Nürnberg, Adam Ludwig Wirsing, [1770-]1772. Two large, printed sheets (40.0 x 24.8 cm). Engraved and originally hand-coloured plate, numbered and captioned.

Two fine plates from possibly the first but certainly one of the most beautiful hand-coloured nidological works ever, and almost never found complete - even individual plates, such as these, of the bird, and its nest and eggs, are rare. With two different captions. However, the Krautvogel and Kraut-Lerche are here synonymous. This is the European bird now known in German as Baumpieper, and in Great Britain as tree pipit. The image is exceptionally large. The first author, Adam Ludwig Wirsing (1734-1798) was a versatile German engraver with a keen interest in natural history. The German medical doctor and naturalist (principally ornithologist) Friedrich Christian Günther (1726-1774) was responsible for the descriptive text. Uncut. With the widest possible margins. The colouring bright and accurate. Excellent, strong plates in fine and accurate original hand-colouring. Anker, 537; Nissen IVB, 1002; Sitwell, Fine bird books, 157; Not in Zimmer.