Lindau, Brodtmann, 1816. Folio (43.6 x 35.0 cm). Engraved title, [ii], 72 pp.; 144 lithographed plates. Contemporary half morocco over marbled boards. Spine with five embossed bands and gilt title. Marbled edges.

A much sought-after lithographical incunable, written and illustrated by the Swiss artist and lithographer Carl [or Karl] Joseph Brodtmann (1787-1862) who was active in Zürich and Schaffhausen. He paired an eye for scientific accuracy with an aesthetic view, as is amply shown in this work. Adler lists him as an illustrator to Heinrich Rudolph Schinz's widely praised Naturgeschichte und Abbildungen der Reptilien (1833-1835), and he illustrated the bird volume of Schinz's work too. Schinz (1777-1861) was a fellow Swiss naturalist. Brodtmann's Bilder-Galerie is remarkable not only for its fine illustrations, but also for its large size. It was published in 36 parts, divided as follows: 1. Ethnography and Mammals (18 parts, 36 text pages, 72 [12 Ethnography; 60 Mammalia] plates); 2. Birds (Parts numbered 26-33 [numbering out of sequence]; 16 text pages, 32 plates); 3. Herpetology and Entomology (Parts 19-25; 16 [6; 10] text pages, 28 [12, 16] plates); 4. Supplement to mammals (Parts 1-3; 4 text pages; 12 plates). Boards a bit rubbed at edges; endpapers toned; otherwise very good, unmarked. Very rare in any state. We found only one auction record. Adler II, p. 51. Neither in Nissen, nor in Cat. BM(NH).