| John Gould — The Birds of Asia |
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The Birds of Asia |
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7 volumes. Folio. 530 hand-colored lithographs after John Gould, H.C. Richter, Josef Wolf and W. Hart. Contemporary green morocco gilt, all edges gilt. Provenance: from the library of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the gift of J. Pierpont Morgan in memory of his father, with an engraved bookplate commemorating the bequest on the front paste-down of each volume. "Species from Palestine to the westward, and from the Moluccas to the east" (Sharpe "Introduction") First edition, originally issued in 35 parts, the last three being issued after Gould's death by Sharpe, and published over more than thirty years, "Birds Of Asia" was the most comprehensive study of Asiatic birds of its time, and recorded the extraordinary diversity of species of birds as disparate as parrots, pheasants, kingfishers, and woodpeckers. Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, one of the most highly discriminating collectors in American history, from Henry Sotheran & Co. on June 15, 1899 (who bought the entire stock of Gould's works and copyrights, and who with the help of Sharpe completed Gould's unfinished works), and subsequently donated it to the Wadsworth Athenaeum in the name of his father. AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE SET. Anker 178; "Fine Bird Books" (1990) p. 102; Nissen 368; Sauer 17; Wood p. 365; Zimmer pp 258-9. |
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