Washington, DC, United States National Museum (Smithsonian Institution), 1919-1968. 21 parts in 23. 8vo (23.5 x 15.5 cm). More than 9000 pp.; more than 1400 plates, including 28 full colour plates of eggs. Original printed wrappers (six volumes bound).

A seldom-seen set of one of the most monumental contributions to North American ornithology. Started in 1919 by the American business man and amateur ornithologist Arthur Cleveland Bent (born in 1866), and completed 14 years after his death on 30 December 1954. The complete list of these " Life Histories of..." volumes is as follows ( United States National Museum Bulletin numbers between parentheses): 1919 - Life Histories of North American Diving Birds( Bulletin 107); 1921 - Gulls and Terns (113); 1922 - Petrels and Pelicans and Their Allies (121); 1923 [1951] - Wild Fowl(Part 1) (126); 1925 [1951] - Wild Fowl(Part 2) (130); 1926 - Marsh Birds (135); 1927 - Shore Birds (Part 1) (142); 1929 - Shore Birds (Part 2) (146); 1932 - Gallinaceous Birds (162); 1937 - Birds of Prey(Part 1) (167); 1938 - Birds of Prey (Part 2) (170); 1939 - Woodpeckers (174); 1940 - Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, and Their Allies (176); 1942 - Flycatchers, Larks, Swallows, and Their Allies (179); 1946 - Jays, Crows, and Titmice (191); 1948 - Nuthatches, Wrens, Thrashers, and Their Allies (195); 1949 - Thrushes, Kinglets, and Their Allies (196); 1950 - Wagtails, Shrikes, Vireos, and Their Allies (197); 1953 - Wood Warblers(203); 1958 - Blackbirds, Orioles, Tanagers, and Allies (211); 1968 - Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Buntings, Towhees, Finches, Sparrows, and Allies (Arthur Cleveland Bent and Collaborators, compiled and edited by Oliver L. Austin, Jr.) (237). This set is in original printed wrappers and mostly uncut, as published, with the following exceptions: the two Wild Fowl parts are in the unaltered 1951 Dover reprint, which are bound in blue buckram with gilt title on the spines, and the Diving Birds volume is bound in contemporary half buckram over floral patterned boards (printed front wrapper bound in). Volume 21, published ten years after Volume 20, and consisting of three parts, is bound in blind burgundy cloth over marbled boards, with the original front wrappers bound in. The wrappers first 19 volumes are slightly larger than those of the last volume (1958), of which the size is given above. A few volumes with library markings on wrappers and preliminary papers and titles, but generally a clean set. Please note: The Dover reprint was published in 26 parts - three of the thicker original volumes each being split in two slimmer volumes. Zimmer, pp. 54-55 [part]. Nissen IVB lists a similar titled work under C. E. Bendire, but not this work.