JARDINE, William (1800-1874) - The Naturalist's Library. Edinburgh: Lizars, Stirling, Kenney, 1833-1843.   First edition of this extensive work of natural history richly illustrated by hand-coloured plates, one of the first works of this genre to be addressed to a wide audience and therefore to become extremely popular. In addition to Jardine, who edited the entire series, eminent naturalists of the time contributed to the texts, including Charles Hamilton Smith (1776-1859), William MacGillivray (1796-1852), George Robert Waterhouse (1810-1888), James Duncan (1804-1861). Among the artists who created the fine plates was the renowned Edward Lear (1812-1888), who illustrated the volume dedicated to parrots.   40 volumes, 8vo (169 x 105mm). Each volume with a frontispiece bearing the portrait of a naturalist and an engraved title, 1281 plates mostly coloured and protected by tissue paper (lacking plate 27 of the introduction to mammals replaced with a second plate 23, perhaps lacking plate 24 of volume III of ichthyology but from the errata inserted in the volume it is not clear whether it was originally included, light browning, light spotting heavier in a few volumes, a few lightly cropped plates, a plate of volume III of entomology almost detached). Green half morocco over marbled paper, gilt decorations and titles on spines, marbled endpapers (light rubbing). Provenance: Ralph Sander (bookplate on endpaper).   The plates are divided as follows for each class of animals: 438 for birds, 195 for fish, 223 for insects (plate 37 of vol. I repeated twice), 425 for mammals. Compared to the indexes, the following additional plates are present: in vol. IX of mammals the final three plates depicting skulls, in vol. X of mammals a final plate depicting skulls. The text leaves of the volumes have not been collated and the work is therefore sold as described and not subject to return. Please contact the department for further details regarding the plates. (40)

Estimate € 1,000 - 1,500