.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
The Birds of Great Britain. London: Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873
细节
GOULD, John (1804-1881)
The Birds of Great Britain. London: Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873
'The most sumptuous and costly of British bird books.' Gould was especially proud of this work, and it 'was seen - perhaps partly because its subject was British, as the culmination of [his] ... genius' (Isabella Tree, The Ruling Passion of John Gould, London: 1991, p.207). The text is longer than in any of his other works, and the plates are amongst the finest Gould produced. Joseph Wolf, who drew 57 of the plates, had accompanied Gould on an ornithological tour of Scandinavia in 1856, and was responsible for persuading Gould and H.C. Richter to adopt a livelier treatment of the illustrations.
Notwithstanding the irony that much of the artwork was prepared from freshly killed specimens, the preface and text shows Gould’s acute understanding of the human threat to wildlife well before such views were commonplace:
‘Unfortunately, however, of late years vast numbers of certain species have been destroyed, either wantonly, or for senseless purposes of decoration instigated by fashion; and to such an extent has this been carried out it has become necessary to enact laws for their protection’ (Preface, p.ix). Sauer 23; Zimmer p.261; Fine Bird Books (1990) p.102; Wood p.365; Nissen IVB 372.
5 volumes, large folio (542 x 372mm). 367 fine hand-coloured lithographic plates, most heightened with gum-arabic, by Gould, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Hart, printed by Walter or Walter & Cohn, 2 wood-engraved illustrations, 5pp. subscribers’ list (some light spotting to endpapers and extending faintly onto 3 titles, occasional scattered light spotting to introductory text in vol 1 mainly affecting gatherings P-Q, 2C-2E and 2I-2K, occasional faint scattered spotting with it confined to the margins of about 30 plates and 14 more heavily affected as well as their adjacent text leaves, one text leaf in vol. 3 with tiny marginal tear). Contemporary green morocco, sides with large gilt borders, spines with double raised bands in 6 compartments, lettered in second and third, the others with large gilt ornamental decoration, yellow glazed endpapers, gilt turn-ins and edges (occasional faint rubbing to extremities). Provenance: Hermann Marx (c.1881-1947, German-born British stockbroker, banker, and a noted print and book collector; bookplates).
The Birds of Great Britain. London: Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873
'The most sumptuous and costly of British bird books.' Gould was especially proud of this work, and it 'was seen - perhaps partly because its subject was British, as the culmination of [his] ... genius' (Isabella Tree, The Ruling Passion of John Gould, London: 1991, p.207). The text is longer than in any of his other works, and the plates are amongst the finest Gould produced. Joseph Wolf, who drew 57 of the plates, had accompanied Gould on an ornithological tour of Scandinavia in 1856, and was responsible for persuading Gould and H.C. Richter to adopt a livelier treatment of the illustrations.
Notwithstanding the irony that much of the artwork was prepared from freshly killed specimens, the preface and text shows Gould’s acute understanding of the human threat to wildlife well before such views were commonplace:
‘Unfortunately, however, of late years vast numbers of certain species have been destroyed, either wantonly, or for senseless purposes of decoration instigated by fashion; and to such an extent has this been carried out it has become necessary to enact laws for their protection’ (Preface, p.ix). Sauer 23; Zimmer p.261; Fine Bird Books (1990) p.102; Wood p.365; Nissen IVB 372.
5 volumes, large folio (542 x 372mm). 367 fine hand-coloured lithographic plates, most heightened with gum-arabic, by Gould, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Hart, printed by Walter or Walter & Cohn, 2 wood-engraved illustrations, 5pp. subscribers’ list (some light spotting to endpapers and extending faintly onto 3 titles, occasional scattered light spotting to introductory text in vol 1 mainly affecting gatherings P-Q, 2C-2E and 2I-2K, occasional faint scattered spotting with it confined to the margins of about 30 plates and 14 more heavily affected as well as their adjacent text leaves, one text leaf in vol. 3 with tiny marginal tear). Contemporary green morocco, sides with large gilt borders, spines with double raised bands in 6 compartments, lettered in second and third, the others with large gilt ornamental decoration, yellow glazed endpapers, gilt turn-ins and edges (occasional faint rubbing to extremities). Provenance: Hermann Marx (c.1881-1947, German-born British stockbroker, banker, and a noted print and book collector; bookplates).
荣誉呈献
Emily Pilling
Senior Sale Coordinator