Description
[004183] Bewick, Thomas. History of British Birds WITH A General History of Quadrupeds. ill. Bewick, Thomas. Newcastle: Sol. Hodgson for Beilby & Bewick, 1797. First Edition. 8vo. Hardback. Good. Three volumes, 1797-1804; Volume One – Land Birds, [3], iv-xxx, [3], 2-335pp, [1]; [3], 2-46pp, [2]; Volume Two – Water Birds, [3], iv-xx, [1], 2-400pp; [3], 2-43pp, [1]; [1], 2-7pp, [1]; and Volume Three – Quarupeds, x, [1], 2-525pp, [1]
Uniform later (probably mid-nineteenth century) full morocco for the bookseller George Rutland, raised bands, spines in six panels, title lettered directly to second panel, volume and running title to third, with author to fourth, place and date to foot, remaining panels with double line frame surrounding four quadrilobe corner pieces joined by a single line with small tools to each gap, covers with double line border, surrounding a two line double panel design with fleuron corner pieces, roll to edges, and a double line to inner edges, a.e.g. with non-pareil marbled endpapers
Rubbed to extremities, especially outer joints, corners bumped. Lightly browned and foxed throughout, a few instances of pencil marginalia, bump to fore edge in Land Birds from U6 to X4, with small amount of loss to fore edge margins, former owner’s name to ffeps, front endpaper to Quadrupeds detached. The Birds are the first editions, with Quadrupeds being the fourth edition of 1800. The Land Birds includes the Supplement, the Water Birds includes the Supplement and the Addenda
For the Newcastle bookseller George Rutland see Hunt, The Book Trade in Northumberland and Durham to 1860, page 80, and also the BBTI
See Mullens and Swann, page 63; Tattersfield 1.4 (Quadrupeds); 1.13 and 1.16 (Birds)
