Lot 261

Thomas Pennant (1726 - 1798) ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS

History of Quadrupeds. London, B. White 1781. 2 vols. 4°. 25,5 x 20 x 3 cm each. Contains XXIV, 284 pages; pp. 285-566, 7 leaves. With two copperplate title-pages and two vignettes on them. Two engraved heraldic ex libris. The central theme is 52 numbered copperplate plates of animals, mammals - quadrupeds, with descriptions below, some marked R. Murray. Animals depicted in their typical natural habitat, the rich contrasting impressions of the plates executed on heavy paper with wide leaf margins. In text, common names in headers, references to literature, bold initials, marginalia. Thomas Pennant (1726-1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, collector and writer, renowned for his expertise in many scientific disciplines. Contemporary leather binding with gilt lettering and spine label. Separate front boards, speckled endpapers, numerous library stamps on frontispieces.