Coloured Illustrations of British Birds, and Their Eggs.

Coloured Illustrations of British Birds, and Their Eggs. Seven Volumes. 422 Hand-Colored Plates of Birds and Their Eggs

Author: Meyer, H.L.

8vo. (5.25" x 8.5") 7 volumes. 1842-57. Meyer, H.L. London: G.W.Nickisson, et.al. Full polished calf. Spine with five gilt decorated raised bands, gilt author/title to gilt framed green leather in second compartment, gilt vol# to gilt framed red leather to third, gilt place/year to foot, all others with heavy all over filigree to each compartment. Marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. Gift inscription to/from prior owner neatly in ink to first free flyleaf. Dates and publishers differ among the matched set leading me to believe it is in fact a married set, all bound in 1857 regardless of date of publishing. Details as follows; Vol. I [1842] G.W. Nickisson, Vol. II [1853] George Willis, V.III [1854] George Willis, V. IV [1855] G. Willis, V. V [1848] Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., V. VI [n.d.] Willis and Sotheran, V.VII [1857] Willis and Sotheran. Each volume has approximately 60 plates, mostly hand-colored, Vol. VII stating (the set) "Containing four Hundred and Twenty-Two Coloured Plates", with some uncolored plates as issued. Covers with large water stains (see pic), but oddly, not affecting the text pages. Very mild edgewear, corners bumped, some rubbed. Head and foot of spine rubbed on extremities. Overall, a beautiful set of books, with hundreds of hand colored plates of birds and their eggs.

From Wiki: Henry Leonard Meyer was a Dutch-born British ornithologist who, accompanied by his wife Mary Ann, made a series of paintings of British birds and their eggs between 1835 and 1850. From 1835, they began to publish them as Illustrations of British Birds, a four-volume folio collection of coloured lithographs. It appears that initially, Henry ran the business and made many of the paintings, while Mary Ann was responsible for transferring the images to the stones. The book had a complicated publication history, with multiple versions of the second edition being started in 1837. A more affordable seven-volume octavo edition with coloured plates made by the Meyers with the assistance of their children, was also published between 1853 and 1857. The work was a popular one and following the onset of a mental illness which prevented Henry Meyer from running the business in the final decade of his life, Mary Ann Meyer took over the production of new editions. The Meyers’ Illustrations are an important nineteenth-century survey of British birdlife. They form one of the most complete catalogues of birds and their eggs published in British ornithology. Works such as this inspired a craze for egg collecting in Victorian Britain, with amateur naturalists and professionals scouring nests for specimens. This destructive practice resulted in a significant decline in numbers of many species. Collecting eggs from wild birds is now illegal in Britain and in many other countries.

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Antique Books, Old Leather Book, Old Vellum Book, Decorative Binding, Antiquarian Book, Vintage decorative, Ancient Leather, Rare Books, 7 volumes, Hand Colored Plates, Birds and egs, ornithology,

Full polished calf, heavy git decoration, all edges marbled, marbled endpapers, Illustrated plates, hand colored plates, Decorative Books, Decorative Leather, Beautiful Decorative Book