Levaillant's Histoire naturelle des perroquets

LEVAILLANT, Francois (1753-1824).
Histoire naturelle des perroquets.
Paris: Levrault frères (later Levrault, Schoell & Co.), 1801-1805.
Comparable: Arader Galleries, 2018 - $292,800;
Sotheby's, 2009 - $194,500.
2 volumes. Folio (20 x 12 6/8 inches). Half-titles, 145 EXCEPTIONALLY fine engraved plates after Jacques Barraband, printed in colors and finished by hand by Langlois under the direction of Bouquet. Contemporary cherry morocco, each cover decorated with a broad gilt border, the spine in seven compartments with five raised bands, gilt-lettered in two, the others decorated with fine gilt tools by C. Smith (spines evenly faded). Provenance: from the library of Beriah Botfield (1807-1863), antiquary and industrialist, his sale, Christie's, Mar 30th 1994, lot 77. "The received wisdom is that the work was published in two formats, quarto and folio, both published in 24 parts. In addition 12 copies were issued in large folio with the plates in colored and uncolored states" (Christie's). Levaillant, one of the greatest French ornithologists, was the son of the French consul in Dutch Guiana. He was born in Paramarimbo and seems to have inherited his father's love of travel. He became one of the first of a new breed of naturalists who attained prominence towards the end of the 18th century, studying and recording their subjects in their natural habitat. Jacques Barraband (1767 or 1768-1809) worked for the Gobelin factory and was considered the best ornithological artist of his time. Langlois's engravings capture the precision and beauty of his gouache and watercolour originals. "After he had made himself Emperor, it was part of Napoleon's deliberate policy to initiate a series of magnificent publications that would vie with those undertaken to the orders of Louis XIV. These were sent as presents to crowned heads, men of science, and learned bodies, in evidence of the splendours of the Empire... The works of Levaillant owe their sumptous character to... [this].. impetus. His "Histoire naturelle des perroquets" is, unwittingly, a part of the glories of Napoleonic France" (Fine Bird Books). Apart from their undoubted beauty, Barraband's engravings display a scientific accuracy that few ornithological artists have matched since. The meticulous hand-colored engravings in Levaillant's publications were unmatched for the delicate modulations of tone and color, fine lines and perfect draftsmanship, making them exceptional in their richness and tonal variation. Each feather is described by dozens of parallel lines, providing remarkable detail and naturalistically textured color. Some of the prints are embellished with touches of gold leaf on the feathers of the cheeks and shoulders of the birds, emphasizing the preciousness of the plates and reproducing the iridescence of the birds' feathers. From the distinguished library of Beriah Botfield who published a number of books that reflected his interests in early printed books and manuscripts. He set up a private printing press at Norton Hall and printed some of his own writings there in limited editions. Botfield was also a renowned book collector, and a member of the Roxburghe Club. His library of early printed and colour plate books, many in fine and sumptuous bindings, he bqueathed to the Thynne family of Bath, with whom he claimed a tenuous kinship. Most of Botfield's books, which included a number of Caxtons and other incunabula, remained at Longleat, the Thynne family home, although some were sold at sales at Sothebys (11 June 1979) and Christies (30 March 1994). See W. P. Courtney, and A. S. G. Edwards for DNB. Anker 303; "Fine Bird Books" p.90; Nissen IVB 558; Ripley 170; Ronsil p.297; Wood p.434; Zimmer p.392.