EDWARD DONOVAN (1768-1837)
Lot 5

EDWARD DONOVAN (1768-1837)

Closed24 April 2013

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GBP 6,250

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EDWARD DONOVAN (1768-1837)
Works. London: for the Author and F.& C. Rivington. 4 works in 25 vols, 8° (c.233 x c.240), uniformly bound in contemporary diced Russia (extremities rubbed, one headcap chipped, sides occasionally lightly discoloured or scuffed), comprising: The Natural History of British Fishes. 1802-1808. 5 vols. 120 hand-coloured engraved plates by and after Donovan. (Plates occasionally evenly yellowed, some light spotting in the text.)

FIRST EDITION. The finely-coloured plates depict the common British fish species as well as a number of rarer visitors: sun-fish, king-fish, electric-ray, and others. BM(NH) I, p.473; Nissen ZBI, 1141; Wood p.322. -- The Natural History of British Shells. 1799-1803. 5 vols. 180 hand-coloured plates by and after Donovan. (Some plates lightly yellowed, occasional light spotting, a few plates in the last volume with heavier spotting.) FIRST EDITION. BM(NH) I, p.473; Nissen ZBI, 1147. -- The Natural History of British Birds. 1799. 5 vols. 123 (of 124) hand-coloured engraved plates by and after Donovan. (Lacking text and plate for plate 109, occasional spotting.) A later issue, first published in 1794, issued in five volumes, but eventually expanded to ten volumes with 244 plates by 1819. Cf. Fine Bird Books (1990) p.91; Jackson Bird Etchings, pp181-189; Nissen IVB, 257. -- The Natural History of British Insects. 1802, 1793-1801. 10 vols. 359 (of 360) engraved plates by and after Donovan, most hand-coloured as issued. (Lacking text and plate for plate 191, some spotting, occasionally in the plate.) A later issue, first published in 1792, complete here in 10 volumes, but eventually expanded to 16 volumes and 576 plates by 1813. Nissen ZBI, 1142. (25)