A History of the Birds of Europe not observed in the British Isles.

London:: Groombridge and sons, 1866-67., 1866. 4 volumes. Tall 8vo. XV, [1], 207, [1]; iv, 203, [1]; iv, 247, [1]; iv, 250 pp. 238 COLORED PLATES; some foxing. Original publishers blind- and gilt-stamped mauve cloth; extremities worn, vol. III spine with small piece missing. Ownership inscription of Osborne House, 1945. A pleasing copy. An account of the habits of non-British European birds, with brief descriptions. / "This admirable descriptive treatise furnishes the synonymy, generic characters, distribution, and habits of those birds of Europe seen outside the British Isles." Casey Wood (p. 254). / The hand-colored plates are by Benjamin Fawcett, (truncated) the highly respected painter whose perfectionism served to splendid result with these plates, many of which also depict bird eggs. There are a total of 238 full-page plates (180 plates of which are hand-colored; 58 plates were printed in chromolithography, hand-finished by Benjamin Fawcett). / Charles Robert Bree was a British physician, ornithologist and zoologist, best known for his opposition to Darwin's theory of evolution. "In 1872, he authored An Exposition of the Fallacies in the Hypothesis of Mr. Darwin, which was widely criticized in academic journals." [Wikip.] His passion for birds is displayed in this lengthy and well-illustrated account of the "non"-British birds. The plates were drawn by Benjamin Fawcett. (Inventory #: TK0079)