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drawing of an owl sitting on a ledge in front of a buildinga black and white drawing of a bird sitting on a rockdrawing of a bird perched on a branch of a tree with a mountain in the backgrounda bird that is standing on a rock by the watera black and white drawing of a bird standing on a rock
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1623 - Zoology – Ornithology
See original version (German)

Estimate €450 - €600
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Description
Zoology – Ornithology Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc Histoire naturelle des oiseaux. 18 vols. With a total of 262 copperplate plates. Paris, L’Imprimerie Royale, 1770–85. Small 8°. Stained. Contemporary leather binding on 5 bands with gold-stamped title and floral gilt decoration (bumped and in places heavily scuffed; some volumes slightly damaged and with larger gaps in the binding material; some pages with slight worm-eaten damage; a few joints split). First octavo edition. – Nissen, ZBI, 673. Anker 75. Ronsil 413. Zimmer 104, note: ‘One of the early and important milestones in the history of ornithology. It is based on the nine volumes of ‘Oiseaux’ in Buffon’s ‘Histoire Naturelle Générale’, first edition, with some changes to the text.” “The most comprehensive and scientifically significant undertaking in ornithological iconography undertaken in the 18th century” (Nissen). – Vol. IV: Plate VI numbered as IV. Vol. VIII shows heavier worm-eaten damage in places, partly with loss of text, partly affecting the plates to some extent. Two further volumes show slight worm-eaten damage (mostly in the white margins). Title page of Vol. XVII is stained. Slightly browned in places. Zoology. Ornithology – 18 vols. With a total of 262 copper plates. – Nissen, IVB, 158. - Stillwell, 63 (“This edition was certainly the most ambitious and comprehensive bird book which had appeared at the time of its publication, and still ranks as one of the most important of all bird books from a collector’s point of view”) - Full mottled calf with gilt title and gilt tooling on the spine (bumped and partly heavily cheafed; some volumes somewhat damaged and with missing sections of the binding material; partly slightly worm-eaten; a few joints cracking). - Vol. IV: plate VI erroneously numbered as IV. Vol. VIII partly quite heavily worm-eaten, partly with loss of letters, partly with plates somewhat affected. Two further volumes slightly worm-eaten (mostly in the white margin). Title of vol. XVII soiled. Slightly browned in places.
See original version (German)
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
Auction location
Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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