David Seth-Smith | Parakeets. A handbook to the imported species, London, 1903, half morocco, ALS loosely inserted

David Seth-Smith

Parakeets. A handbook to the imported species. London: R.H. Porter, 1903

FIRST EDITION, 8vo (252 x 158mm.), 20 hand-coloured lithographed plates, mostly by and after H. Goodchild and H. Gronvold, further in-text illustrations, 3 autograph letters signed from the author to Hubert Astley loosely inserted, modern violet half morocco over marbled boards, spine with parrot decoration, top edge gilt, others uncut, marbled endpapers, some light spotting, spine faded

A fine copy of this first edition of Parakeets, along with 3 autograph letters signed by Seth-Smith.

David Seth-Smith (1875-1963) was a notable British zoologist, who authored numerous works, was a long-serving radio broadcaster for the BBC, and was a talented wildlife artist and photographer. He was a fellow of the Zoological Society, and served as their curator of Mammals and Birds. The book is accompanied by 3 autograph letters signed from David Seth-Smith to Hubert Delaval Astley (1860-1925), Rector at Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire, member of the British Ornithologists' Union, and author of My Birds in Freedom and Captivity (1900). The letters, dated April 7 1905, April 20 1905, and March 12 1909, discuss Astley's sightings and acquisitions of rare bird species.

PROVENANCE:

Hubert Delaval Astley (1860-1925), ownership inscription to front free endpaper