The Naturalist's Library: Ornithology de Sir William Jardine - 1843

Complete set of all the 15 ornithology volumes from Sir William Jardine's ambitious Victorian series The Naturalist's Library

With all 478 steel engravings (463 handcoloured plates including title vignettes, one uncoloured title vignette, 14 uncoloured portraits) engraved by Scottish engraver William Lizars after illustrations by famous nonsense-verse poet and caricaturist Edward Lear, Rene-Primavere Lesson's illustrator Jean-Gabriel Pretre, ornithologists William Swainson and Prideaux J. Selby, and Jardine's illustrator James Stewart.

With portraits of several extinct species such as the Norfolk Island pigeon, passenger pigeon, great auk, and the endangered green peafowl, great green macaw, Congo grey parrot, New Zealand kaka, purple-naped lory, Kuhl's lorikeet, western ground parrot, etc.

Includes the very rare supplement to the Hummingbirds, Vol. 3, with 15 plates (1st edition, 1852)

All from the second edition of 1843 with duplicate title pages

Gallinaceous Birds, Sir William Jardine, 32 steel plates by Stewart and portrait of Aristotle

Game Birds, Sir William Jardine, 31 steel plates by Selby inc. portrait of Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles

Hummingbirds, Sir William Jardine, Vol. I, 36 steel plates after Pretre inc. portrait of Carl Linnaeus

Hummingbirds, Sir William Jardine, Vol. II, 32 steel plates after Pretre inc. portrait of Thomas Pennant

Birds of Western Africa, William Swainson, Vol. I, 34 steel plates by Swainson inc. portrait of James Bruce

Birds of Western Africa, William Swainson, Vol. II, 34 steel plates by Swainson inc. portrait of Francois Levaillant

Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir William Jardine, Part 1, Birds of Prey, 36 steel plates by Stewart inc. portrait of Sir Robert Sibbald

Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir William Jardine, Part 2, Incessores, 32 steel plates by Stewart inc. portrait of William Smellie

Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir William Jardine, Part 3, Rasores and Grallatores, 34 steel plates by Stewart inc. portrait of Rev. John Walker

Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir William Jardine, Part 4, Natatories, 33 steel plates by Stewart and portrait of Alexander Wilson

Flycatchers, William Swainson, Vol. XVII, 33 steel plates by Swainson inc. portrait of Baron Albrecht von Haller

Parrots, Prideaux J. Selby, 32 steel plates by Lear inc. portrait of Thomas Bewick

Pigeons, Prideaux J. Selby, 32 steel plates by Lear inc. portrait of Pliny

Sun Birds, Sir William Jardine, 32 steel plates by Stewart inc. portrait of Francis Willughby

Hummingbirds, C.L. Martin, Vol. III, 1852, 15 steel plates

Sir William Jardine (1800-1874) was a Scottish naturalist. He is best known for writing and editing the 40-volume series of natural history books, The Naturalist's Library from 1833 to 1866. "In addition to the description and depiction (mostly finely coloured plates) by various well-known contributors to almost the whole range of the subject, the series is supplemented by biographies of famous naturalists of all times and all countries. It is well described as a remarkable little library of early nineteenth zoology, as well as a brief account of the lives of the chief zoologists of all time." (Casey Wood)

All in full leather binding, rebacked with honey-coloured leather spines, gold titles and volume numbers, original leather boards rubbed and scuffed, marble endpapers, all book blocks solid. All volumes complete with all steel engravings clean and bright with delicate handcolour. Supplement volume (Hummingbirds Vol. 3, published by H.G. Bohn, 1852) in original red cloth binding with gilt title on spine, blind stamped boards, cloth fraying and splitting on spine, 15 handcoloured steel engravings under tissue guards. Internally all remarkably clean and fresh.

Very good set of this ornithological classic.