Birds of South Africa; Roberts Birds of South Africa; Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa (first to sixth editions, 1940-1996)

[With Lot 272 - seventh edition - this lot provides an example of all the previous editions of Roberts, though not necessarily the first impressions of each edition, so that a new ornithological library, for example, can have a record of the work through its many guises. There are also copies of the two Field Companions issued by the publishers in 1996 and 2001]

1. The Birds of South Africa. First edition, 1940. By Austin Roberts; illustrations by Norman Lighton. 
2. Roberts Birds of South Africa. Second edition, 1957. Revised by G R McLachlan and R Liversidge; illustrations by Norman Lighton.
3. Roberts Birds of South Africa. Third edition, 1970. Revised by G R McLachlan and R Liversidge; illustrations by Norman Lighton (colour) and J Perry and K Hooper (b/w). 
4. Roberts Birds of South Africa. Fourth edition, 1978. Revised by G R McLachlan and R Liversidge; illustrations by Norman Lighton and Kenneth Newman (colour) and J Adams and H Gronvold (b/w). 
5. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. Fifth edition, 1984. Revised by Gordon Lindsay Maclean; illustrations by Kenneth Newman and Geoff Lockwood. 
6. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. Sixth edition, 1996. By Gordon Lindsay Maclean; illustrations by Kenneth Newman and Geoff Lockwood. 
7. Field Companion to Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa, 1998. By Gordon Lindsay Maclean; illustrated by Kenneth Newman and Geoff Lockwood.
8. Field Companion to Roberts Birds of Southern Africa. Revised edition 2001. By Gordon Lindsay Maclean; illustrationsby Kenneth Newman and Geoff Lockwood; distribution maps by David Allen and Guy Gibbon.