Whitaker, J. [Joseph] I. S.. The Birds of Tunisia: Being a History of the Birds Found in the Regency of Tunis (Two Volumes). R. H. Porter, London, 1905.

Price: US$1000.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: Number 63 of a limited edition of 250 copies. 294 pages, plus 13 hand colored plates after H. Gronvold, one photogravure, one photographic plate, and one folding color map; 410 pages, plus two hand colored plates after H. Gronvold, one photogravure, one photographic plate, and one folding color map. Collated and complete. Half bound with Moroccan leather over spine and corners, and marbled paper over boards. Raised spine bands and gilt lettering on spine. Top edge of text blocks are gilded. Zimmer (1926) details the volumes as "a manual of Tunisian ornithology. Synonymy and short descriptions of the species are given, with observations on plumages and other variations and with notes on distribution and habits. A short bibliography is included and the introduction discusses the topography of the area in question." Covers are rubbed and scuffed. Lettering on spine remains bright. Slight darkening, mostly on edges of end leaves. Hinge (internal) is slightly cracked in Volume II, though both volumes remain solid and very tight. Internally very clean, and all plates remain bright and intact. Due to the size and weight of this set, additional fees may apply for Priority and/or International shipping.

Seller: Lloyd Zimmer, Books and Maps, Chanute, KS, U.S.A.

Whitaker, J. I. S.. The Birds of Tunisia: Being a History of the Birds Found in the Regency of Tunis (Two Volumes). R. H. Porter, London, 1905.

Price: US$1081.22 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Small 4to. Hardcover. Two Volumes. Vol 1. pp. 294. Vol. 2. pp. 410. Limited edition 238/250 signed in initials by the publisher. Complete with photogravure frontispieces, 2 folding colour maps, 15 hand-coloured lithograph plates after H. Gronvold, 2 half-tone illustrations. In very good condition, cloth binding with gilt title on the spine. Light shelf-wear to the covers, spine lightly faded with some rubbing at the spine ends; light bumping at the corners. Faint scuffs and marks as expected with age. Pages themselves are clean and unmarked with light foxing. Synonymy and short descriptions of the species are given, with observations on plumages and other variations and with notes on distribution and habits" (Zimmer). Whitaker states in the preface that "the object of the present work is chiefly to supply a want, which myself, and probably others, have felt, in the absence of any English publication which treats systematically of the birds to be found in the Regency of Tunis." Whitaker was an Italian-English ornithologist. He visited Tunisia many times over a period of ten years, building an outstanding collection of Tunisian birds, nests and eggs which he kept in his villa in Palermo, Sicily. Some of his collection of Tunisian birds are housed in the Natural History Museum in London.

Seller: Henry Pordes Books Ltd, London, United Kingdom