Edwards (George). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds, 1743-51 [i.e. 1776]

Sold for £4,600

Edwards (George). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds, and of some other Rare and Undescribed Animals, Quadrupeds, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects, etc., 4 volumes, London: for the author, 1743-51 [i.e. 1776], 208 hand-coloured etched plates (of 211: lacking frontispiece, unnumbered, and plates 130-1), engraved uncoloured portrait plate (?Un Samojeed?) to volume 2 (unnumbered), engraved vignette to general title-page in volume 1, lacking text-leaf H1 in volume 3 and D1-2 in volume 4, but volume 1 with list of subscribers (A1-2) not called for in this issue, plates offset, general title-page and volume-titles in volumes 2-4 spotted and browned, discreet contemporary manuscript numbering to foot of a few unnumbered plates, closed transverse tear through plate 21, a few other minor spots and marks, each volume with French translation (Histoire naturelle de divers oiseaux) bound in at rear, volume one including Robson (publisher), Some Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Edwards (1776) and Linnaeus, A Catalogue of the Birds ? in Edwards?s Natural History (1776) as issued, Some Memoirs containing 4 uncoloured engraved plates extra to the above count (of which 3 folding), contemporary mottled calf, gilt spines, joints splitting, spine worn with loss of labels, 4to (28 x 22.8 cm), together with:
ibid., Gleanings of Natural History, exhibiting Figures of Quadrupeds, Birds, Insects, Plants, etc., volumes 1-2 (of 3), London: for the author, 1758-60, 100 hand-coloured etched plates numbered 211-310, engraved vignette to volume 1 title-page, lacking portrait frontispiece in volume 1 and text-leaves *a1-2 (dedication) in volume 2, offsetting, variable generally light spotting and browning mainly to volume 1, contemporary mottled calf uniform with the Natural History, joints partially split, volume 1 lacking one label, 4to (28.2 x 22.2 cm)

(Qty: 6)

Provenance: 1) Nathaniel Nicholls of Odiham, Hampshire (ownership inscriptions to Natural History part two initial blank and Gleanings general title, the latter dated 1823); 2) Frederick Baring (engraved bookplates with motto 'probitate et labore').

Anker 124 (Natural History), 126 (Gleanings), 127 (Robson, Memoirs), 311 (Linnaeus, Catalogue); Fine Bird Books p. 93; Lisney 190, 195, 198, 201 (Natural History), 192, 197, 200, 203 (French translation: Histoire naturelle), 282 (Robson, Memoirs), 288 (Linnaeus, Catalogue), 205 (Gleanings volume 1), 208 (Gleanings volume 2); Nissen IVB 286 (Natural History) & 288 (Gleanings); Sitwell Zimmer pp. 194-6 (Natural History), 198-9 (Gleanings), 401-2 (Linnaeus, Catalogue), 529 (Robson, Memoirs) pp. 197-8 (French translation).

First editions. A Natural History volumes one and two are Lisney?s third issue, published in 1776 by James Robson who in 1769 had acquired from Edwards all the remaining copies of the work, together with the plates and letterpress; Robson presumably reissued volumes three and four at the same time, though these copies are indistinguishable from those originally published in 1750-1. His reissue of 1776 is notable for the inclusion of two supplementary texts, Some Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Edwards, and Linnaeus?s Catalogue. Both volumes of Gleanings in this set are first issues.

Lisney provides the most detailed and convincing account of the publication of this splendid work, identifying second and third issues of the first two volumes of A Natural History and a second issue of the first two volumes of Gleanings which Zimmer in each case erroneously subsumes under a misidentified ?second? edition (pp. 194-6 and 199-200): the true second edition is that of 1802-6, which was printed in a larger format with the text entirely reset and almost all the plates reversed.