American Ornithology; or The Natural History of the Birds of the United States de Wilson, Alexander - 1829

New York & Philadelphia, 1829. Good.. Three volumes. cxcix,[231]; vi,[9]-456; vi,396pp. Large octavo. Contemporary quarter red morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt. Hinges cracked, spines rubbed. Some light scattered foxing and soiling, primarily to outer leaves and edges. Upper corner of second volume title page clipped. Untrimmed. Text volumes for the second edition of Wilson's landmark work on American ornithology, the most important such work before Audubon. The first edition was published in nine volumes from 1808 to 1814, found bound with the plates and text together. In this second edition, which is considered superior, the plates are found bound separately in a large atlas volume. This is a nice, tall, untrimmed copy, and would be an excellent candidate for pairing with a plate volume.