Fauna Boreali-Americana ... Part Second, The Birds.: Or the zoology of the northern parts of British America: containing descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late northern land expeditions under command of Captain Sir John Franklin, R.N.

London: John Murray, 1831. First edition, presentation copy from John Murray to Edward Jesse.. Good. Quarto (285 mm); lxvi, [2], 523, [1] pages. 50 hand-colored lithograph plates, finished in gum arabic, by Swainson. In contemporary half leather over marbled boards, worn. Spine scuffed. Mild to moderate foxing present on some plates, primarily in the first quarter of the text block; later plates quite clean. Provenance: presentation inscription on half-title by John Murray ("The Publisher") to natural history author Edward Jesse; armorial bookplate of Irish ichthyologist and breeder of Irish Setters, Harry Blake-Knox, JP. References: Fine Bird Books, p.135; Nissen IVB 773; Sabin 71027; Zimmer, p.520

Sir John Richardson accompanied Sir John Franklin on both of his overland expeditions to the North, 1819-1822 and 1825-1827. As naturalist to the expedition, Richardson collected specimens of the flora and fauna of the Arctic. Swainson was responsible for preparing the lithographic plates, classification, and synonymy for Richardson's monumental Fauna Boreali-Americana, which described the zoology, ornithology, ichthyology and entomology of the fauna of northern Canada. Swainson, was entirely responsible for this volume on the birds. The illustrations mark the beginning of the use of lithography in bird book illustration.