George Robert Gray | The genera of birds, 1849, 3 volumes

George Robert Gray

The genera of birds: comprising their generic characters, a notice of the habits of each genus, and an extensive list of species referred to their several genera. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1849

FIRST EDITION, 3 volumes, folio (375 x 265mm.), 335 lithographed plates, comprising 185 hand-coloured plates of birds, 150 plain plates, 26 double-page, of anatomical details, by and after D.W. Mitchell, J. Wolf and H.C. Richter, half-title in volume 1 only (as usual), list of subscribers, contemporary half morocco, some leaves coming loose (gutta percha perishing)

“A VERY IMPORTANT AND BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED FUNDAMENTAL WORK" (WOOD). Gray's Genera was the first book Joseph Wolf worked on after moving to England from Antwerp in 1848. Although Wolf was initially hired to assist D.W. Mitchell, his plates easily outstripped those of the elder artist: the "detail plates included 345 heads alone, drawn by Wolf, and although his instructions were to produce merely scientific drawings, they are not purely draughtsman's work but have more artistic qualities" (Jackson, Lithography, p. 66). Gray's list of species numbered nearly eight thousand and was the most comprehensive published up to that time.

LITERATURE:

Fine Bird Books, p. 79; McGill/Wood, p. 367; Nissen IVB 388; Zimmer, p. 268

PROVENANCE:

Philip Crowley, Waddon House, Croydon, sale, J.C. Stevens, 15 April 1901, lot 204, £17 7s