Plates Illustrative of Natural History. Part 1-7
- Publisher : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
- Published In : London
- Illustrations : 210 wood engraved plates
Description:
Title to front covers: 'Plates Illustrative of Natural History'. Each volume with letterpress title 'Thirty Plates Illustrative of Natural History, with a short Description annexed to each Plate', and 30 wood-engraved plates (210 in total). Each leaf has an engraved illustration with a paragraph of text beneath, giving a brief description of the animal, sometimes with Biblical references to it. Parts 1 & 2 dated 1845 and 1847, Part 4, 1843 and Part 5, 1850, the rest are undated. It appears these delightful didactic plates were also sold separately and were available at 3/4d. Plain, 2d. Coloured - this set is uncoloured. Extremely rare in complete and original state.
Josiah Wood Whymper (1813-1903) was a British book illustrator best known for his wood-engravings. His illustrations for other works of note included Charles Alexander Johns's British Birds in Their Haunts (1862) and Henry Walter Bates's 1863 The Naturalist on the River Amazons.
Condition
7 vols, oblong-4to (335x274mm), orig. green, blind-stamped cloth, gilt titles to front covers, variable marking and water-staining to covers, some wear to joints and extremities, housed in a recent custom solander box. Some toning to paper, a few plates closely trimmed, shaving imprint or other subsidiary text, damp-staining to fore margins of Part 1 (stronger towards front, also affecting lower margin of title-page and first plate), Part 3 with marginal worm-track to title-page and first plate, Part 4 with very light marginal damp-staining and with small hole to margin of 3 consecutive plates, Part 7 front free endpaper removed.