François Levaillant | Histoire naturalle des oiseaux d'Afrique, 1805–1808, 6 volumes, contemporary red morocco

François Levaillant

Histoire naturalle des oiseaux d’Afrique. Paris: Delachaussée, 1805–1808

FIRST EDITION, small folio (335 x 240mm.), half-titles, dedication to Temminck, 300 hand-coloured engraved plates, contemporary straight-grained red morocco gilt, covers with wide densely gilt borders, spines similarly gilt, edges gilt, some spotting and foxing as usual

A FINE COPY. François Levaillant (1753-1824), was one of France's foremost explorers and ornithologists. He was opposed to Linnaean nomenclature, and would only name the new species he discovered in French.

"Levaillant's most prominent work... it gives a comprehensive account of the birds of South Africa, based on Levaillant's personal experience and the collections he made during his journeys in that region" (Anker).

LITERATURE:

Anker 297; Fine Bird Books, p. 90; Mendelssohn 1:892; Nissen IVB 555; Zimmer, p. 391

PROVENANCE:

John Hippisley, FRS, FRAS (1804–1898), of Ston Easton Park and Pulteney Street, Bath, scientist who built the famous observatory at Ston Easton, armorial bookplate