WILSON, ALEXANDER & BONAPARTE, CHARLES LUCIAN.

Edinburgh, A. Shortreed, 1831. 8vo. Engraved portrait,XCVI,271 pp. & 1 engraved plate + engraved frontispiece,(2),IX,(3 blank),334 pp. + engraved frontispiece,VIII,320 pp. + lithographed frontispiece,(2),X,362,(2) pp. With illustrations in text. Four volumes, uncut in contemporary plum publisher’s cloth, with black title labels lettered in gilt. Spines sunned, extremities bumped and worn with some tears along joints and at head and tail of spines. Endpapers with wax residue. Covers sunned, all four volumes a little shaken, inner hinges cracked on volumes I and II. Gutter exposed between pp. 112-113 in part II. Some occasional light browning and staining, notably the inner margin of pp. 46-47 of part I and at the tail of pp. 94-102 of part II. With the initials ”C. R. A. A.” embossed at tails, the signature of Théophile Bisschop of Malines, Belgium, Foyle’s bookseller stamp, and from the library of Gunnar Brusewitz.

Nissen Die illustrierten Vogelbücher 994. Zimmer Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library II:682. Wood An introduction to the literature of vertebrate zoology 630 calling for a preliminary leaf in volume I, possibly due to another preliminary from volume II or IV being placed there, since Wood does not call for the unpaginated preliminaries in those volumes. Sabin A dictionary of books relating to America 104598, note. The first three volumes are devoted to a reprint of Wilson’s ”American Ornithology”, first published 1808-1814, and here with additional editorial comments by Jameson. A sketch of the life of Wilson by W. Hetherington is given in volume I. The fourth part contains a reprint of the first three volumes of Bonaparte’s ”American Ornithology” (1825-1833). On pp. 241-244 is a catalogue of the species described and figured by Audubon in his ”Ornithological Biography” (1831-1839) and ”Birds of America” (1827-1838). The work forms volumes LXVIII-LXXI of ”Constable’s Miscellany”. Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) was a Scottish ornithologist and poet, who emigrated to the US in 1794. In 1802 he decided to publish a book that would illustrate all of the North American birds, and thus travelled widely, observing and painting birds, and gathering subscribers for the coming book. The nine-volume work ”American Ornithology” illustrated 268 species, including descriptions of 26 new species. His 1810 meeting with Audubon probably inspired Audubon to publish his own work. Wilson also influenced many later artists and ornithologists. The nephew of Emperor Napoleon, Charles Lucian Bonaparte (1803-1857), was also a noted ornithologist. He discovered a new species of warbler which he later named after Alexander Wilson. Each volume has an illustrated title page with depictions of the scarlet ibis, the bald eagle, the wild turkey, and the night hawk. Volume I has a frontispiece portrait of Wilson.