Paris, A. Eymery [AND Brussels, Avransart and Gust. Gastebois], 1825. Five volumes in five. 8vo (20.1 x 12.8 cm). Frontispiece portrait of Lacepède by Leroux after a drawing by Hersent; 2881 pp.; 115 finely engraved plates after Jean Gabriel Prêtre, in original hand-colouring, several augmented with silver. Uniform polished tree-calf. Spines rich gilt with geometrical patterns, and two red morocco labels with gilt title and volume number. Boards with gilt-ornamented borders; gilt dentelles. Marbled endpapers. Edges speckled bluish green.

One of the best - and rarest - editions of Buffon's influential work on reptiles, amphibians, fish, and whales. The detailed plates are by one of the finest natural history illustrators of the early 19th century, the Swiss-born French artist Jean Gabriel Prêtre (1768-1849). A collation is as follows: I. 620 pp.; Plates 1-22 (herpetologie); II. 561 pp.; Plates 1-24 (poissons); III. 527 pp.; Plates 1-24 (poissons); IV. 585 pp.; Plates 1-22 (poissons) V. 588 pp.; Plates 1-23 (poissons; cétacés). Provenance: inscribed on the half-title of the first volume by the French historian Maurice Jules Abel Lefranc (1863-1952) an expert on French literature, in particular Rabelais, viz., a dedication to the Belgian journalist, newspaper director and senator Zéphyrin Clovis Piérard (1896-1974). A few plates mildly toned; light marginal foxing, otherwise a very good set in an attractive, contemporary binding.