Fine Bird Books 1700-1900 by Sacheverell Sitwell, Handasyde Buchanan and James Fischer

Fine Bird Books 1700-1900 by Sacheverell Sitwell, Handasyde Buchanan and James Fischer is a 180-page cloth-bound hardcover published by The Atlantic Monthly Press, first published in Great Britain in 1953, this copy is a stated first printing published in 1990.   Apart from some sun fading to the dust jacket and a tiny closed tear along the jacket top edge, the book is in very good condition. Book Summary This lavishly illustrated, impeccably researched volume is a tribute to the world's greatest natural history monographs.  And it is the most comprehensive illustrated guide to collectible colorplate books ever published. Here are the works of John James Audobon, John Gould, and Edward Lear.  Also represented and distinguished for the superb craftsmanship and refinement of the printmaking are works by the German master Joseph Wolf; French artists Jacques Barraband, Edouard Travies, and Jean Audebert; and the great Dutch Ornithologist Coenraad Temminck.  No less impressive are the works of Mark Catesby, Alexander Wilson, and Daniel Elliot, Americans who have been overshadowed by Audobon.  Many of the prints are reproduced here for the first time since they were originally published.  Across the pages of this book eagles and falcons soar, parrots and toucans strut, hummingbirds hover, and all manner of waterfowl preen.  However exotic or commonplace the bird, these portraits vividly capture its spirit.  Exquisitely reproduced and chronologically arranged, the fifty-two color plates reveal the extraordinary breadth of achievement attained during the two centuries treated. More than a stunning visual record, Fine Bird Books is a collector's guide to fine prints and color plate books.  The ultimate tool for the collector, its comprehensive, scholarly bibliography rates the value of hundreds of the most sought-after prints ever made. ISBN:  0-87113-285-0