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 - in Great Britain known as great bustard -, and its nest and eggs, are rare. 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.