![[THOMAS PENNANT (1726-1798)]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/1998/CKS/1998_CKS_05913_0134_000(104331).jpg?w=1)
Details
[THOMAS PENNANT (1726-1798)]
The British Zoology. Class I. Quadrupeds. Class II. Birds. Published under the Inspection of the Cymmrodorion Society. London: J. & J. March for the Society, sold for the benefit of the British Charity School on Clerkenwell-Green, [1761-]1766. 2° (522 x 363mm). Title and dedication printed in red and black. 107 plates only (of 132, lacking supplement), all hand-coloured (9 of quadrupeds, 98 of birds) by P.Mazell after P.Paillou and others. (Some general light soiling, 5 plates with tears repaired with adhesive tape, one of these affecting the image, 8 plates stained or with heavier soiling, 2 plates with sections of the blank margins torn away.) Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt (neatly rebacked with sections of old spine laid down, corners repaired). Provenance: two early unidentified hands (notes identifying the subjects on most plates).
FIRST EDITION,. Many of the magnificent plates, apparently coloured by Peter Paillou himself, depict the birds life-size, and the work contains the 'first coloured illustrations of birds in a book which attempted to list and portray all of the British species' (Christine Jackson. Bird Etchings., 1985). Originally issued in four parts, the title page calls for 107 plates, but an appendix with an additional 25 plates was issued in 1766. The work was re-issued in smaller formats, and had reached a 4th edition by 1776. Anker 392; Fine Bird Books p.99; Mullens and Swann p.465; Nissen IVB 710; Zimmer p.487.
The British Zoology. Class I. Quadrupeds. Class II. Birds. Published under the Inspection of the Cymmrodorion Society. London: J. & J. March for the Society, sold for the benefit of the British Charity School on Clerkenwell-Green, [1761-]1766. 2° (522 x 363mm). Title and dedication printed in red and black. 107 plates only (of 132, lacking supplement), all hand-coloured (9 of quadrupeds, 98 of birds) by P.Mazell after P.Paillou and others. (Some general light soiling, 5 plates with tears repaired with adhesive tape, one of these affecting the image, 8 plates stained or with heavier soiling, 2 plates with sections of the blank margins torn away.) Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt (neatly rebacked with sections of old spine laid down, corners repaired). Provenance: two early unidentified hands (notes identifying the subjects on most plates).
FIRST EDITION,. Many of the magnificent plates, apparently coloured by Peter Paillou himself, depict the birds life-size, and the work contains the 'first coloured illustrations of birds in a book which attempted to list and portray all of the British species' (Christine Jackson. Bird Etchings., 1985). Originally issued in four parts, the title page calls for 107 plates, but an appendix with an additional 25 plates was issued in 1766. The work was re-issued in smaller formats, and had reached a 4th edition by 1776. Anker 392; Fine Bird Books p.99; Mullens and Swann p.465; Nissen IVB 710; Zimmer p.487.
Sale room notice
Please note that the illustration in the catalogue for lot 134 is shown with lot 135.