Histoire physique, politique et naturelle de l'Ile de Cuba. Atlas. Oiseaux. [AND] Mammifères.

Paris, Arthus Bertrand, 1839-1843. Folio (43.8 x 30.0 cm). Title page; index leaf; eight mounted engraved plates by Borromée (one mammals plate hand-coloured); title page, 16 pp.; 33 mounted engraved plates (one with bird eggs hand-coloured) by Traviès and Prêtre. Later paper boards with facsimile label on the front board. An unique edition, containing an unrecorded combination of the title page to the work, the Mammifères by de la Sagra (1840), the Oiseaux by Alcide d'Orbigny (1839), the text to the "Album d'oiseaux de Cuba" (1843) with the "Tableau synoptique" and the table the planches to both the mammals and birds. Due to the beauty of the engravings, and the wide interest for the subject, the latter part (Oiseaux) was soon republished, using the original plates, by Betrand in a separate "Album d'Oiseaux de Cuba", dedicated to the young Queen Isabella II of Spain (1830-1904), with a new introduction by De la Sagra and without the more "techical" bird descriptions, this being replaced by the synoptic table. The present copy is unique, not only in its exceptional size, having wider plate margins than any other copy of the work we have ever seen, but also in having features of both editions. Ramón de la Sagra (1798-1871) was an economist with a keen interest in natural history. According to the Encyclopaedia Brittanica he was the first Spanish anarchist, and he wrote on prison reforms, but probably he is most widely known for his writings on the economy of Cuba, and his travels through Europe. However, he is also the editor of the first and most important 19th century series on the history of Cuba (published in Spanish and in French between 1828 and 1857), and author of the mammals part in the zoology section. Some text pages and plates have been cleaned; most other plates are foxed in the margins but not on the printed areas themselves. BM(NH), p. 1781, Nissen ZBI, 3548; Wood, p. 547.