The Poets of the Woods: Twelve Pictures of English Song Birds

Description:

First edition. Scarce. Comprises 12 charming tissue-guarded colour plates from watercolour drawings by Joseph Wolf, with poetical extracts from various authors. The illustrations printed in colours by M. and N. Hanhart. Each plate consists of a circular coloured image mounted on card stock with an ornate, rustic, gilt-printed frame. Birds included are: Nightingale, Robin, Chaffinch, Skylark, Bullfinch, Thrush, Linnet, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Cuckoo, Wood-Pigeon, Turtle-Dove. Poets include Coleridge, Keats, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Shelley, Burns, and others.

Mullens & Swann p. 659; Nissen IVB 1011.

Condition

Sm. 4to (262x188mm), orig. green cloth, bevelled boards, gilt vignette to front board, blind to rear, gilt title to spine, slightly dulled, aeg. Occasional light foxing. Small label removed from front free endpaper. Ink name to title page. Vg. Bookplate of Robert Washington Oates (1874-1958). Oates was a dedicated naturalist and book collector, and was instrumental in securing the home of Gilbert White as a permanent memorial to the naturalist and author. There he also established the Oates Memorial Museum and Library, which commemorated his cousin, Captain Lawrence Oates (1880-1912), a member of Scott's Antarctic Expedition, and his uncle Frank Oates (1840-1875).