Knight’s Pictorial Museum of Animated Nature, Volume One – Mammalia, Birds

[1856]. Volume One only (of 2). [4] 400pp, with colour frontispiece and 1761 woodcut illustrations. Quarter bound in calf’s leather over pebbled cloth, decorated with blind rules. Small folio. Boards are heavily worn, rubbed through on corners, leather on spine faded, rubbed, chipped at head spine, with significant loss at base of spine, some markings. Endpapers soiled, with some occasional, mild smudging and fingering throughout. The first half dozen leaves – fly leaf, frontispiece, title page, presentation page and first couple of pages of text are discoloured, fragile and torn. Several pages have some edge wear, leaf carrying pages 33/34 has a few short tears and a small portion of loss along fore edge. Pages margins mildly and unevenly toned. Gutters cracked between endpapers, binding a little fragile but holding. A magnificent, mid 19th century presentation of birds and animals from across the world, in words and pictures. We rarely offer books in poor condition but this is a valuable, sought after title which is hard to find; this copy would make a good ‘gap filler’ in a collection until a better copy can be sourced. Pricing reflects condition; reasonable offers welcome.