William Beebe | A Monograph of the Pheasants, London, 1918-1922, 4 vols, publisher's maroon cloth

From the Library of Clayre and Jay Michael Haft

William Beebe

A Monograph of the Pheasants. London: Witherby & Co., 1918-1922

FIRST EDITION, number 472 of 600 copies, 4 volumes, folio (406 x 288mm.), titles printed in red and black, 90 coloured lithographed or collotyped plates after A. Thorburn, G.E. Lodge, H. Gronvold, L.A. Fuertes, Chas. R. Knight, H. Jones, and E. Megargee, 88 photogravure plates (many with two images) from photographs by Beebe and others, 20 distribution maps printed in red and black by Stanford's (chromolithographs and photogravures with captioned tissue-guards), publisher's maroon cloth, lettered in gilt, top edges gilt, others uncut, some spotting and browning at extremities

"Perhaps the greatest ornithological work of the present century, notable not only for its beauty and the wealth of information it contains, but also for the unusual grace of its prose" (Mengel).

Beebe's text is based not only upon his extensive expeditions through Asia, but also upon his study of the collections of the leading natural history museums around the world.

LITERATURE:

Anker 31; Nissen IVB 84; Zimmer, p. 49