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Meyer (H.L.) Illustrations of British birds

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4 vol., [third edition], 317 hand-coloured plates of birds, many with eggs (no separate egg plates are called for in this edition), titles and contents leaves lithographed by Meyer in his hand, a clean copy in an unusual binding of late 19th century half vellum, spine gilt in compartments with red morocco corner pieces, gilt and gauffered edges, rather worn and rubbed, sides repaired with tape at an early date, bookplate of Lord Garrioch 1913, and some rather obtrusive annotation to the list of plates probably to his order, Longman, [1839-43].

***A complete copy of this edition; see WG Hale, The Meyers' illustrations of British birds, 2007 which completely supercedes the account in Mullens & Swann.There are a few anomolous plates from the first edition, but this is not uncommon due to "Meyer's rather slip-shod approach to organisation" (Hale, p. 59). Hale considers the first & third editions(there were 5 in all) to be the best coloured; see p. 85..

rather than 'a few plates' from the first edition there are some 50-60 and they are guarded with very slight loss along a few inner margins; the estimate is reduced to £3000-4000

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