VIELLOT, LOUIS JEAN PIERRE. 1748-1831.
Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de l'Amerique Septentrionale. Paris: Desray, 1807.
2 volumes. Folio (539 x 355 mm). Half-titles, double-page map hand-colored in outline, 131 hand-colored engraved plates. Bound to style in 20th century half crimson morocco and marbled boards. Shelfwear and scuffs to covers, joints starting, some browning and foxing.
FIRST EDITION, LARGE PAPER COPY of one of the earliest works on North American ornithology, with the first published descriptions of many bird species. He was the first to apply Latin names to several common species of American birds, but he failed to gain recognition among fellow ornithologists in his lifetime and died in poverty. Anker 515; Nissen IVB 957; Sitwell Fine Bird Books pp 149-151; Wood p 612; Zimmer p 654-655.
