Beschreibung:

GOULD, John (1804-1881). A complete set of the celebrated folio bird books formed by Gould's close acquaintance, George Savile Foljambe (1800-1869).
GOULD, John (1804-1881). A complete set of the celebrated folio bird books formed by Gould's close acquaintance, George Savile Foljambe (1800-1869). 9 folio ornithological works in 40 volumes, all first editions unless stated, comprising: A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains , 1831[-1833]; The Birds of Europe , [1832-]1837; A Monograph of the Trogonidae, or Family of Trogons [1835-]1838; The Birds of Australia , [1840-]1848-1869, first edition thus; A Monograph of the Odontophorinae, or Partridges of America , [1844-]1850; A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-Birds , [1849-]1861, together with the Supplement , [1880-]1887; Birds of Asia , 1850-1883; A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans , [1852-]1854, second expanded edition; The Birds of Great Britain , [1862-]1873; The Birds of New Guinea and the Adjacent Papuan Islands , 1875-1888. Together with the 3 volume folio work The Mammals of Australia , [1845-]1863. All bound in near uniform contemporary green morocco gilt. Together with 2 octavo works comprising the Introduction to both the Birds of Australia and the Humming-Birds , both uniformly bound in contemporary calf, both with ink presentation inscriptions on titles from Gould to George Savile Foljambe. A FINE SET OF GOULD'S MAGNIFICENT FOLIOS. The set includes all the major works bar A Monograph of the Macropodidae, or Family of Kangaroos , 1841-1842, the cancelled parts of the Birds of Australia , 1837-1838, and the uncompleted Monograph of the Pittidae , 1880. Considering that 11 plates from the Kangaroos were reproduced in the The Mammals of Australia , and that Gould wrote to subscribers to return the two published parts of the Birds of Australia in order to suppress them, and also that Gould's death cut short the publication of the Pittidae after only 10 plates, it is not surprising that these do not appear in the collection. Copies of A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia , 1837-1838, and the Icones avium, or figures and descriptions of new and interesting species of birds from various parts of the globe , 1837-1838, are also wanting. However, Gould viewed the former as being primarily of use to museum curators (letter to William Swainson 21 January 1837, Linnean Society); and the latter, a project 'to commence a general history of Birds' (letter to Jardine, 29 February 1836, Newton Library), petered out after the second part and 18 plates only. (45)