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565 x 380 mm. (22 1/4 x 15"). Part I with 11 plates (one in two states) and text; part II with 10 leaves (text, all published). Two parts bound in one volume. Part II edited by Richard Bowdler Sharpe. VERY GRAND CRIMSON MOROCCO FOR SOTHERAN (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with a lacy gilt border framed by two gilt fillets, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with floral cornerpieces surrounding a central floral spray, turn-ins gilt, burgundy silk moiré endleaves, original printed paper wrappers bound in, all edges gilt. In a morocco-backed clamshell box by J & S Brockman (their sticker inside the front cover), spine gilt to match binding. WITH 10 HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES, as called for, and EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH 27 ADDITIONAL PLATES, all but four hand-colored, from other Gould works (see below). Hieroglyphic bookplate of David M. Lank on verso of front flyleaf. With one additional leaf of text accompanying the extra plate of the Pitta Mackloti. Ayer/Zimmer, p. 263; Sitwell, "Fine Bird Books," p. 102. One plate with faint soiling in bottom margin and with erased (now barely discernable) pencil notes at top and bottom, otherwise AN EXTREMELY FINE COPY IN A GLEAMING, FLAWLESS BINDING. This is a unique and especially desirable copy, in a striking binding, of the final monograph of John Gould (1804-81), the most recognizable name in ornithology after Audubon. Like other copies of the first printing of this work, ours has an illustrated Part I with the 10 beautifully colored plates called for, though here with an added black & white version of one of the plates. The book normally contains a Part II with just text, the whole being published shortly after Gould's death by his friend and fellow ornithologist, R. Bowdler Sharpe, who also acted as editor. But our copy is specially augmented with plates showing additional, different birds from the Pittidae family, taken from other of Gould's books and assembled here by the prominent Canadian collector David Morris Lank in an effort to fulfill the author's vision for his last work. A distinguished collector of, and expert on, wildlife art, Lank obtained additional plates of the Pitta family from Gould's "Birds of Australia," "Birds of New Guinea," "Birds of Asia," and his first work, "A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains" and had them bound after the text with the 10 descriptions of Pittidae done for part II by Sharpe. Lank managed to obtain illustrations representing all but one (Melanopitta sordida) of the 10 Pitta described in Part II, as well as 16 other Pitta species. One of these additional images appears both in color and black & white plates; of the rest, all but two are hand-colored. The males of the Pittidae species are known to possess a great range of plumage, and the often jewel-like tones of these tropical beauties are superbly rendered here. A one-time taxidermist and "bird-stuffer" to the Zoological Society, Gould became a prolific publisher of ornithological works, proclaimed by DNB "the entrepreneurial naturalist of the 1800s in England, and the pioneer naturalist of Australia." DNB praises Gould's artistry, noting, "the design and natural arrangement of the birds on the plates was due to the genius of . . . Gould, and a Gould plate has a distinctive beauty and quality." Mullens & Swann affirm that Gould's oeuvre is "excelled in extent and beauty by the work of no one other ornithologist, past or present." Educated at Princeton and the University of Grenoble, France, Lank (b. 1937) was a successful businessman before joining the faculty of McGill University's Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies, where he is now Director Emeritus. A lover of wildlife art since receiving a book on Audubon's birds at age 10, he also taught art history as an adjunct at Concordia University, authored more than 30 books and hundreds of articles on wildlife art, curated the touring exhibition "Audubon's Wilderness Palette - The Birds of Canada," and served a.
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