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Cassin's Birds of America, 1856.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:800.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Cassin's Birds of America, 1856.
CASSIN, JOHN. Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America. Intended to Contain Descriptions and Figures of All North American Birds Not Given by Former American Authors, and a General Synopsis of North American Ornithology. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co, 1856. 8vo. Original brown blindstamped cloth, gilt tile to spine. All 50 hand-colored plates are present. There is a long inscription on the front flyleaf by the nephew of Philadelphia architect and ornithologist, William Lloyd Baily (1861-1947), explaining that this volume belonged to his uncle. Condition: Fair-Good; cloth has separated from the spine but is still attached, with losses to ends of spine; toning and scattered foxing throughout; there is some splitting at p. 163, and binding is loosened so that stitching is exposed between signatures. The plates look good overall, the colors bright, with varying degrees of toning, but mostly at the margins not covered by the separating tissues. Page 82 and the following plate 15 with spots of darker staining. There are several sequences of pages on a different paper (being less toned), with what appear to be cut edges. Tiny tape repair to edge p. 269.