Details
STRICKLAND, Hugh Edwin (1811-1853) and Alexander Gordon MELVILLE. The Dodo and Its Kindred; or, The history, affinities, and osteology of the Dodo, Solitaire and other extinct birds of the islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon. London: Reeve, Benham and Reeve, 1848.
4 (316 x 252mm). 18 plates, of which 13 are lithographs and 5 anastatically-printed, 2 plates hand-coloured, one folding, wood-engraved title vignette and illustrations, with half title and errata slip, frontispiece retaining tissue guard. Extra-illustrated with a folding engraved map of Mauritius by W. H. Lizars after F. A. Mackenzie, dated 1835, backed on linen. (Some plates spotted, C1 with slight crease marks, advertisements not bound in.) Original blue cloth decorated in blind, the front cover with gilt-stamped vignette of a dodo and the rear cover with vignette of a solitaire (recased with new endpapers, spine frayed at head, corners a little rubbed), t.e.g.
As the authors state in their introduction, the Dodo was one of the first 'clearly attested' instances of 'the extinction of organic species through human agency.' Collecting satisfactory information about the group of birds designated Didinae proved no easy matter, however. 'The palaeontologist has, in many cases, far better data for determining the zoological character of a species which perished myriads of years ago, than those presented by a group of birds, several species of which were living in the reign of Charles the First.' Translations of foreign works dealing with the subject, and an 8-page bibliography of the Didinae are included in the appendix. Anker 486; Fine Bird Books p. 109; Wood 585; Zimmer p. 606.
4 (316 x 252mm). 18 plates, of which 13 are lithographs and 5 anastatically-printed, 2 plates hand-coloured, one folding, wood-engraved title vignette and illustrations, with half title and errata slip, frontispiece retaining tissue guard. Extra-illustrated with a folding engraved map of Mauritius by W. H. Lizars after F. A. Mackenzie, dated 1835, backed on linen. (Some plates spotted, C1 with slight crease marks, advertisements not bound in.) Original blue cloth decorated in blind, the front cover with gilt-stamped vignette of a dodo and the rear cover with vignette of a solitaire (recased with new endpapers, spine frayed at head, corners a little rubbed), t.e.g.
As the authors state in their introduction, the Dodo was one of the first 'clearly attested' instances of 'the extinction of organic species through human agency.' Collecting satisfactory information about the group of birds designated Didinae proved no easy matter, however. 'The palaeontologist has, in many cases, far better data for determining the zoological character of a species which perished myriads of years ago, than those presented by a group of birds, several species of which were living in the reign of Charles the First.' Translations of foreign works dealing with the subject, and an 8-page bibliography of the Didinae are included in the appendix. Anker 486; Fine Bird Books p. 109; Wood 585; Zimmer p. 606.