Zoology.- Bonaparte (Charles Lucien Jules Laurent, Prince) Iconografia

Zoology.- Bonaparte (Charles Lucien Jules Laurent, Prince) Iconografia della Fauna Italica, 3 vol., 180 finely hand-coloured lithograph plates, a few heightened with touches of silver, some foxing, Markree Castle Library tickets, H. Bradley Martin bookplate to vol.2 and 3, 19th-century half morocco, light rubbing to extremities, t.e.g., others uncut, [Anker 48; Nissen ZBI 459; Zimmer p.66-67], folio, Rome, 1832-41. *** A large and fine copy of this monumental work on the vertebrate fauna of Italy published in 30 parts. The third and largest volume concerns fishes and contains 78 large splendidly hand-coloured plates. These plates represent a unique portrayal of Italian and Mediterranean fishes and have never been surpassed in beauty of execution. Some of the plates have a silver metallic sheen. The plates were lithographed by Battistelli most of them from drawings by Carolus Ruspi and Petrus Quattochi. Charles Lucien Bonaparte was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. Soon after his marriage Bonaparte went to the United States where he started a brilliant career as a naturalist and published his 'American ornithology' (Philadelphia 1825-1833). At the age of 25 he returned to Europe. Despite his family connections and the disruptions that followed the Napoleonic era he became a competent and highly respected naturalist.

Estimate:£7,000

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