Catalogue of the books, manuscripts, maps and drawings in the British Museum (Natural History), complete in four volumes and four supplemental volumes

London: Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British Museum, and sold at Longmans & Co., B. Quaritch, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., and the British Museum of Natural History . First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 4to 11" - 13" tall. An absolutely indispensable to for the historian and student, bibliographer and librarian, rare book dealer and natural historian, a truly massive bibliographical catalogue of all the natural history books held in the British Library (British Museum), featuring over 100,000 entries, with precise collations and notes galore. A handsomely produced set, complete in eight volumes, published in First Edition state between 1903 and 1940 and sold at multiple bookstores and through the Museum itself, beginning in 1903 with publication of the first volume. Preface to the first volume by E. Ray Lankester, Director of the British Museum (Natural History), then a Foreword by B.B. Woodward to that first volume and then additional Forewords to each volume. Big, tall, quarto format, five volumes bound in a very dark blue cloth, three in an olive-drab cloth, with gilt lettering to spines, gilt publisher's devices to front covers. Bumping to spine heads and feet, some but not much rubbing to extremities, and internally quite fine, each volume standing tank-like by itself on the shelf. Main texts are double-column, and with each new entry in bold-face. Volume 1 shows a 2" split to upper rear join, else the set is clean, tightly bound, bright, and unmarked. The previous owner has noted that the set comes from the personal library of Mr. Richard I. Johnson, a long-time Research Associate at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, an eventual and quite proficient gentleman scholar, especially as regards malacology, or the scientific study of molluscs. Volume I (1903): A-D: viii [1], 2-500 pp.; Volume II (1904): 501-1038 pp.; Volume III (1910): 1039-1494 pp.; Volume IV (1913): 1495-1956) pp.; Volume V (1913): 1957-2403 pp.; Volume VI Supplement (1922): 1-511 [1], 2-48 pp.; Volume VII (1933): prelims plus 514-967 pp.; Volume VIII (1940): prelims plus 970-1480 pp.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.