Description
Portraits of Rare and Curious Birds, with their Descriptions from the Menagery of Osterley Park, in the County of Middlesex. London: printed by W. Bulmer & Co., Published for the Author, 1794. First edition, 2 volumes bound as one, 4to, (281 x 220mm.), 100 hand-coloured engraved plates, contemporary calf, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece, head and tail of spine worn, corners rubbed, hinges weak, lacking view of the menagerie plate (as often), a little light spotting and a few small light stains
Footnote
Provenance: The Library of a Country House.
Note: "One of the most famous, early coloured illustrations of ornithology" (Wood). "Hayes was the first author systematically to record a single private collection of live birds; such a project was not attempted again until 1846" (Jackson, Bird Etchings, p.135).