3 vols. [2], 2, [2], ii, 279, [1]; [2], ii, 264; [2], ii, 438, vi pp. Illustrated with 144 chromolithographed plates. 9¾x5¾, modern cloth, new endpapers.
Striking chromolithographs of the birds of the Subcontinent, drawn by W. Foster, E. Neale, M. Herbert, Stanley Wilson and others. Though the work was published in India, and the text printed in Calcutta, the bright, finely executed plates were produced by F. Waller in London. The British Empire was measured, its animal life recorded, and its people civilized as the Raj took hold. There is no imprint on the title-pages of Vols. I or II, but there is a slip tipped in following the title with the imprint and 1879 date; other sources indicate that Vol. I was published in 1878, with the date not printed in the book. There are a number of other slips, being errata and addenda, inserted.
Condition:
Some staining and wear to the covers; damage to title-pages of Vols. I and III, old ink ownership inscriptions of a Capt. G.E. Hale on the contents-pages, some minor marginal dampstaining at latter portion of Vol. I, inscription to flyleaf of Vol. I with old magazine column pasted to the same leaf, some marginal pencil notations within, only occasional light foxing, else very good, plates clean and bright.