Favorite Antiquarian and collectable books (1 Viewer)

[breydon]

Whats your favorite old bird books. I have a complete set of Birds of the British Isles 12 volumes by David A Bannerman the text may be out of date but the George E Lodge painted illustrations are superb. Second favorite British Birds by Archibald Thorburn a four volume set. Again Thorburn was a brilliant painter and bird illustrator. I have other old books mostly I collect for the illustrations there are some lovely old bird books out there

 

[Pinewood]

Hello Breydon,

My favorite old bird book is The Birds of New York by Eaton; New York State Museum, 1912-1914; with 104 colour places by Louis Fuertes. Fuertes was an ornithologist and illustrator of the first order. The book has county by county tables for each species, as well as essays on each species. The two volume book and a folio of its prints often appear on that electronic auction site.

It is noteworthy that it still is useful, after a full century.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewodd :hi:

 

[fugl]

I also have a complete Bannerman but my favorite "old bird book" by far is A. C. Bent's massive 21-volume Life Histories of North American Birds. I particularly enjoy the earlier volumes with their evocative descriptions of a long-lost America.

 

[Timbirder3]

i'd put in a word for Witherby et al's 5 volume Handbook of British Birds. Very dated but still a useful reference and easily readable, unlike the excruciatingly dull BWP. Trying to find information from the latter is like wading through treacle wearing a deep-sea diving suit!
Tim

 

[angelquasar]

I have "The Unpublished Bird Paintings" of George Edward Lodge which is a huge book with huge paintings of every species of New Zealand bird . I first saw a copy in the main library in Dunedin and determined to buy one for myself which I eventually managed . It sits well alongside my Bannerman and Lodge volumes which I also love .

 

[Swissboy]

Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds

My favorite is definitely Bill Coopers book on the Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds. Not only are the paintings superb, but the printing is very special (probably using seven or eight colors instead of the customary four or five), doing the paintings a great service. And finally, the reduction in size is such that one still gets the feeling of the originals. None of the other Cooper books has ever matched this book. Even the large Kingfishers and Allies volumes rank behind, in my humble opinion. They are larger, probably matching the original, but the printing is not quite that superb. And I also think that Cooper was getting a bit impatient when facing the tremendous task of those eight volumes.

Cooper's last book, on the Pigeons and Doves of Australia, has equally fine artwork as my favorite book. But the originals have been reduced much more, and the printing is not only "conventional", but the paper that was selected is too thin (also on the second printing where they supposedly corrected the problem).

 

[breydon]

Famiiar Wild Birds Swaysland 4 volume set. Lloyds Natural History { Birds } 1897 Bowdler Sharpe a 4 volume set and British Birds by Yarrell also a 4 volume set. All via Ebay All with some lovely illustrations

 

[Nicola Main]

I have many bird books but one I found in a second-hand bookshop in Stamford last year has become my favourite. It's 'The Popular Handbook of British Birds' by P.A.D. Hollom. It's a shortened version of a 5-volume set first published in 1952. The descriptions of the birds are full of detail and while a bit out of date now the plates are gorgeous for the time and also include egg plates which you will hardly ever see in recent bird books. It really is a fantastic book!

 

[breydon]

Good one Nicola. Another the Oxford book of birds. Some lovely plates in there.

 

[Tom Lawson]

Good one Nicola. Another the Oxford book of birds. Some lovely plates in there.

Agreed.In The Oxford Book of Birds the illustrations are by Donald Watson,the Scottish bird artist.Lovely work.He also wrote and illustrated 'A Bird Artist in Scotland' and 'Birds of a Moor and Mountain' both full of evocative paintings of his native Dumfries and Galloway.
Tom Lawson.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Always liked Morris's British Birds.

Also like A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe by Peterson, Mountfort and Hollom.

Rich

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Always liked Morris's British Birds.

Also like A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe by Peterson, Mountfort and Hollom.

Rich

Likewise, I have the six volumes on my shelf, plus the three on nests & eggs. Always disappoints me when I recognize plates butchered from them on the walls of pubs and suchlike.

James

 

[breydon]

Morris's British Birds is on my list of wants. The up dated set with 398 plates. Missed a set on Ebay started at £399 or best offer went in the end for £275 should have checked back. Got his British Butterflies and the three volumes of moths

 

[Robert Wallace]

I agree with the comments about "The Popular Handbook of British Birds" by PAD Hollom. I found it very helpful when I took up birdwatching in 1973/4. By BF contributor standards I have a modest collection of Natural History and Bird books, but am pleased to own "Broadland Birds" and "Birdwatching on Scolt Head" by E.L.Turner. I also have the three Yorkshire avifaunas, Nelson (2 vols) 1907, Chislett 1952? and Mather 1986.

 

[breydon]

Just got that six volume set of Morris's History of British Birds I wanted of the Bay. £260.00 say it quick. But a lovely clean looked after set bound in leather with gold trim. Also a nice Howard Saunders Manual of British Birds for £7.00. Also have Broadland Birds by E L Turner that Robert said he had of great interest to me living round these parts

 

[Nicola Main]

To add to my growing collection I've just recently purchased 'Birds of the British Isles and Their Eggs' by T.A. Coward, 'The Oxford Book of Birds' by Bruce Campbell (great plates by Donald Watson) and 'British Birds' Eggs and Nests' by Eric Pochin. Love old bird books!