Willughby, Francis

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, folio (355 x 220mm.), title printed in red and black, 2 letterpress tables, 2 plates showing hunting methods, 78 engraved plates of birds (plates 55 and 71 with a small touch of hand-colour), contemporary calf, X2 and 2D4 with paper flaw affecting a few letters, binding rubbed and rebacked, new endpapers

Anker 532; Keynes, Ray 39; Nissen IVB 991; Wing W2879; Wood, p.629; Zimmer, p.677

THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF THE BIRDS OF THE WORLD. Willughby's work was organized and edited after his death by John Ray, and was revolutionary compared to the earlier efforts of his contemporaries. He preserved the broad division of land and water birds, but rather than subdividing functionally, on the grounds of diet, singing ability, and other behavioural traits, he introduced a system based on anatomy, using for criteria foot structure, beak form, and body size.

This edition, translated and further augmented by Ray, contains three additional plates not in the 1676 Latin first edition, as well as three supplementary essays by Ray on fowling, falconry, and song birds.