June 2021 Catalogue

6 S c i e n c e & M e d i c i n e • J u n e 2 0 2 1 Illustrated With Two Volumes Of Over 700 Finely Engraved And Beautifully Hand-Colored Plates 4. GUERIN, Félix-Edouard, editor. Dictionnaire Pittoresque d’Histoire Naturelle et des Phénomènes de la Nature [Picturesque Dictionary Of Natural History and Natural Phenomena]. Paris, 1833-39. Eleven volumes bound as seven. Thick quarto, contemporary half green morocco gilt. $4800. Click for more info First edition of this impressive early 19th-century natural history encyclopedia, complete with all 720 steel- engraved plates, virtually all of which are hand-colored, depicting in stunning detail a comprehensive range of life, handsomely bound in seven volumes (five of text, two of plates). From humble earthworms and common insects to such imposing beasts as the elephant and the hippopotamus, from all manner of birds and fish to men and women (including several plates illustrating medical abnormalities), as well as a wide range of lovely flora, the plates present their varied subjects in intricate detail. The vast majority of the plates are beautifully hand-colored (a few are instead printed in sanguine); many boast especially brilliant bursts of color in such details as a butterfly’s wings or the crest of a bird. Text volumes bound with half titles. Text in French. Plates cleanwithcolors vivid. Avery good copy.