HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS. [with] A SUPPLEMENT TO THE HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS, PARTS I AND II

Newcastle: Sol. Hodgson, for Beilby & Bewick, 1797 [1798], 1804, 1821. Second Edition of "Land Birds"; FIRST EDITIONS of "Water Birds" and the Supplements, ALL PRINTED ON IMPERIAL PAPER. 280 x 178 mm. (11 x 7"). Three volumes..
VERY FINE HUNTER GREEN STRAIGHT-GRAIN MOROCCO BY ZAEHNSDORF (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with double gilt-rule frame, central panel of inlaid pea green pebble-grain morocco with scrolls and thistle at head and foot, panel framed by gilt motto "Ride Thro. Be Trew" and with the initials "R. T. H. B." at corners, inner panel with gilt cross of feedbags, two embossed ciphers of "R. T. H. B." at center, surrounded by the words "By It We Live," horse heads at corners of panel, raised bands, spine compartments with gilt rule frame, central oval containing a rampant lion with word "Fuimus" ("We have been") above it, gilt lettering, gilt ruled turn-ins, light green silk endleaves, top edges gilt, other edges UNTRIMMED. Supplement to match but with smooth spine and vertical titling. A TOTAL OF 532 ENGRAVINGS, composed of 260 FIGURES OF BIRDS and 272 VIGNETTE HEAD- AND TAILPIECES (both volumes and both parts of Supplement with title page vignette, Volume I with 117 figures of birds and 91 vignettes, Volume II with 101 figures of birds and 136 vignettes, Supplement part I with 21 figures of birds and 22 vignettes, and Supplement part II with 21 figures of birds and 19 vignettes). Front flyleaves with evidence of bookplate removal. Roscoe 15a, 17a variant C, 25a, 27a; Hugo 99, 109, 110; Ray, "English" 51. ◆Extremities with perhaps a breath of rubbing, occasional minor marginal spots, one gathering in volume I and three gatherings in volume II evenly browned, but AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE SET: especially clean and fresh internally, with enormous margins and excellent impressions of the engravings, and the whole in very lustrous bindings showing virtually no wear.

This grouping comprises early, desirable Imperial paper editions of Bewick's ornithological classics on land and water birds, here with their vast margins untrimmed and in a beautiful binding commissioned by a Scottish collector. Our second printing of "Land Birds" contains a number of revisions, but Roscoe notes that "Bewick, who was not a bibliographer, and would have classed all such among his 'book-mad gentry', regarded this edition as no more than an additional printing of the first," perhaps explaining why the date on the title page was not changed to 1798. The skillful and appealing woodcuts by Bewick here illustrate a total of 260 birds, and the vignettes and tailpieces frequently possess great charm, more especially when viewed within the spacious margins of the Imperial paper version. Roscoe says that the general standard of drawing seen in Bewick's "Birds" exceeds that of his "Quadrupeds," because the artist "was more interested in birds than in animals, more familiar with them and their habits, and so able to put a greater power and sympathy into his figures of them. Working on birds, he was sure of himself; the figure of a bird once drawn and cut seldom needed later revision." Bewick had enjoyed remarkable success with his woodcut "History of Quadrupeds," and as Ray says, he "put to good use the lessons he had learned" from that book: "He limited himself to British birds, which he could observe at first hand, and the scenes of English life, previously confined to tailpieces, became more numerous and elaborate, more varied and poetic. The 'History of British Birds' is consequently his masterpiece with respect both to craftsmanship and creative imagination." The present set was bound for wealthy Edinburgh businessman, art collector, and bibliophile Robert Tyndall Hamilton Bruce (1847-99); most of his substantial library was dispersed in sales at Dowell's of Edinburgh in 1900. Handsomely bound and with text nearly as crisp and clean as when first issued, this distinguished set will perch and display well on any shelf where it alights..