American Ornithology; Or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States

RARE, LIMITED TO 5 COPIES, SIGNED BY ROGERS, EXTRAVAGANTLY EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED, FINELY-BOUND BY FAZAKERLEY. New Southgate: John Bale and Sons for H.A. Rogers, 1887. Extra Illustrated Limited Edition. 2 volumes, 8vo, 9 7/8 x 5 1/2 inches (225 x 140mm) Half-titles, titles printed in red and black. SIGNED by the AUTHOR on the limitation page "Five copies were (only) printed on this hand-made paper for sale. S. A. Rogers, 1887." EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED with 150 engraved, etched and lithographic 18th- and 19th-century portraits and views by various artists after Thomas Gainsborough, Thomas Lawrence, Joshua Reynolds, George Romney and others, 10-page MANUSCRIPT INDEX of illustrations bound in at the end of volume II. Where captions are not included in the plate, they are neatly hand-written on the page margin in ink. Contemporary straight-grained tan morocco gilt by Fazakerley of Liverpool, the covers with gilt floral designs, the stems and leaves outlined in gilt, the flowers depicted with dark brown morocco inlays, the border of 4 gilt fillets with stepped corners enclosed within an outer single gilt fillet, the spines gilt in 6 compartments divided by raised bands, titled in gilt in 2 and dated at the foot, the other compartments decorated with fleurons surrounded by foliate cornerpieces, turn-ins ruled in gilt, top edges gilt, others trimmed; extremities lightly rubbed, unobtrusive small marks on spines; occasional light foxing and offsetting. Provenance: F.E. Dinshaw (armorial bookplates and pressmark labels); William Robinson (bookplates bound in after front free endpapers), and W.A. Foyle Beeleigh Abbey library bookplate in red morocco pasted into front cover, in both volumes. AN EXTRAVAGANTLY EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED COPY OF TABLE-TALK, FINELY-BOUND BY FAZAKERLEY AND LIMITED TO FIVE COPIES, inscribed on the verso of volume I half-title: 'five copies were (only) printed on this hand-made paper for sale H.A. Rogers. 1887'. The 145 portraits depict a broad range of the poet Samuel Rogers' contemporaries, friends and literary influences, and include Lord Byron, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Sydney Smith...

This is Gilpin's third in his series of works tracing picturesque beauty in British natural landscapes. In it he portrays the landscapes of Scottish Highlands, and describes them lyrically in his text. Prefacing the list of Prints at the end of the second volume, the author says "With regards to the prints, which adorn these volumes, I can only say..... that few of them pretend to be 'exact portraits.' They in general 'only characterize the countries,' through which the reader is carried." The illustrations, based on Gilpin's sketches, were etched by his nephew William Sawrey Gilpin using the newly invented aquatint process. This volume also includes a technical discourse about drawing and the mixing of colors, including a chart (vol. 1, p. 131-134) William Gilpin (1724 – 1804) was an English artist, Church of England cleric, schoolmaster and author. He is best known as a travel writer and as one of those who originated the idea of the picturesque. Gilpin's tour journals circulated in manuscript to friends such as the poet William Mason and a wider circle including Thomas Gray...

Robertson, William, Frost, John. The History of the Discovery and Settlement of America, With an Account of His Life and Writings, To which are added Questions for the Examination of...

AUTHOR: SPARROW, Walter Shaw. TITLE: British Sporting Artists From Barlow To Herring. PUBLISHER: London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd., 1922. DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION. 1 vol.,...