Beschreibung:

GEORGES-LOUIS-MARIE LE CLERC, COMTE DE BUFFON (1707-1788) Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux . Paris: Imprimerie Royale (I-VI), suivant la copie de l'Imprimerie Royale (VII-X), 1770-1778-1783-1784-1786. 10 volumes, 4 (315 x 234mm). Collation as in Zimmer. 973 hand-coloured plates after and by Franois Nicolas Martinet under the supervision of E.L. Daubenton. (Without the 35 additional plates of insects, small stain to two plates, some light browning in vols. II and V.) Contemporary cat's-paw calf, gilt fillet border on sides, spine gilt in compartments with two green leather lettering-pieces, gilt edges, marbled endpapers. Provenance : [Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Prigord (1754-1838), French statesman, by descent in the family. A FINE COPY OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY. In 1765 Daubenton the younger, at Buffon's instigation, commenced the publication of 1008 coloured engravings, 973 of birds, apparently to illustrate the 9 bird volumes forming part of Buffon's Histoire naturelle gnrale , which were published from 1770-1783. Without text other than the identifying captions, they were known as 'Daubenton's Planches Enlumines'. Owing to the limited number of coloured plates produced, it was not possible to issue them with the Histoire naturelle gnrale , and so a second set of 262 black-and-white illustrations were made for that work. Buffon then produced simultaneously in ten volumes the present special edition of the ornithology (issued in large quarto and folio formats) specifically to accomodate Daubenton's plates. Buffon described the present format as 'petit in -folio avec les planches enlumines, petit papier'. Buffon was aided in writing the text by Philibert Gueneau de Montbeillard and l'Abb Bexon. The 35 supplementary plates of insects are not, as often, present; they are not mentioned in the text or plate lists. Nissen IVB 158; Zimmer 104-6. (10)