is as follows: forty-two buildings including the Masonic Temple (the tallest skyscraper in the world at the time), the Woman's Temple, the Rookery Building, the Chamber of Commerce, the Monadnock Building, the Northern Hotel, the Home Insurance Building, the Tacoma Building, the Caxton Building, the Pullman Building, the Oakland Hotel, the Grand Pacific Hotel, Palmer House, the Auditorium Building, 's, the Lester Building, the Hotel Metropole, Libby Prison, the New Regiment Armory, depots, and churches; seven downtown street scenes; seventeen residential streets, including Lake Shore Dr. and Michigan Ave., and residences of prominent citizens, including Potter Palmer and Lambert Tree; twenty parks, pavilions, and recreation scenes; three of Grant Monument and its unveiling; ten scenes, some with animals; three of Garfield Park; ten featuring World's Fair building construction; nine views of the October 1892 World's Fair dedication, showing ceremonies and a large parade; two scenes of boating; twelve views of stockyards and meat processing, six exterior and interior views of an auditorium; eight interiors including Palmer House and a bank; and three scenes of horse racing at Washington Park.

Taylor's photographs reside in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (fifty-six images) and the Chicago History Museum (150 images). The subject matter of those collections, and the present work overlap significantly, testament to the prodigious nature of Taylor's output. For example, this collection has a significant number of images related to the World's Columbian Exposition (a.k.a., the Chicago World's Fair) of 1893; the Chicago History Museum collection contains no images from this monumental event in Chicago's history.

A truly remarkable record of Chicago architecture by a significant photographer. (#29191) $ 27,500.

4] DODOENS, Rembert (1517-1285); and Henry LYTE (1529-1607). A New Herbal, or Historie of Plants: Wherein is contained the whole discourse and perfect description of all sorts of Herbes and Plants ... now first translated our of French into English by Henry Lyte, Esquire. Corrected and amended. London: Edward Griffin, 1619. Small folio, bound in sixes (10 5/8 x 7 inches). Title within an elaborate woodcut border. [22], 564, [30]pp. Title remargined at top and bottom at an early date, repaired tear to C1. 19th century smooth tan calf, spine with raised bands, red morocco lettering pieces.

Second folio edition of Lyte's English translation of Dodoen's herbal.

Henry Lyte's English translation of Dodoen's herbal was first published in 1578; the present 1619 unillustrated edition was the fourth and final edition in English, but the second folio edition to be published. The first Dutch edition of the work was published in 1554. "Lyte prepared A nieuwe herball with care. He compared 'the latest Dutch copy' of the Cruydtboeck with the French version, and in placed made corrections and additions. Moreover, it appears that after Lyte had finished his work, Robert Dodoens sent fresh material, which the English translator incorporated in A niewe herball" (Henrey I: pp. 35-36).

Dodoen's divided the plant kingdom in six groups, and focussed largely on medicinal herbs. "Although Dodoen's neither lived in England nor had any of his works printed here, his Cruydtboeck became one of the standard works in this country thought Lyte's translation" (Rohde).

STC 6987; Henrey 113; Rohde, p. 212; Johnston 167; Pritzel 2345; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 1488 (#30406) $ 2,250.

5] EVELYN, John (1620-1706); and William BRAY, editor. Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn ... comprising his diary, from the year 1641 to 1705-6, and a selection of his familiar letters ... The whole now first published from the original mss. London: Printed for Henry Colburn ... Sold by John & Arthur Arch, 1818. 2 volumes, quarto (11 5/8 x 9 inches). 8 engraved plates, folding pedigree table. Extra-illustrated with 3 engraved plates after Coney depicting the exterior of Wotten Church, interior of Wotten Church, and Evelyn's tomb. Contemporary tan pigskin, covers bordered with gilt rules, gilt arms on covers, spines with semi-raised wide bands in five compartments, lettered in the second, the others with a repeat decoration in gilt, marbled endpapers and edges. Provenance: Earls of Dartmouth (arms in gilt on covers).

A tall wide-margined copy of the first edition in a lovely period binding and with three extra-illustations: from the library of the Earls of Dartmouth.

The bulk of the text is taken from Evelyn's journal "written by him in a very small close hand, in a quarto volume containing 700 pages, which goes from 1641 to 1697, and from thence is continued in a smaller book till within about three weeks of his death ... These books, with numberless other papers in his handwriting, are in the valuable Library at Wotton, which was chiefly collected by him" (Preface).

Keynes 132 (#30599) $ 2,200.

