With Their Eggs, Accurately Figured
The rarest of all English bird books
The Birds of Great Britain, With Their Eggs, Accurately Figured
For the author, 1789.
First edition, one of 60 sets. Folio. Seven volumes bound in four. Magnificently bound early nineteenth century scarlet morocco, titled in gilt to the spine with raised bands and elaborate gilt borders to the covers and spine sections. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. 323 original illustrations of birds (271) and their eggs (52) by Lewin in gouache, some heightened with gum arabic and watercolour backgrounds. A near fine set with minor marks to the margins of most plates, a short repaired tear to the margin of plate 62, and a light foxing to plate 71, but otherwise a fresh and well preserved set. 22 plates from volume one with author's stamps erased from the lower margins as often. Bound without section title page for volume seven. Minor wear to bindings, overall a magnificent set.
The first edition of Lewin's Birds is unique amongst bird books in that it is illustrated entirely by original watercolours, painted by Lewin probably with help from his sons. This remarkable endeavour led to the work being likened to Johnson's dictionary in its own field as, "the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat" in the field of English ornithology.
Stock ID: 25603
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