Rails of the World: A Monograph of the Family Rallidae. And a chapter on Fossil Species by Storrs L. Olson.

Toronto: M. F. Feheley, 1977. Limited edition of 400 copies signed by author and illustrator of which this is copy no. 37.. Hardcover. Fine. xx, 406 p. 37 cm. 41 colour paintings by J. Fenwick Lansdowne. 17 distribution maps. Half burgundy leather with beige cloth boards. In matching slipcase. Includes a signed lithograph by Lansdowne and sample pages in separate book with light soiling.

Ripley was an American ornithologist and wildlife conservationist who acted as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 1964 to 1984. Also from the Smithsonian is Storrs Olson, one of the world's foremost avian paleontologists. The Canadian connection here is illustrator James Fenwick Lansdowne (1937 – 2008), a self-taught wildlife artist who grew up in Victoria, B.C. His pictured birds are similar in style to the work of Audubon, often featuring a specific species against a largely white background, but Lansdowne's birds are more life-like and have more natural postures than Audubon's.