John Jonston | Historiae naturalis de avibus libri vi., Frankfurt, 1650

John Jonston

Historiae naturalis de avibus libri vi. Frankfurt am Main: printed for Matthew Merian, 1650

FIRST EDITION, small folio (347 x 215mm.), engraved allegorical title-page, 62 fine engraved plates (showing 570 fine illustrations of birds), engraved by Kaspar and Matthew Merian the Younger, contemporary brown mottled calf, spine with raised bands in seven compartments, sprinkled edges, plate 1 with closed tear at inner margin, plate 24 with small hole at inner margin (not affecting illustration), plate 27 with repaired tears at verso, some light spotting, slight worming at foot of spine, upper joint starting to split

A good copy with excellent impressions of the plates. This ornithological handbook includes beautiful engravings by the Merians, with their stork device incorporated into the engraved title-page border. This work is notable for the development of American birdlore, since the sixth book is almost exclusively devoted to birds of the American Continent. There is also an intriguing section on mythological birds, including the Phoenix and the Harpyca.

LITERATURE:

Anker 234; Fine Bird Books, p. 84; Nissen ZBI 2132

PROVENANCE:

John Rolle, Baron Rolle of Stevenstone (1750-1842): armorial bookplate; Goldschmidt Catalogue No. 141: Early Science and Medicine (1969): extract from bookseller catalogue loosely inserted in prelims