Oiseaux Dorés ou Reflets Metallaques.

captions in gold

First edition of 'one of the most beautiful books of its era', one of 200 copies in large folio with the captions printed in gold (Fine Bird Books 73). Uncut and wide-margined, with 190 fine colour-printed engraved plates, partly finished by hand and many heightened with gold.

Jean-Baptiste Audebert (1759-1800) was originally a miniature painter before developing a passion for natural history. His first book, Histoire naturelle des singes, on monkeys, appeared in 1800, and he also contributed to the travel narrative Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse. The present work was not fully published at his death, and was completed by the ornithologist Louis Pierre Viellot (1748-1830), who worked from Audebert's notes.

The colour printing technique used here was developed by Audebert himself. 'The colours of the birds and their handsome appearance have evidently been the cause of their selection for inclusion in the book. The plates with the bird portraits are in beautiful colours; in this respect they are among the best colour prints found in ornithology' (Anker, Bird Books and Bird Art 14).

'Color printing was introduced into ornithological illustration by Jean Baptiste Audebert, who was employed as a draftsman by the wealthy natural history collector Gigot d'Orex. He usually engraved and printed his illustrations himself, so that in this respect they are probably the most perfect. Above all, his 'Oiseaux dorés' (Golden Birds), the first magnificent depiction of hummingbirds - printed in gouache (actually oil paints) instead of Redouté's glazes and with the lavish use of gold - showcased the full range of his skill' (Nissen, p. 47).

First edition, one of 200 copies with gold captions; large folio (53 x 33.5 cm), uncut and wide-margined; 190 colour-engraved plates (of which 1 is double page) by and after Audebert, hand-finished with gold highlights, and with all but 1 of the protective silk sheets, a little spotting mostly at the edges of the sheets, the plates clean; contemporary red half morocco professionally rebacked with the original spines laid down, peach-coloured boards, spines elaborately gilt in compartments with bird tools, corners repaired, some scuffing and marks to the boards, an excellent set.

Nissen, IVB 47; Fine Bird Books 73; Anker 14; Zimmer 17.