Description

[004152] White, Gilbert. A Naturalist’s Calendar, with Observations in Various Branches of Natural History; Extracted from the Papers of the Late Rev. Gilbert White. London: B. and J. White, 1795. First Edition. 8vo. Hardback. Good. [3]-iv, [3], 8-170pp, [6]. Later half calf and marbled paper over boards, smooth spine divided into five panels by gilt single rules, title in gilt to second panel, central bird device to remaining panels

Gilt dulled, rubbed to extremities, paper covering board edges is chipped with small amounts of loss, corners bumped, very lightly browned internally, light offsetting from frontispiece to title, but generally fairly clean. Armorial bookplate of Joseph Whitaker to front pastedown, with a previous owner’s signature to head

With a hand-coloured plate, here bound as a frontispiece, of a hybrid bird by J. F. Miller (see Alexander, A Biographical Dictionary of British and Irish Engravers, 1714-1820, page 619), after Elmer, though Martin notes that Prof. Newton wrote of this illustration that “it was so badly done as to misrepresent not only the original but also the water-colour drawing from which the plate is copied” (Martin, ‘Gilbert White’, page 99)

Martin, pages 98-99