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Sold by order of the Trustees of the Firle Estate Settlement
LEVAILLANT, François (1753-1824)
Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celles des toucans et des barbus. Paris: chez Denn le jeune, Perlet, [1801]-1806.
Details
LEVAILLANT, François (1753-1824)
Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celles des toucans et des barbus. Paris: chez Denn le jeune, Perlet, [1801]-1806.
First edition, large paper issue, of Levaillant’s spectacular work on exotic birds, with the plates in two states, uncoloured ‘avant la lettre’, and finely coloured by hand, in fine contemporary morocco. The plates after Barraband are superb and effortlessly capture the beauty of some of most eye-catching of all bird species: the work includes 24 plates of birds of paradise; 15 of rollers; 17 of jays; 18 of toucans; 24 of barbets; 5 of tamatias; 3 of barbacous; 8 of jacamars. Levaillant, the son of the French consul in Dutch Guiana, was born in Paramarimbo and seems to have inherited his father's love of travel. He was one of the first of a new breed of naturalists who achieved prominence towards the end of the 18th century and studied and recorded birds in their natural habitat. Of his time, he was arguably the greatest and certainly the most prolific producer of comprehensive high-quality bird books. Jacques Barraband (1767 or 1768-1809), a pupil of Joseph Malaine (1745-1809), worked as a draughtsman at the Gobelins factory and decorated the dining-room of Napoleon's chateau at Saint-Cloud. However, his work for Levaillant undoubtedly marks the high point of his career and makes clear why he was considered the best ornithological artist of his generation. Barraband's relatively early death and the subsequent popularity of the work of Audubon and Gould have perhaps prevented him from retaining his rightful position, alongside his contemporary Redouté, as one of the greatest natural history artists of all time. Finely bound in a sumptuous, finely tooled and inlaid contemporary English binding (endpapers are J Whatman dated 1801), unsigned. Anker 304; Brunet III:1033; Fine Bird Books pp.90-91; Nissen IVB 559; Ronsil p.298; Wood p.434; Zimmer p.893.
2 volumes, broadsheet folio (576 x 442 mm). Half-titles, titles, 114 plates, including 2 double page folding plates, after Jaques Barraband, in two states (making 228 plates in total), in black printed ‘avant la lettre’, and beautifully hand-coloured, etched by Bouquet, Grémilliet and Perée, printed by Langlois and Rousset (some occasional minor mostly marginal spotting, particularly on guard leaves, some light offsetting to verso of a few coloured plates, text folio 2 in volume 1 loose, folded in inner margin with small tears to outer margin, the odd marginal mark). Contemporary crimson straight-grain morocco, sides gilt and blind tooled to a very elaborate panel design, outer panel triple gilt ruled with fine scrolls, inner panel ruled in blind with blind scrolls, with large corner-pieces of inlays of black morocco finely tooled in gilt with a small gilt tools and criblée gounds, spine with double raised bands with gilt scrolled inlays of black morocco between, richly gilt in compartments, wide gilt tooled inner dentelles, yellow silk doublures and endpapers, each bordered with double gilt rules, fleurons to gilt to corners, (spine a little darkened and rubbed, rebacked with original spine laid down, edges and sides a little scuffed and worn, morocco darkened at edges, some corners restored).
Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celles des toucans et des barbus. Paris: chez Denn le jeune, Perlet, [1801]-1806.
First edition, large paper issue, of Levaillant’s spectacular work on exotic birds, with the plates in two states, uncoloured ‘avant la lettre’, and finely coloured by hand, in fine contemporary morocco. The plates after Barraband are superb and effortlessly capture the beauty of some of most eye-catching of all bird species: the work includes 24 plates of birds of paradise; 15 of rollers; 17 of jays; 18 of toucans; 24 of barbets; 5 of tamatias; 3 of barbacous; 8 of jacamars. Levaillant, the son of the French consul in Dutch Guiana, was born in Paramarimbo and seems to have inherited his father's love of travel. He was one of the first of a new breed of naturalists who achieved prominence towards the end of the 18th century and studied and recorded birds in their natural habitat. Of his time, he was arguably the greatest and certainly the most prolific producer of comprehensive high-quality bird books. Jacques Barraband (1767 or 1768-1809), a pupil of Joseph Malaine (1745-1809), worked as a draughtsman at the Gobelins factory and decorated the dining-room of Napoleon's chateau at Saint-Cloud. However, his work for Levaillant undoubtedly marks the high point of his career and makes clear why he was considered the best ornithological artist of his generation. Barraband's relatively early death and the subsequent popularity of the work of Audubon and Gould have perhaps prevented him from retaining his rightful position, alongside his contemporary Redouté, as one of the greatest natural history artists of all time. Finely bound in a sumptuous, finely tooled and inlaid contemporary English binding (endpapers are J Whatman dated 1801), unsigned. Anker 304; Brunet III:1033; Fine Bird Books pp.90-91; Nissen IVB 559; Ronsil p.298; Wood p.434; Zimmer p.893.
2 volumes, broadsheet folio (576 x 442 mm). Half-titles, titles, 114 plates, including 2 double page folding plates, after Jaques Barraband, in two states (making 228 plates in total), in black printed ‘avant la lettre’, and beautifully hand-coloured, etched by Bouquet, Grémilliet and Perée, printed by Langlois and Rousset (some occasional minor mostly marginal spotting, particularly on guard leaves, some light offsetting to verso of a few coloured plates, text folio 2 in volume 1 loose, folded in inner margin with small tears to outer margin, the odd marginal mark). Contemporary crimson straight-grain morocco, sides gilt and blind tooled to a very elaborate panel design, outer panel triple gilt ruled with fine scrolls, inner panel ruled in blind with blind scrolls, with large corner-pieces of inlays of black morocco finely tooled in gilt with a small gilt tools and criblée gounds, spine with double raised bands with gilt scrolled inlays of black morocco between, richly gilt in compartments, wide gilt tooled inner dentelles, yellow silk doublures and endpapers, each bordered with double gilt rules, fleurons to gilt to corners, (spine a little darkened and rubbed, rebacked with original spine laid down, edges and sides a little scuffed and worn, morocco darkened at edges, some corners restored).
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Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts