RARE BOOKS
Irish, Scottish and American
We buy and sell good used and rare books, particularly works on British ornithology.
BIRDS OF BRITISH MUSEUM - 15 COLOR PLATES - WOODPECKERS. ONLY VOLUME 18 IS FOR SALE
Catalogue of the Birds of the British Museum. 1890. WOODPECKERS. Vol. 18 Picariae, Sub-order Scansores / Family Picidae – Woodpeckers, by Edward Hargitt 15 Colored Plates (2 Hand Colored and 13 Chromolithographs) All by Peter Smit. Size: Approx by 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″
This volume is from a series of volumes from the Catalogue of the Birds of the British Museum. This was a monumental work published in 27 volumes between 1874 and 1898 with a total of 387 hand-colored plates and chromolithographs by William Hart, John Gerrard Keulemans and Joseph and Peter Smit. The volumes were published under the auspices of Richard Bowdler Sharpe although 10 other authors contributed according to their specialities. Of this work, Zimmer (pp 96) states:
Unquestionably, the most important work on systematic ornithology that has ever been published. According to the preface of Vol XXVI (the last published, although not the last numerically), ‘the catalogue is based, not only upon the immense collection of birds in the Museum, but also upon all other available material contained in public or private collections, or described in zoological literature. It therefore professes to be a complete list of every bird known at the time of the publication of the volume treating of the group to which it belongs.’ The general plan of treatment involves the full description of each species with a copious synonymy, citation of, distribution and catalogue of specimens of each in the British Museum, giving for each specimen the locality and source of receipt. Genera and higher groups are defined and tables given for determination of these and of the species. It was originally intended that Sharpe would prepare the entire work, but other specialists in other groups were called to write certain volumes after the magnitude of the project became apparent.
Volume 18 was authored by Hargitt and contains 597 pages of text, followed by one page cataloguing the 15 plates of which two are hand colored and 13 are beautiful chromolithographs from drawings by Peter Smit, printed by Mintern Bros (noted, amongst other achievements, for printing many lithographs for the works of John Gould).
Overall condition is excellent. The volume has been rebound in the fairly recent past in sturdy black boards with gilt lettering to the spine (including a library shelf mark). The edges of the pages are speckled red. There is a library book plate on the inside of the front cover, a library stamp on one of the title pages, and a couple of small notes to the reverse of one of the title pages. Apart from that, there are no other stamps of any kind, either to the plates (front or rear), nor to any of the text pages. The pages are slightly toned with age, but there is no foxing whatsoever, and apart from the odd crease, or small spot here and there, the volume is otherwise virtually unblemished.
The Catalogue of the Birds of the British Museum is a very rare work. Volumes looked after as lovingly as this one much rarer still. Of the very few other volumes of this work which we have seen, this, and the others in the set, are unquestionably the finest.
Most examples of this work are in academic libraries and only very rarely do any libraries dispose of stock of this quality and importance.
This volume has spent almost all of its life in the reference section of a major public library. It has thus been very well-looked after in optimal surroundings, and expertly rebound as required. It is very unlikely that you will ever have the opportunity again to buy one of these volumes in such good condition.
There is a photograph that shows three books. Only one book is for sale at this time. We will sell the other two books in the future.