Beschreibung:

GOULD, John (1804-1881). A Monograph of the Odontophorinae, or Partridges of America . London: Richard & John E. Taylor for the author, [1 November 1884 - 1 March 1846 - 1 November] 1850. 3 original parts, 2° (560 x 380mm). Subscriber list, dedication, preface, introduction, and plate list; large-size Prospectus dated 1 November 1844 and Directions to the Binder (creased) tipped in. 32 hand-coloured lithographic plates by Gould and Henry Constantine Richter, printed by Hullmandel & Walton. (A few small spots in one plate.) Original embossed cloth-backed printed boards (loss of cloth at spine, a little wear or darkening to boards). Provenance : Arthur Wm. Young, 29 March 1881 (inscription on part I). A FINE COPY IN RARE ORIGINAL PARTS OF THE FIRST EDITION OF GOULD'S FOURTH MONOGRAPH, in which he considerably enlarged the number of recorded species of the American partridge family. This set is as issued to an original (anonymous) subscriber: it is in original parts with the printed boards bearing individual publication dates and the subscriber's price of £2.10, and it contains both the Prospectus and Directions to the Binder. The sheets retain their full size, and the colouring is very fresh. In undertaking this work, his fourth monograph on a family of birds, Gould 'visited most of the public and many of the private collections of Europe, and have besides corresponded with various persons in America: the result is that I have had the pleasure of extending our knowledge of the group from eleven to no less than thirty-five species'. He was inspired to undertake this project 'by the sight of the beautiful Callipepla California, presented to the Zoological Society of London by Captain Beechey, in 1830' (Preface, p. 10). Anker 176; Nissen IVB 376; Sauer 13; Wood p.365; Zimmer p. 257.