Rails of the World: A Monograph of the Family Rallidae, With Forty-One Paintings by J. Fenwick Lansdowne

London: M. F. Feheley Publishers, Limited, 1977. First Edition. Hardcover. As New/As New. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. J. Fenwick Lansdowne. Original publisher’s beige cloth boards backed with red cloth. Gilt lettering of spine over a burgundy label, sharp and distinct. Bright and shiny dust jacket, illustrated, showing only very minor wear, protected by a plastic coat, dust jacket not being price-clipped, with three rails shown on the front panel. Housed in a simple cardboard slip-case that has done its job. 14 ½” x 10 ½” x 2.” (i) + (xx) + 1-406 pp., complete. A beautiful book with many color plates depicting the rail bird family Raillidae. Pages and covers are pristine and intact. Binding is tight. An As New condition copy. Excerpt from the front flap of the dust wrapper: “This monumental work, then, comes none too soon, for all of the species, alive, endangered, and recently extinct, have been carefully studied and illustrated. The study is completed with an illustrated chapter about fossil rails by Dr. Storrs L. Solson, curator of birds at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.” From the Colophon: “This first edition of Rails of the World was designed by Crimilda Pontes and produced in Verona, Italy under the direction of Martino Mardersteig at the Stamperia Valdonega. The text, set in Monotype Bembo, was printed letterpress, with color plates and other halftones printed in fine screen offset. Color separations were prepared by Parabolik, in Milan. The paper was made especially by Magnani Pescia, Recalcati, of Milan, was the binder.” Volume contains scholarly apparatus in the form of, e.g., notes, index, and bibliography. Gift-quality condition inside and out.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.