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WILSON, Alexander (1766-1813). American Ornitholog

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New York: Collins & Co., 1829. Plate volume only (without the 3 volumes of text), folio (365 x 270 mm). 76 hand-colored copper-engraved plates, some heightened with gum arabic, by Alexander Lawson, assisted by John G. Warnicke, George Murray, and Benjamin Tanner, all after drawings by the author. Modern red half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spine in seven compartments with raised bands, lettered in the second and sixth compartments, the others with repeat decoration in gilt, g.e. Condition: mild finger-soiling to right margin of title, a few plates very lightly browned, scattered very faint intermittent spotting to margins of a few others. Provenance: Lynn Abbott Trust. the plate volume from the second american edition, of "the first truly great american ornithology" (bennett). This edition of Wilson's masterpiece is considered complete in four volumes: three volumes of quarto text and the present folio plate volume. The majority of the plates, after originals drawn by the 'father of American ornithology', include more than one subject: 262 species are repesented, and when first published (between 1808 and 1814) 39 of them were new to science. The plates from this second edition are to be preferred as they were issued on larger, thicker paper than the first, and the coloring is of a consistantly higher quality. Cf. Bennett p.114; cf. Anker 533; cf. Fine Bird Books (1990) p.155; Nissen IVB 992; cf. Reese Stamped with a National Character 3; Sabin 104598; cf. Wood p.630; cf. Zimmer p.679.

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