John Latham | A General History of Birds, Winchester, 1821-1828, 11 volumes in 10

John Latham

A general history of birds. Winchester: Jacob and Johnson for the author, 1821-1828

11 volumes in 10 (index bound in volume 10), 4to (271 x 210mm.), 193 hand-coloured etched plates by and after Latham, dedication leaf, list of subscribers, near contemporary green morocco elaborately gilt with ornithological motifs, spine in six compartments with raised bands, morocco lettering-pieces, marbled endpapers, edges gilt, light scattered spotting, missing corner of Volume II, pp. 139-140 (not affecting text), extremities lightly rubbed

Revised and expanded second edition. Latham undertook this revision of his General Synopsis of Birds (1781-85) at the age of eighty. It incorporated the matter of his earlier published Supplement with his main work and added entirely new plates and text as well.

LITERATURE:

Fine Bird Books, p. 87; McGill/Wood, p. 427; Nissen IVB 532; Zimmer, p. 376

PROVENANCE:

Charles Douglas Halford (1793-1865), bookplate