Magnificent Menagerie or Queer Pets and Their Goings-On

London: Harper Collins, 1992. A near Fine unmarked copy (Fine apart from a very small amount of wear to lower spine edge) with near Fine dustjacket which is price clipped. A large format volume of xvi + 344 page and 58 illustrations. First edition, First printing. In the book Lucinda Lambton has gathered together a wealth of anecdotes and verse, obituaries and elegies about the dignity and loyalty, intelligence and idiosyncracy of every kind of animal ever harboured, cherished, revered or put to use by humankind. As well as the expected horses, dogs, cats and canaries there are to be found wombats, alligators, rats, fleas, lions, spiders, boars and armadillos. In many cases the owners of these animals are as entertaining as their creature companions: such as Frank Buckland who went riding with his bear round Oxford, the Rev. Rosslyn Courtney Bruce who successfully bred green mice, or Walter Rothschild, who sped up Piccadilly in a trap drawn by zebras. Illudstrated throughout with drawings and paintings both beautiful and bizarre. Note: A LARGE HEAVY VOLUME OF 1.23 KILO UNPACKED WEIGHT WHICH MAY REQUIRE ADDITIONAL SHIPPING COST 22. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.