6] [FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR] - [Thomas MOODY]. [Significant manuscript diary recording troop movements and experiences from the Campaign of 1760 during the French and Indian War, as well as a partial account of service in Halifax in 1761]. Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Halifax.: 1760-1761. [148]pp. Contemporary calf journal. Front cover and spine perished, rear leather worn. Text corners creased, a few corners clipped. In a modern full black morocco box.

An important French and Indian War diary.

An important and substantial manuscript journal recording a soldier's movements during the French and Indian War. Thomas Moody (1733-1799) was a farmer, tanner, and shoemaker in York, Maine. He was desended from two Harvard-educated ministers: his grandfather Samuel Moody, pastor of the First Parish Church of York, and his father, Joseph "Handkerchief" Moody, pastor of the Second Parish Church, the latter thought to be the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, "The Minister's Black Veil."

Moody, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Company of Capt. John Wentworth of Kittery, here records the daily progress of the militia unit bound to engage in action near Montreal during the French and Indian War. Moody describes the expedition by foot, horseback, and by water transport, beginning in York on "Monday the 12th of May 1760." The militia's movements then take him south through Massachusetts, west to Albany, then north toward Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Lake Champlain, and Isle aux Noix, returning to York via Vermont and New Hampshire on December 1. The diary includes rare and important lists relating to the war: officers of the Provincial regiments assembled at Crown Point, a list of those returning arms at Ticonderoga, supplies purchased by the men of his company, and a list of company members who either died in service or deserted.

Moody includes daily news of movements, mentioning locations and officers by name, and includes news of training, courts martial proceedings, the details of camp deaths from disease and injury, encounters with native peoples, and much more. Moody was serving during the critical closing months of the war, in an important geographical area. He mentions British General Jeffery Amherst by name; Amherst was responsible for negotiations with the French in Montreal in the Fall of 1760, essentially ending the war in North America. Moody's militia unit was close to the action in this area during Autumn 1760, and his journal helps to contextualize events towards the end of the war. A handful of short excerpts from the diary are as follows:

1) May 12, 1760: "Set out for the Expedition and May the Eternal Jehovah the Protector of all the end of the Earth and of them that are afar off upon the Seas Protect and defend me from all Dangers and return me in safety in His Good Time."

2) June 11: "Receiv'd news that the French had Quit the Siege of Quebec."

3) July 29: "This Day a Detachment of 150 Provincials went to carry prov. to the New Hampshire forces. Mr. Warren is with them."

4) August 17: "This morning a very unfortunate accident...Capt Legy of the Royals Artillery both his Leggs shot off died soon after. Christopher Langley the calf of his Leg shot away, Nathaniel March both of his Legs. James Unin(?) of our Company shot off by the knee, the Amputation was above. Robart Towerson his knee which was Amputated. This Morn I was order'd with 60 Men of our Regiments to carry the Provision down to a small Island where I had a view of the Poor unhappy Persons above Mentioned."

5) August 27: "This Moments had a view of one that was torn and Burnt after a most Miserable Manner a Number of Shells catcht on Fire and made a most Terrible explosion a Regular Soldier had his Thies Shot off."

6) August 28: "Last Night about midnight the French abandoned their Stronghold and we and the Regulars some of them took Possession of it found one Capt.a nd 30 Privates together with a great many that were sick and wounded. Hoisted an English Flag."

7) September 5: "Lt. Furnam from Fort Chambley brings advice that the French surrendered the Fort without fireing more than once or twice."

8) October 21: "This Day 10 Indians with Wives & Children came in and surrendered themselves."

9) November 27: "Thanksgiving Day I understand but no sines of it for we can scarcely get any thing to eat."

10) December 1: "From Exeter home after a very Fatigueing Journey of 13 Days one and a half of which I rested on the road."

The journal also includes a few pages from Moody's time in Halifax, where it appears he served with his militia unit in 1761. Also includes a substantial number of pages recording business transactions, including a list of hides Moody most assuredly used in his tannery.

A segment only of the journal was published as The Diary of Thomas Moody: Campaign of 1760 of the French and Indian War, edited by P.M. Woodwell (South Berwick, Maine: Chronicle Print Shop, 1976).

A very interesting and significant journal chronicling one soldier's experiences in the closing months of the French and Indian War. (#29890) $ 25,000.

