- 304
Edwards, George
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed
Description
- Animals [Histoire naturelle d'oiseaux peu communs: et d'autres animaux rares & qui n'ont pas éte decrits]. London: for the Author at the Royal College of Physicians, 1743, 1747, 1750, 1751. [With:] Gleanings of Natural History [Glanures d'histoire naturelle]. London: for the Author at the Royal College of Physicians, 1758, 1760, 1764
- paper, ink, leather
7 volumes, 4to (11 3/8 x 9 in.; 290 x 229 mm). Text in English and French, hand-colored engraved frontispiece, title of vol. I with engraved vignette, 362 consecutively numbered hand-coloured engraved plates, one uncolored engraved plate of Samojeed in vol. 2, Gleanings with engraved portrait by J.S. Miller after Dandridge; volume I (Birds) lacking subscribers list, some offsetting, spotting sometimes affecting images, plate 220 with repaired closed marginal tear. Uniformly bound in full contemporary brown polished calf, gilt dentelles to covers, marbled endpapers; spines rebacked, corners bumped.
Provenance
Robert Thompson (bookplate to front pastedown of each volume)
Literature
Anker 124-126; Fine Bird Books, p.73; Lisney, p.128; Nissen IVB 286-288; Zimmer, p.201
Catalogue Note
The publication of Edwards's Natural History and Gleanings is complex, and copies are found in a variety of states. The present set has the complete run of plates numbered 1-362. George Edwards studied art in Holland, but found his true calling in 1718, when he travelled to Norway to study birds. Shortly thereafter, he dedicated himself to the study of natural history. Edwards made significant contributions to the study of birds, and is generally considered the father of modern British ornithology.