R2,500 - R3,000
A CELEBRATION OF BIRDS (LIMITED COLLECTOR'S EDITION, COPY NO. 1) by Claude Gibney Finch-Davies
Johannesburg: Natural History Books, 1990
Oblong 8vo, unpaginated facsimile pages + 21 pp. of transcriptions. Half leather binding, marbled boards, 3 raised bands, gilt lettering to spine, frontispiece and 21 excellent full-colour plates. Slipcase with marbled top edge.
Limited collector’s edition of 200 copies, of which this is copy no. 1.
Claude Gibney Finch-Davies (24 May 1875 – 4 August 1920) was a British soldier, ornithologist and painter who produced a series of paintings of birds of South Africa in the early part of the 20th century. As a professional soldier Davies was posted to various remote places in the Eastern Cape, and this fostered an interest in natural history and in particular, birdlife. Within a year or two, he was collecting bird specimens and starting sketches and paintings. In his field sketchbooks he provided copious notes about each species he illustrated – at first his own field observations, but later augmented by information culled from books and scientific journals. His style of painting rapidly evolved to show great detail of the plumage while retaining a lifelike appearance. By 1905 he had produced some 200 paintings of consistently high quality. (wikipedia.com)
*Location: Johannesburg branch
Condition: Very good-Fine. The only issues are slight foxing to bottom edge of slipcase, and a light mothball odour to the pages. Internally clean and bright, and solidly bound.
Fees apply to the hammer price:
Room and Absentee Bids:| 1 to 10000: | 23% inc VAT* |
| 10001+: | 19.55% inc VAT* |
| 1 to 10000: | 23% inc VAT* |
| 10001+: | 19.55% inc VAT* |