7] PAPWORTH, John Buonarotti (1775-1847). Hints on Ornamental Gardening: consisting of a series of designs for garden buildings, useful and decorative gates, fences, railings, &c. London: Printed for R. Ackermann ... By J. Diggens, 1823. 8vo (11 x 7 1/2 inches). 28 hand-coloured aquatint plates (one with an overlay in sepia, as issued). Publisher's ads in the rear. Uncut. Publisher's paper boards, expertly rebacked to style, paper spine label.

First edition of one of the best of the early nineteenth-century English gardening books.

"A necessary companion volume to the author's Rural Residences and of greater rarity" (Abbey). This work originated as a series of articles in Ackermann's Repository between 1819-1821, with the best of the plates selected by Papworth with revised and expanded descriptions. "Well printed with pleasing little plates and readable text" (Prideaux).

John Papworth (1775-1847) was a successful architect and artist and founding member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He also designed residential interiors and practiced as a landscape designer. The colour aquatints include images of English rustic huts, an aviary, rustic bridges, a picturesque dairy, a conservatory, a fountains, an apiary, alcoves, garden seats, fences, gates and railings, etc.

Abbey, Life 46 (#29727) $ 2,500.

8] POUNCY, John C. (circa 1808-1894). Dorsetshire Photographically Illustrated ... The detail and touch of nature faithfully reproduced by a new process on stone, by which views are rendered truthful, artistic and durable. London: Bland & Long; Dorchester: John Pouncy, Photographic Institution, [1857]. 4 parts in 2 volumes, oblong small folio (10 1/8 x 14 1/8 inches). 79 photolithographic plates (one double-page). Lithographic title in vol. 1, prospectus, list of subscribers and ad leaf in vols. 1 and 2. Contemporary manuscript list of contents in vol. 1 mounted on the front pastedown. Publisher's slip laid into vol. 1 requesting subscribers to remit payment. (Minor foxing). Publisher's purple cloth, covers decoratively blocked in blind, upper covers lettered in gilt, yellow endpapers. Housed in a black morocco-backed box.

A landmark in the intersection between photography and lithography: a rare complete copy of the first book illustrated with prints produced from photographic negatives transferred onto lithographic stones.

"John Pouncy's Doresetshire Photographically Illustrated was the first book illustrated by photolithography to be published in Britain. A survey of mansions, churches and other places of interest in Dorset, the work was published by subscription in four parts in 1857, the first volume containing 39 and the second 40 plates ... As far as we know Pouncy's rare book was not only the first but remained the only attempt in book form to reproduce photographic views from nature by photolithography" (Gernsheim, History of Photography, p. 546).

The author (or Projector as he refers to himself), writes in the introduction: "Believing the county of Dorset ... to be well deserving of a detailed Pictorial representation, the Projector of the present series of plates resolved to apply the art of Photograph to the purpose, and announced his work accordingly. Since that announcement was made, however, Photography has undergone various vicissitudes. Having at first been liberally and almost enthusiastically patronized by the public, it has now somewhat lost credit in consequence of a discovery, which time alone was able to make, and which time has unfortunately rendered notorious. It is found that Photographs very generally fade. Astonishing as is the effect, and almost perfect as is the beauty of some of these works of art, permanency is found wanting ... Under these circumstances the Projector of these 'Dorset Illustrations' determined to call in the aid of another art, that of Lithography; and thus, without forfeiting that exactness which is the peculiar characteristic of one, to ensure the quality of durability, which is unhappily wanting to it, by means of the co-operation of the other" (Introduction).

The result is a curious intersection of photography and lithography, combining the realism of the former and the charming primitiveness of the latter. Although the views are produced from photographic negatives, Pouncy has added figures, animals and other details onto the stone. "What Pouncy had to achieve was to make photographs permanent. The long exposures still necessary meant that people and animals could not be included, so to give the pictures verisimilitude and life, he drew them in" (McLean). The transient nature of photographs would continue to inspire Pouncy, leading him to patent a controversial carbon process in 1858, and placing second in the Duc de Luynes competition in 1867.

An expensive publication when issued (sold at 1£.1s per part) the book was published by subscription, with only one hundred and four listed subscribers. Although six parts were intended according the prospectus, only four were ever produced. Copies complete with all four parts and all 79 plates are exceptional.

Goldschmidt and Naef, The Truthful Lens 132; McLean, Victorian Book Design and Colour Printing, page 128; Gernsheim, History of Photography, p. 546. (#29970) $ 8,500.

