Glimpses of Bird Life Pourtrayed with Pen and Pencil

Description:

First edition. Illustrated with 20 exquisite chromolithographic plates by [Léo-]Paul Robert, printed by Lemercier in Paris, each accompanied by one leaf of descriptive letterpress.

Léo-Paul Robert (1851-1923), also known as Paul Robert, was a prominent Swiss naturalist painter celebrated for his scientifically accurate and beautiful depictions of birds and wildlife. His son Paul-André Robert also became a renowned natural history painter. The text was written by the distinguished English ornithologist and field naturalist James Edmund Harting (1841-1928).

Mullens & Swann p. 275.

Condition

Folio (420x320mm), orig. cloth, bevelled boards, decorative gilt and black borders with title and central bird vignette to upper board. All edges gilt. An unusually strong, tight copy with no cracking to the inner hinges. Original cloth with a few old marks and light stains; some scuffing to rear board. Occasional minor foxing, mostly confined to margins. Some expected offsetting from plates to facing text pages.. Four or five plates exhibit minor surface ghosting/marking to the glossy finish, typical of historical tissue-guard adhesion, though without loss of image detail; the plates remain otherwise bright, clean, and highly attractive.