Natural History
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GOULD, John.
The Birds of Great Britain. [1862-]1873
£85,000
First edition. A fine copy of the work of which Gould was most proud, here with a first issue of the Snowy Owl plate. This work is "the most sumptuous and costly of British bird...
5 volumes, folio (580 × 350 mm). Finely bound by Tuckett (binder to the Queen) in contemporary full green morocco, spines elaborately gilt in compartments, raised... Read more
HOOKE, Robert.
Micrographia: 1665
£65,000
First edition, first issue, of this "early landmark in microscopy, containing the first illustration of cells [plate xi]" (Horblit). Published under the aegis of the Royal Society,...
Folio (300 × 192 mm). Contemporary calf, gilt arms to covers, rebacked to style with endpapers renewed. Red morocco-backed folding box. Licence leaf facing title... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859
£37,500
First edition of "the most influential scientific work of the 19th century" (Horblit) and "the most important biological book ever written" (Freeman), one of 1,250 copies. "The...
Octavo (187 × 110 mm). Contemporary green half calf, spine elaborately gilt in compartments, red morocco label, patterned sides, marbled endpapers and edges. In a... Read more
LAFOSSE, Philippe Étienne.
Cours d'Hippiatrique, ou Traité Complet de la Médecin des Chevaux, 1772
£20,000
First edition of this celebrated work of animal anatomy. Lafosse had considerable anatomical skill, coupled with a profound knowledge of horses and equitation, and his work ranks...
Folio (503 × 335 mm), in three parts. Contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked to style with gilt spine retaining old morocco label, marbled endpapers, edges stained... Read more
BROOKSHAW, George.
Pomona Britannica, or a collection of the most esteemed fruits at present cultivated in Great Britain; 1817
£17,500
Second edition, in smaller format than the first, of the finest English work on fruit; "one of the finest colour-plate books in existence" (Prideaux); this copy with an additional...
Large quarto. Late 19th-century green half morocco, spine with raised bands decoratively gilt, gilt lettered in two compartments, double gilt rules, gilt border at... Read more
LINNAEUS, Carolus.
Hortus Cliffortianus 1737
£15,000
First edition of the most sumptuously produced of Linnaeus' works, a detailed description of the Hartecamp gardens at Heemstede, a masterpiece of early botanical literature. It was...
Folio (approx 445 × 260 mm). Contemporary sprinkled paper boards, neatly rebacked with black cloth, edges uncut. Engraved frontispiece and 36 numbered engraved... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1869
£12,500
Fifth edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the publisher's clerk, "From the author", on the half-title, as usual. This edition sees the first use by Darwin of Herbert Spencer's...
Octavo. Original green fine sand-grain cloth, titles to spine gilt, decorative panels blocked in blind to sides, black endpapers: Freeman's variant "c" binding. Housed... Read more
THOREAU, Henry D.
Walden; or, Life in the Woods. 1854
£12,500
First edition. Following the failure of his first book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden was not a runaway success. The edition of 2,000 took five years to sell...
Octavo. Original brown ribbed cloth, title gilt to spine, large decorative device within blind panels to the boards, pale yellow endpapers. In a custom blue quarter... Read more
AUDUBON, John James, & John Bachman.
The Quadrupeds of North America. 1870
£8,750
Final edition. Having made his reputation with "The Birds of America", Audubon began an equally imposing project "The Quadrupeds of North America". Audubon travelled the entirety of...
3 volumes, octavo. Publisher's deluxe binding of brown full morocco, blind stamped decoration to spines, titles to spines gilt, blind stamped rules and decoration to... Read more
KOLB, Peter.
Caput Bonae Spei Hodiernum Das ist: 1719
£8,750
First edition of this important early account of South Africa at the beginning of the eighteenth century, which was rapidly translated into Dutch, English and French, becoming the...
Folio (326 × 207 mm). Contemporary vellum, titles to spine gilt, edges stained green. Portrait frontispiece, folding map and 23 engraved plates. Ownership... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
On the Origin of Species by means of natural selection, 1860
£8,500
Second edition, the usual issue with 1860 on the title page (a very few copies only have 1859). "The misprint 'speceies' is corrected and the whale-bear story diluted, an alteration...
Octavo signed and sewn in twelves. Original diagonal-wave-grain green cloth, covers blocked in blind, titles to spine gilt, chocolate coated endpapers, edges... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by the H.M.S. Beagle, 1839
£8,500
First edition, first separate issue of Darwin's first published book, written up from his manuscript journal and the small notebooks forming the memoranda on which the journal itself...
Octavo (221 × 135 mm). Contemporary brown half calf, titles to spine and rules to raised bands gilt, marbled sides, grey endpapers, speckled edges. 2 folding... Read more
BROWNE, Patrick.
The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica. 1756
£7,500
First edition, one of only 250 copies according to Sabin. Patrick Browne (c.1720-1790) was an Irish physician and botanist who went to the West Indies in 1737 and again about 1746,...
