9 volumes. With 76 hand-colored copper-engraved plates from drawings by the author, engraved by Alexander Lawson, G. Murray, Benjamin Tanner and J.G. Warnicke; tissue guards. 13½x10½, 19th century full red straight-grain morocco tooled in gilt & blind around the borders, spines tooled in gilt, raised bands, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers & edges.
Lovely set of Wilson's highly important ornithology, with striking hand-colored plates. Whitman Bennett (American 19th Century Color Plate Books) describes Wilson's work as "the first truly great American ornithology and also the first truly outstanding American color plate book of any type; absolutely basic as a collector's item, somewhat unjustly overshadowed by the enormous and more beautiful Audubon giant folios, actually printed in Great Britain..." Reese notes the set as "the first American work to use color plates to convey scientific information, and the first real combination of text and color illustrations published in the United States..." Volumes I-VI and IX if the present set are the first edition, published by Bradford & Inskeep, 1808-1814, with Vol. I bearing the first issue points of the preface dated Sept. 1, 1808; Volumes VII-VIII are from the 1824 edition published by Samuel F. Bradford. Bennett p.114; Reese 3. All with an early private blindstamp (with initials TOM?) to title-page, and a few other pages; Vol. I with the bookplate of Herbert McLean Evans.
Provenance: Sculptor Amalia deSchulthess of Santa Monica, California, purchased from Zeitlin & Ver Brugge.
Condition:
Some light rubbing and faint scratches to covers, though still very nice; offsetting from the plates to the text, as usually occurs, some soiling to title-page of Vol. I, minor soiling to plates 23 & 24 in Vol. III, Vol. VI with about half the text pages discolored and foxed (this volume has thicker paper than the others), with some darkening to the plates in Vol. I as well, traces from removed bookplates, overall in near fine condition, a very attractive set with bright plates.