9] STALKER, John; and George PARKER. A Treatise of Japaning and Varnishing, Being a compleat Discovery of those Arts. With the best way of making all sorts of varnish for japan, wood, prints, or pictures. The method of guilding, burnishing, and lackering, with the art of guilding, separating, and refining metals: and of painting mezzo-tinto-prints. Also rules for counterfeiting tortoise-shell, and marble, and for staining or dying wood, ivory, and horn. Together with above an hundred distinct patterns for japan-work, in imitation of the Indians, for tables, stands, frames, cabinets, boxes, &c. Oxford: Printed for and sold by the Authors, 1688. Folio (14 1/4 x 9 inches). [8], 84pp. 24 engraved plates. (Old repair at lower edge of one plate, minor age toning). Expertly bound to style in period calf, covers bordered with a gilt double fillet, spine with raised bands in six compartments, red morocco lettering piece in the second, the others with a repeat decoration in gilt.

Very rare complete copy of an early English pattern book of Oriental designs.

This pattern book for decorating furniture and "smalls" contains a comprehensive account of lacquering techniques of the period and a suite of twenty-four plates by an anonymous artist, engraved with over sixty designs of flowers, birds, insects, and landscapes in the Oriental manner. The work was an important source book for early ceramic designs, particularly Viennese porcelain, and includes a comprehensive account of the techniques to be employed in japaning, gilding, burnishing, the production of glass-prints, varnishing and various trompe-l'oeil techniques amongst others.

"We have laid before you an Art very much admired by us, and all those who hold any commerce with the Inhabitants of Japan; but that Island not being able to furnish these parts with work of this kind, the English and the Frenchmen have endeavored to imitate them, that by these means the Nobility and Gentry might be compleatly furnisht with whole Setts of Japan-work, whereas otherwise they were forc't to content themselves with perhaps a Screen, a Dressing box, or Drinking-bowl, or some odd thing that had not a fellow to answer it: but now you may be stockt with entire Furniture, Tables, Stands, Boxes and Looking-glass-frames, of one make and design, or what fashion you please; and if done by able hands, it may come so near the true Japan, in fineness of Black, and neatness of Draught, that no one by an Artist should be able to distingiush 'em" (Epistle to the Reader and Practicioner).

Three variants are recorded without priority, each with slightly varying imprints and some without Parker's name on the title: this issue with Parker's name and both the Parker and Stalker imprints. The work is rare and copies are frequently incomplete owing to the common practice of removing such patterns for use as transfers. A fine copy with all plates present.

ESTC R229848; Wing S5187A; Hofer, Baroque, pl. 17; Percival "A Treatise on Japaning" in The Connoisseur (1929) 84:153-163; Rostenberg English Publishers in the Graphic Arts, p. 98, no. 54 (#30589) $ 17,500.

10] VIEILLOT, Louis Jean Pierre (1748-1831). Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de l'Amérique Septentrionale, Contenant un Grand Nombre d'Espèces Decrites ou Figurées pour la Première Fois. Paris: Desray, 1807[- 1808]. Two volumes in one, folio (18 x 12 1/2 inches). [2], iv, 90 [ie. 94]; [2] ii, 74pp. 131 engraved plates (uncoloured, numbered 1-124, plus 2, 3, 10, 14, 57, 68 and 90 bis) by Bouquet aftre Pretre, printed by Langlois. Expertly bound to style in period half calf and marbled paper covered boards, flat spine in seven compartments, red morocco lettering piece in the second, the others with a repeat decoration in gilt.

A handsome copy of this important work on the birds of North America, one of the primary specialized works to precede Audubon, with beautiful engraved plates.

Among the four hundred species described herein, the author claims fifty to be entirely new and never before described. This work was originally intended to be issued in forty parts of six plates each; however, only twenty-two parts were ever issued, so that these two volumes comprise the complete work as published.

"Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot (1748-1831) was one of the pioneers with Alexander Wilson of a new kind of ornithology in which birds were no longer amassed merely as specimens but studied as living organisms, with careful observations of their life-histories and types of behaviour. Vieillot paid particular attention to the variations of plumage in any one species at different stages of its life-cycle ... He was very gifted, and accomplished much solid work, but was always overshadowed by the brilliance of his contemporaries such as Buffon and Cuvier" (Lysaght).

The plates bear all the hallmarks of the great French natural history books of the first two decades of the 19th century. The plates are individual works of art, whilst also being scientifically-accurate pictorial documents of the highest order, and they are, invariably, carefully observed and beautifully printed.

Anker 515; Nissen (IVB) 957; Zimmer, pp.654-55; Wood, p.612; Fine Bird Books, pp.149-51; Lysaght 127. (#27664) $ 12,000.