Folio (357 × 239 mm). Contemporary calf (perhaps Spanish), morocco label gilt lettered in English, spine gilt in compartments, marbled pastedowns, mottled edges.... Read more
BROWN, Peter.
New Illustrations of Zoology, 1776
£6,000
Descriptive text on the plates in French and English most of which is by Pennant. This is a very well coloured copy of a book which often suffers from indifferent colouring.
Quarto. Bound in half blue morocco, gilt lettered spine, marbled boards and edges. With 50 hand coloured plates. Internally very good and clean with only minor foxing,... Read more
HILL, Sir John.
Eden: or, a Compleat Body of Gardening. 1757
£4,500
First edition. The work, originally intended as a companion to the Compleat Body of Husbandry (London, 1756), was designed in weekly parts with instruction on what should be done in...
Large folio (404 × 260 mm). Contemporary calf, worn, defective, front board detached. With 60 plates, lacking frontispiece. Browned and stained. Read more
MAUND, B.
The Botanic Garden: 1825–36
£3,850
First Editions. Complete with The Auctarium ant The Floral Register. The Floral Register, The Auctarium were issued as free supplements to the monthly parts.
11 volumes, octavo. Contemporary red half morocco, gilt titles and decoration to spine, raised bands, marbled paper boards. Bookplates to both front endpapers. Volumes... Read more
![Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Neu bearbeitet von Dr. G. Berg in Berlin, Prof. Dr. R. Blasius [and many others].](/content/store/products/5691/2/7257.jpg)
NAUMANN, J. A.
Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Neu bearbeitet von Dr. G. Berg in Berlin, Prof. Dr. R. Blasius [and many others]. 1897-1905
£3,500
A very handsome edition, reprinting the original text as published in 1822-60, with corrections in footnotes. The figures for all the plates are re-drawn and show the birds in their...
12 volumes, folio. Original half leather, spines lettered in gilt, black cloth sides, gilt rules, marbled endpapers, cloth hinges as issued, gilt edges. 449 plates of... Read more
WHITE, John.
Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales 1790
£3,500
First edition. White, chief surgeon to the settlement at New South Wales, was also an accomplished naturalist. The ornithological and other natural history plates are most attractive...
Quarto (295 × 235 mm). Recently bound in period-style full mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments with old black morocco title label, boards with double gilt... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
The Selected Works. 1896
£2,950
The authorized and first collected edition of his works in a handsome morocco binding.
15 volumes, octavo. Recent green morocco, titles to spine gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. Some light browning to a few pages, an excellent set. Read more
SOWERBY, John.
English Botany; or, coloured figures of British Plants ... 1863–99
£2,850
An edition with a somewhat confusing publishing history: the first "third edition" was actually an 1847 reprint in seven volumes of the 1832 second edition. The Boswell Syme edition,...
12 volumes, octavo. Turn of the century dark green hard-grain half morocco, spines lettered gilt, gilt bands, green morocco-grain cloth sides, brown endpapers, marbled... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. 1868
£2,750
First edition, first issue with 5- and 7-line errata in vols. I and II respectively, issued in two volumes demy octavo, the only Murray Darwin to appear in this larger format. "This...
2 volumes, demy octavo. Original green cloth, blind-panelled covers, spines gilt with imprint at foot in one line, dark green coated endpapers, Edmonds & Remnants... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1869
£2,750
Fifth edition, tenth thousand. This edition sees the first use by Darwin of Herbert Spencer's phrase "survival of the fittest", appearing in the heading of chapter IV and in the...
Octavo. Original green cloth, titles to spine gilt, boards blocked in blind, black coated endpapers. Freeman's variant "d" binding with the titles to the spine in... Read more
WHITEHEAD, John.
Exploration of Mount Kina Balu, North Borneo. 1893
£2,750
First edition. Whitehead was educated at Elstree and at "the Edinburgh Institution under Dr. Ferguson, who greatly fostered his taste for natural history. Exposing himself too...
Folio. Original sage green pictorial cloth, title in gilt and black to spine and upper board, top edge gilt, brown surface-paper endpapers. Hand-coloured lithographic... Read more
BROOKE, Jocelyn.
The Wild Orchids of Britain. 1950
£2,500
First edition, first impression. One of 40 numbered copies signed by the author and illustrator out of a total limited edition of 1,140 copies. With an album of 40 corrected proof...
Tall octavo. Original japon, titles to spine and upper board gilt, top edge gilt. With the dust jacket. 40 colour plates, 40 extra unbound proof pulls. Very lightly... Read more
BLOSSFELDT, Karl.
Art Forms in Nature. 1929
£2,500
First Edition, First Impression, English Issue with the new preliminaries. One of the greatest and most influential photographic books ever to have been published. The artist was by...
Quarto. Original green cloth, decoration and titles to upper board and spine gilt. With the photographic dust jacket and publisher's card slipcase printed on the spine... Read more
