Birds.- Meyer (Henry Leonard) Coloured Illustrations of British Birds, and their Eggs , 7 vol. in 2, wood-engraved title-vignettes, 1842-50; Illustrations of British Birds, 4 vol., first edition, lithographed throughout, titles, list of contents and 316 hand-coloured plates (313 of birds, 3 of eggs), occasional foxing or spotting, corner of one plate creased, generally clean and bright, [1835-51], green half morocco, gilt, spines gilt, g.e., the sets not uniform but going well together, second set with slight fading to spines and some cracking and repairs to joints, [Nissen IVB 627; Fine Bird Books, p.123], 8vo and 4to (6)

⁂ A most handsome pair of sets of Meyer's important ornithological works. The number of plates varies in most copies, reflecting the haphazard nature of publication. In his work The Meyers' Illustrations of Birds, W.G. Hale locates 44 copies; this set has the first issue title-pages (all undated and without the full-stop after "Longman & Co"). "With the possible exception of Lord Lilford's Birds, this is the finest and most complete atlas of portraits of British avifauna (with their eggs) ever published." (Wood, p.462).