Item #00008078 A Dictionary of Birds. Alfred Newton.
A Dictionary of Birds
A Dictionary of Birds

A Dictionary of Birds

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1896. First edition. Hardcover. Large 8vo. [7], viii-xii, [1], 2-304, [2], 305-576, [2], 577-832, [2], 833-1088 pp. 4 parts bound in one volume, with the four title pages of each part of the dictionary bound in. Assisted by Hans Gadow. With contributions from Richard Lydekker, Charles S. Roy, and Robert W. Shufeldt, M.D. Profusely illustrated with numerous wood and steel engravings throughout. Green cloth with gilt rules and lettering on the front board and spine. Includes a lovely inscription in contemporary ink: "Presented to M' Murdoch by the Albert Bol, Natural Science Class 10th Feb. 1913 with other volumes". Newton's work is an extension of his series of articles on birds originally added to the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica. The dictionary talks about not only several different species of birds, but the anatomy of their digestive tracts, their skulls, bills, feathers, and their geographical distribution. Alfred Newton was an active member of the birding community, and corresponded with Charles Darwin. He was the first ornithologist to promote natural selection as a viable theory for understanding the zoological diversity among birds, and served as a professor of zoology at Cambridge. Newton helped to establish the British Ornithologists' Union, and worked as an editor for the birding journal The Ibis ("Alfred Newton's Contribution to Ornithology: A Conservative Quest for Facts Rather than Grand Theories", Birkhead and Gallivan). A fascinating volume on the science of birds, written by the most prominent British ornithologist of the nineteenth century. A lovely copy of Newton's most significant publication. Near Fine. Item #00008078

Price: $300.00

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