Lot 96
New Naturalists
Richard G. West's personal set of the 'Golden Fourteen'
£2,375
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 13 July 2022 from 10:00 BST
Description
comprising:
The Natural History of Orkney; British Warblers; Heathlands; The New Forest; Ferns; Freshwater Fishes; The Hebrides; The Soil; British Larks, Pipits and Wagtails; Caves and Cave Life; Wild and Garden Plants; Ladybirds; The New Naturalists; The Natural History of Pollination. London: Collins [HarperCollinsPublishers], 1985-96. 14 volumes, 8vo, original green cloth, dust jackets (Orkney and British Warblers each with Duraseal protector as issued), a few bumps to extremities (Orkney top edge of front board and lower fore corners of both boards; Hebrides corners; Caves lower fore corner of front board), Orkney with dust-soiling to Duraseal on rear panel, Hebrides and Soil with a few small marks to dust jackets, very slight fading to spines of dust jackets of Heathlands, Ferns, and Wild and Garden Plants, stronger fading to jacket spines of Freshwater Fishes and The Natural History of Pollination, spine of Ladybirds notably bright [Bernhard & Loe NN70A-83A] (14)
Footnote
Note: First editions of numbers 70-83 in the New Naturalist series, with Orkney and British Warblers both in first state; Heathlands and The New Forest are both true first editions, with dust jackets retaining 'Collins' on the spine and the printed price on the front flap (removed for the Book Club editions). The respective print runs were: 725, 725, 880, 1850, 1550, 1470, 1500, 1481, 1601, 1401, 1404, 1400, 1489 and 1472.
Provenance: Professor Richard G. West FRS FGS (1926-2020), British botanist, geologist and palaeontologist, and co-editor of the New Naturalist series, all with his bookplate.
