HUGE PJ Selby British Ornithology 1865: GROUSE MALE

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C I R Q L A R Original antique prints, books, maps and atlases Image Name GROUSE MALE. PTARMIGAN MALE. Plate # LIX. Author/Artist John Prideaux Selby: Illustrations Of British Ornithology . Date of Publication Published London by Henry Bohn, c. 1865 (second edition, in a larger format than the first edition which was published c. 1819-34). Type of Print Original hand colored engraving. Size of Image Large folio: 21 3/4" X 26 3/4". (Sheet size dimensions: plate marks are at 16 1/4" X 21 1/4"). Condition In overall very good to excellent condition. Remnant of previous binding on edge of sheet. Printed on hand made "wove" paper with a "J Whatman 1864" watermark. Description We are pleased to offer this beautifully original hand colored engraving by John Prideaux Selby (1788-1867), from his monumental work entitled Illustrations Of British Ornithology. '[SELBY'S] GREATEST WORK WILL EVER BE DEEMED HIS CELEBRATED ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY ... OUR ENGLISH EQUIVALENT OF AUDUBON'S GREAT WORK' (Mullens and Swann, p. 518); this opinion was shared by Selby's contemporaries, who considered it 'the most splendid and costly work yet published on the birds of Great Britain' (William Swainson), illustrated by 'the finest examples extant of ornithological etchings' (Hugh Edwin Strickland, both quoted in: C. Jackson Bird Etchings , Ithaca and London: 1985, pp. 202 and 212). Prideaux John Selby 'was very gifted as an artist, and the two volumes of Illustrations of British Ornithology are outstandingly beautiful. In many people's estimation, the clarity and crispness of his figures give them an austere beauty that is lacking in the pretty lithographs in H.L. Meyer's and John Gould's books about British birds ... The cool, classical quality of Selby's plates belongs to the age of elegance and could never have been achieved by the Victorian John Gould. Selby's bird figures were the most accurate delineations of British birds to that date, and the liveliest. After so many books with small, stiff bird portraits, this new atlas with its life-size figures and more relaxed drawing was a great achievement in the long history of bird illustration' (C. Jackson, op. cit , p.212).We happened upon a few, all of which we will be listing on eBay, plates of this very difficult to acquire work. All are in excellent condition.Printed on thick stock paper, these plates have amazing detail. They frame up very well and look great individually or in a grouping.We encourage you to contact us with any particular questions you might have. We promise to get back to you quickly.Thank you for looking and please be sure and look at our other auctions for other fine works by Audubon from the first as well as the 1860 editions of the Birds Of America . We also have other architectural, natural history plates as well as original maps, all guaranteed original.We do not use the eBay check-out system for invoicing so it is not necessary to email us at auction end. You will receive an email from Paypal letting you know the particular payment options available to you. We will also send you an email summarizing your winning bids along with one combined postal charge. We will email you this summary within 24 hours after the auction's end. Cirqlar is a SquareTrade seller in good standing and we will do everything we can make this a positive experience for you. We don't hold checks for clearance (we have yet to receive a bad check after over 22,000 transactions!). Again, we will be happy to combine purchases to save on your shipping costs. News flash! We are now using UPS for our North American shipments. Shipments are easy to track, and t is $100 of built in insurance. If you are one of our International friends, please contact us with your particulars (name of country, insurance requirements if any) so that we might get as accurate a quote as possible to get your purchase to you in a timely fashion. Please note that we now have (finally, mer... read more

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