Willughby, Francis

Estimate

2,000 - 3,000 USD

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Description

The Ornithology of Francis Willughby.... London: for John Martyn, 1678
paper, ink, leather

Folio (355 x 220 mm). 78 woodcuts of birds and 2 depicting snares; some minor staining to title, worming to blank margins. Eighteenth-century lattice calf gilt; expert restoration to joints.

Literature

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

Catalogue Note

first edition in English of the first successful systematic classification of birds. Willughby introduced a system based on anatomy, using for criteria foot structure, beak form, and body size. This edition, translated and further augmented, contains three additional plates not in the 1676 Latin first edition, as well as three supplementary essays on fowling, falconry, and song birds.