Paris, l'Imprimerie Royale, 1770-1783. Nine parts in nine. 4to (25.3 x 19.3 cm). Title pages with allegorical engraved vignettes, numerous engraved head and tail pieces. 5617 pp. (I. (1770) [iv], xxiv, 496; II. (1771) [v], 560; III. (1775) iv, [xi], 502, xcvii; IV. (1778) v-xvi, 590, xxviii; V. (1778) v-xv, 546, xxix; VI. (1779) iii-xvi, 703; VII. (1780) xvi, 554, xcvi; VIII. (1781) viii, 498, xlii; IX. (1783) v-viii, 438, xxx, 284). 262 engraved plates [29; 27; 31; 27; 22; 25; 31; 39; 31]. Uniform contemporary full tree calf. Spines with five raised bands, rich gilt compartments with floral vignettes, two morocco labels with gilt titles. Marbled endpapers. Marbled edges.

The complete, rare, birds part of the first 4to edition ("PMM edition") of this large and important series on natural history by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788). Together they form a coherent segment of the whole work. Provenance: On the front pastedowns a bookplate, Bibliothèque du C.en [= Citoyen] Capon, over an older, usually removed, bookplate with coat of arms, of the French lawyer and politician Count François-Antoine de Boissy d'Anglas (1756-1826); small stamp "Gleizes Not.re. JMP" on titles. Some light rubbing to the boards edges and spine ends; apart from some minimal spotting, and a page text with a brown smudge, exceptionally clean. A very attractive, uniformly bound set. Ashworth and Bradley (1984). Theories of the Earth 1644-1830. The history of a genre, 25; Nissen ZBI, 672; PMM 198 (in part); Casey Wood, p. 267. Not in Nissen IVB.