The Natural History of South Africa. Birds Vols I and II (1923)

Now almost a hundred years old, this set has become very collectable, and both the volumes in the lot are very good overall. 

926 species and subspecies are described; apart from the colour and b/w plates there are occasional b/w sketches in the text.

Green cloth-boards with blind lettering to the upper panel and gilt lettering and illustration to the spine, plain endpapers.

Vol I. xviii + 288 pp of text + colour frontispiece with tissue guard + 4 other inserted colour plates + numerous b/w plates (including the author, director of the Port Elizabeth Museum) printed on art-paper but numbered with the text.

Vol II. vii + 323 pp of text + colour frontispiece with tissue guard + 4 other inserted colour plates + numerous b/w plates printed on art-paper but numbered with the text. 

CONDITION. The boards, lettering and gilding remain clean and bright. The top spine ends are very lightly bumped but the corners are square. The same previous owner signature and date are on the front free endpapers of both volumes, which are otherwise unmarked and unfoxed. The contents are complete and unmarked. There is light foxing to a few early text leaves and heavier foxing to the untrimmed lower page-edges. The plates are unfoxed and both frontispiece tissue-guards are present.