9
27. BLAKE, William. Water-Colour Designs for the Poems of Thomas Gray. London, Trianon Press, 1972.
£1,950
Folio. (440 x 335mm.). Three volumes bound in quarter morocco over marbled boards, gilt lettered spines, each volume preserved in a marbled paper covered slipcase; [82]pp.; [126]pp.; [24] + xviii + [2] + 28 + [4]pp., the three volumes illustrated throughout with superb hand-coloured, stencilled plates printed on one side of each leaf; a fine copy.
One of 352 copies numbered 37 to 388 from a total edition of 518 copies. This copy numbered 55.
28. BLUNT, Wilfrid. In for a Penny. A Prospect of Kew Gardens: their Flora, Fauna and Falballas. Hamish Hamilton. 1978.
£30
8vo. Original cloth and wrapper; pp. xxii + 218, 6 colour plates, black and white illustrations throughout; very good.
First edition. A history of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
29. BOLT, Robert. A Man for all Seasons. A Play in Two Acts. New York. Random House. 1962.
£48
8vo., original cloth backed paper covered boards with dust wrapper. Spine fo wrapper a little darkened otherwise a very good copy.
First edition. Winner of the 1962 Tony Award. 27
28
29
30. BOLTON, James. Harmonia Ruralis; Or, An Essay Towards a Natural History of British Song Birds: Illustrated with Figures, the Size of Life, of the Birds, Male and Female, in Their Most Natural Attitudes; Their Nests and Eggs &c. Printed for W. Simpkin and R. Marshall,1830.
£4,750
Royal 4to. 2 vols. in one. Sometime rebound in half red morocco, gilt spine divided into six compartment with gilt raised bands, t.e.g.; pp xxiv + 66, pp. 96, with 80 hand-coloured engraved plates of song birds, their nests and eggs; a little foxing throughout not affecting images, very good.
Second edition, “revised and and very considerably augmented”. The first edition was published in 1794-6, but this edition is arguably the best. Christine Jackson remarks “in the later editions… the colouring is so much improved that at a casual glance it almost seems a different book” (Bird Etchings, p. 170). It is a spectacularly illustrated work. Bolton drew from life and attempts to show the birds in their natural habitat, often with their insect prey. He also makes a serious effort to portray their nests and eggs accurately. Certainly his pictures show the influence of the work of George Edwards, but they have a vibrancy and energy all their own. The text draws heavily on Bolton’s own observations and regularly engages with the views of other ornithological writers, making this beautiful book a rather personal work.
Nissen IVB 115; Zimmer p. 64; Wood p. 247; Mengel 310.
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