History of British Birds (2-Volume Set)

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Thomas Bewick (1753–1828) is synonymous with finely crafted wood engravings of the natural world, and his instantly recognisable style influenced book illustration well into the nineteenth century. During his childhood in the Tyne valley, his two obsessions were art and nature. At fourteen, he was apprenticed to the engraver and businessman Ralph Beilby (1743–1817) with whom he later published A General History of Quadrupeds (also reissued in this series).

The present work, History of British Birds, with its text compiled from various sources, was the first practical field guide for the amateur ornithologist, inspiring also artists and writers. Each of the two volumes contains hundreds of illustrations of breathtaking beauty and precision: one for each species, neatly capturing its character in exquisite detail, interspersed with charming vignettes of country life. Volume 1, first published in 1797, covers land birds, including eagles, owls, sparrows and finches.

Contents

Volume 1:
1. Birds of prey
2. The falcon tribe
3. Of the owl
4. Of the shrike
5. Birds of the pie kind
6. The woodpeckers
7. Of the passerine order
8. Of the grosbeak
9. Of the bunting
10. Of the finch
11. Of the lark
12. Of the wagtail
13. Of the flycatchers
14. Of the warblers
15. Of the titmouse
16. Of the swallow
17. Of the dove kind
18. Of the gallinaceous kind
19. Of the plover

Volume 2:
1. Of the oyster-catcher
2. Of the spoonbill
3. Of the crane
4. Of the heron
5. Of the curlew
6. Of the snipe
7. Of the godwit
8. Of the sandpiper
9. Of the coot
10. Of the phalarope
11. Of the grebe
12. Of the avoset
13. Of the auk or penguin
14. Of the guillemot
15. Of the divers
16. Of the tern or sea swallow
17. Of the gull
18. Of the petrel
19. Of the mergus
20. Of the anas
21. Of the pelican

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