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Title
Genera of Birds
[by Thomas PENNANT (1781)]
bound with
Indexes
to the
Ornithologie of the Comte de Buffon, and the Planches Enluminées
[Thomas Pennant, (1786)]
[Full Leather Binding – Second Edition – 16 Engraved Plates]
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Author
Thomas PENNANT [1726-1798]
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Year of Publication
1781
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Publisher
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For
full description see below - after all photographs
Description:
London: Printed for B. White, 1781, Second Edition.
Engraved vignette title page, Advertisement, 16 birds separately numbered on 15 engraved plates (some browning and spotting).
Contemporary calf, repaired with a new spine, marbled end papers.
First illustrated edition, first published without illustrations in Edinburgh in 1773.
Bound with “Indexes to the Ornithologie of the Comte de Buffon and the Planches Enluminees”, with an illustrated title page and separate pagination. Letterpress title page which is titled “Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux par le Comte de Buffonand Les Planches Enluminees, Systematically Disposed”.
A scarce title for sale.
Pennant was a Welsh naturalist best known for his acclaimed books "British Zoology," the "History of Quadrupeds," "Arctic Zoology," and "Indian Zoology." "The naturalist and traveller Thomas Pennant (1726-98) helped popularise British ornithology by meticulously compiling and arranging existing research.
At the age of twelve, Pennant had been given Francis Willughby's Ornithology (1678), to which he credited his lifelong love of natural history. His own writings on ornithology are heavily based on the classification system devised by Willughby and John Ray, which divides birds primarily into land birds and waterfowl. Although Pennant's brief, accessible book brought few original insights to the field, it boosted public interest in the study and classification of birds. The detailed descriptions of the appearance and habits of each bird are enlivened by the author's elegant turns of phrase.
This better-known 1781 version of the 1773 original includes fifteen fine engravings [with 16 numbered birds as here]. The birds included in this volume are: I. Crested Hobby, II. White Collared Parrot, III. Capreows Jackamar and IV. Yellow-Cheeked-Creeper (in one plate), V. Red-Headed King-Fisher, VI. Green Tody and Brown Today (in one plate), VII. Indian Bee Eater, VIII. Honeysuckers, IX. Purple Chatterer, X. Crested Manakin and Golden Headed M[Anakin]. (in one plate), XI. Dwarf Curlew, XII. Little Sandpiper, XIII. Spanish Duck, XIV. Patagonian Pinguin [sic], XV. Pelecan [sic], and XVI. Frigat Pelecan [sic]. Anker 396; Nissen IVB 712; Zimmer, p. 489.
“Genera” - [6], xxv,[1], 68, [2]pp, with 16 engraved plates on 15 pages.
“Histoire Naturelle” - Engraved title, title, vii, [i], 122, [2]pp.
Provenance: none.
Approximately 9 ¾ inches tall.
Condition Report
Externally
- Spine – good condition – new spine to old boards, titles in gilt to brown label, rubbed and worn, gilt decoration.
- Joints – good condition – repaired, rubbed, sound.
- Corners – good condition – bumped and worn.
- Boards – good condition – full leather, gilt filet to the edge, worn.
- Page edges – good condition – top edged darkened, others tanned.
- See above and photos.
Internally
- Hinges – good condition – sound, repaired.
- Paste downs – good condition – marbled paper.
- End papers – good condition – marbled paper, subsequently tanned.
- Title – good condition – tanned with some foxing.
- Pages – good condition – tanned with minor foxing, some offsetting from plates.
- Binding – good condition.
- See photos.
Publisher: see above.
Publication Date: 1781; 1786
Binding: Hardback
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