Orbigny, A. D. d'
Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale (le Brésil, la république orientale de l'Uruguay, la république Argentine, la Patagonie, la république du Chili, la république de Bolivia, la république du Perou). Exécuté dans le cours des années 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832 et 1833. Tome cinquième. 3.e Partie: Oiseaux.
Paris, P. Bertrand; Strasbourg, V. Levrault, 1835-1844. Large 4to and folio (33.3 x 25.1 cm). Half title (to the Voyage), title page and half title (to the Oiseaux); iii, 395 pp.; 67 finely lithographed and delicately hand-coloured plates [numbered 1-66; 6bis], one large, folding, hand-coloured zoogeographical map. Excellent period style half morocco over marbled boards. Spine with six gilt-stippled, raised bands; compartments with floral vignettes and title. Marbled endpapers. Edges speckled red.
The complete ornithological section of a beautifully illustrated work by one of the most eminent naturalists of all time, the French explorer, ornithologist, zoologist, malacologist, botanist and palaeontologist Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (1802-1857). Entirely based on his own collections and researches - the results of seven years of travel and exploration in remote parts of South America. Many birds are carefully described as new. This is his magnum opus. The fine illustrations, including many colourful species, are by the renowned French natural history painter Édouard Traviès de Villers (1809-1876). The binding is an example of superior craftmanship. Light, scattered spotting and some very mild toning. This work is prone to foxing, but this is by far the cleanest copy we have ever seen. Anker, 382; Nissen IVB, 698; Nissen ZBI, 3021; Sabin, 57457.