THE MAMMALS OF SOUTH WEST AFRICA; A Biological Account of the Forms Occurring in that Region With a Forward by Field-Marshal Viscount Allenby

2 volumes. First edition. Illustrated with numerous black and white photographs on glossy plates and several maps printed in black and red, as well as a fold-out map at the rear of volume one printed in black and blue. Large 8vo, in the original green cloth with gilt vignette of two zebras in chase on the upper covers, and gilt lettering on the spines, in the very scarce original dustjackets printed in black and red and also featuring the zebra vignettes on the upper covers. xxv, 437; ix, 439-779 pp. A bright, handsome and clean set, with almost none of the typical foxing, the green cloth bright with just some very minor age mellowing to the edges and extremities. The very rare jackets with mellowing, some edge-wear and a bit of chipping but still preserving the books well and remaining significantly complete and sound. FIRST EDITION AND AN EARLY COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF SOUTHWESTERN AFRICA’S "AMAZING VARIETY" OF MAMMALS. In this volume, Captain Shortridge compiles not only the results of his own expeditions but the field notes of others to provide the most complete account of mammalian wildlife possible in this region. Assembled for each type of ape, shrew, bat, rhinoceros, elephant, etc., is a careful outline of such aspects and its physical characteristics, habitat, and breeding habits. The author has included a great number of good photographs and maps. F.M. Allenby laments that African animals have been hunted in "wanton and wasteful slaughter" in the past and praises Shortridge for the noble and educational purposes of his book in his preface: "The study of animals---alive and happy---is found to give a higher pleasure than the collecting of dead trophies; so the hunter is giving way to the student of Nature, and game is shot by the camera instead of by the rifle. Easy communications have helped the hunter to his killing; but have also made it possible for the student to reach the haunts of wild animals and to observe wild Nature with an accuracy hitherto unattainable. To the real sportsman---no less than to the scientist---will such a book as this, by Captain Shortridge, be invaluable. He is a sportsman, himself, as well as naturalist; and he has produced a work useful to both. The Author deserves our gratitude, for the labour expended on his task, and our congratulations on the success he has achieved. " An excellent set of a truly accomplished work.…