THE GALLINACEOUS GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA including the Pratridges, Grouse, Ptarmigan, and Wild Turkeys [Large Paper Limited Edition, SIGNED]; With Accounts of Their Dispersion, Habits, Nesting, Etc. and Full Descriptions of Their Plumage of Both Adult and Young, Together with Their Popular and Scientific Names

Elliot, Daniel Giraud ; [SIGNED] ; John E. Thayer's Copy ; Edwin W. Sheppard (illustrator)

Published by Francis P. Harper, New York, 1897

About this Item

Autograph; Illustrated with 46 plates with tissue guards; 4to; xviii, (1), 20-220, 46 plates pages; Example #8 of a SIGNED LIMITED Edition of 100 copies on large paper. Contents clean and secure in original white cloth binding with gilt lettering at spine and a colour image of a bird on front board, some toning at spine, top edges gilt, light foxing to cloth, contents bright and fresh. 30 leaf colour chart mounted to rear endpaper to assist with colours mentioned in the text. Bookplate of John E. Thayer (1862-1933) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A book written both for those who love to seek these birds afield with dog and gun, as well as those who may only desire to learn the ways of such attractive creatures in their haunts. Daniel Giraud Elliot (1835 â " 1915) was a wealthy American zoologist and the founder of the American Ornithologist Union. He made expeditions to Africa and Alaska and was the first curator of zoology at the Field Museum in Chicago. From 1869 to 1879, he was in London and established strong links to British ornithologists and naturalists. Elliot used his wealth to publish a series of sumptuous books on birds and other animals. Elliot wrote the text himself and commissioned artists such as Joseph Wolf and Joseph Smit, both of whom had worked for John Gould, to provide the illustrations. Col. John E. Thayer (1862-1933) was one of twin boys born to Nathaniel Thayer II (a banker who financed building Harvard's Thayer Hall) and Cornelia van Rensselaer Thayer. Thayer graduated from Harvard College in 1885 and engaged in business before becoming one of the worldâ s most prominent ornithologists. Thayer began collecting North American bird specimens and housed his collections close to his home in Lancaster. He used his wealth to sponsor various natural history expeditions and in 1906 he sent Wilmot W. Brown Jr. to Guadalupe Island off Pacific Mexico. In 1913, Thayer and other Harvard graduates sponsored an expedition to Alaska and Siberia, with Joseph S. Dixon and Winthrop Sprague Brooks as zoological collectors. He eventually built a beautiful brick building in 1903, opening it to the public as a museum a year later. Thayer became ill in 1928, and donated his collection of 28,000 skins and 15,000 eggs and nests to Harvard. These included the first clutches ever collected of spoon-billed sandpiper and surfbird. After Thayer's death Harvard received his collection of 3,500 mounted birds.; Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 45953

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE GALLINACEOUS GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA including the Pratridges, Grouse, Ptarmigan, and Wild Turkeys [Large Paper Limited Edition, SIGNED]; With Accounts of Their Dispersion, Habits, Nesting, Etc. and Full Descriptions of Their Plumage of Both Adult and Young, Together with Their Popular and Scientific Names
• Publisher: Francis P. Harper, New York
• Publication Date: 1897
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Limited Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Hunting and Fishing
  • Natural History
  • Signed and Association Copies
  • Americana and American History