Paris, Levrault, 1801 – 1805.
2 large 4to volumes of: (4) ll., 203 pp., 72 plates out of text; (2) ll., 175 pp., 73 plates. All the plates are protected by tissue guards.
Contemporary calf, triple gilt fillet around the boards, spines finely decorated, marbled edges. Binding of the time.
327 x 242 mm.
Original edition of this splendid work by the famous French ornithologist François Levaillant dedicated to parrots.
Anker 303; Nissen IVB 558; Zimmer p. 392; Balis (Wonderful plumages) 55; Ronsil 1780; Fine bird books, p. 90; Brunet, III, 1034.
François Levaillant, French ornithologist and naturalist, born in Guyana in 1753, was a great traveler. It was in 1783 that, departing from the Cape with an escort of 19 people, he hunted giraffes and parrots. Thus, he was the first to accurately describe this animal and to enrich the Museum with the first collection of Parrots.
“After he had made himself Emperor, it was part of Napoleon’s deliberate policy to initiate a series of magnificent publications that would vie with those undertaken on the orders of Louis XIV. These were sent as presents to crowned heads, men of science, and learned bodies, in evidence of the splendors of the Empire. In this manner many glorious books came into being, and it is in this light that we should see Redoute’s Les Liliacées and his two works on the flowers of La Malmaison. The works of Levaillant owe their sumptuous character to the same impetus. His ‘Histoire naturelle des perroquets’ is, unwittingly, a part of the glories of Napoleonic France” (Fine bird books).
The superb illustration consists of 145 plates drawn from nature, engraved on metal by Bouquet after the watercolors of Jacques Barraband (1767-1809), printed in colors by Langlois and meticulously retouched by hand.
Their brilliant beauty as well as their perfect scientific accuracy have rarely been surpassed by other ornithological artists.
« The text of this monograph consists of descriptions of the parrots depicted on the plates, which are mentioned by their vernacular names. The figures have been drawn from nature by Barraband, engraved and printed in color” (Anker).
Barraband (1767-1809), one of the main French ornithological artists of the early 19thè century, was initially a student of Joseph Malaine (1745-1809), then worked for the Gobelins tapestry factory, provided porcelain decorations for the Sèvres factory, and decorated Napoleon’s dining room in Saint-Cloud (1806).
The pinnacle of his career was undoubtedly his work for the ornithological masterpiece of Levaillant.
He composed about 300 paintings for Levaillant, engraved and distributed across Levaillant’s various works.
This treatise by Levaillant was published between 1801 and 1805 in twenty-four installments printed on fine vellum paper. The work was printed in 3 different formats: large quarto, folio, large folio (only 12 copies), but the size of the prints is identical in all 3 versions.
In 1837, A. Bourjot Saint-Hilaire extended the Natural History of Parrots in the form of a third volume, and in 1857-1858 C. de Souancé published his Iconography of Parrots as a second supplement.
Precious copy of one of the rarest and most beautiful works by Levaillant, preserved in its full period calf bindings.
Provenance: bookseller’s label on the first pastedown.
On June 4, 1990, nearly 30 years ago, the Sourget bookstore catalogued and sold for 750,000 FF (approximately 115,000 €) a quarto copy of the same format but in half binding and not as presented here in full period binding. (Ref: Manuscripts and Precious Books, Cat VII, 1990, no. 195.)
