A Monograph of the Coraciidae

[ornithology] one of 250 copies. A scarce monograph published in an edition of 250 copies only.

Keulemans was the last of the great bird illustrators. This beautifully illustrated work was intended by the author as a companion to his Meropidae. The great value of Keulemans' work as an ornithological draughtsman lay in his sureness of design of the plate and his accuracy in portraying the birds themselves. The bird figures were carefully drawn and executed down to the last scales on the feet. The feathering was neatly delineated with the different plumes receiving sympathetic treatment, the fine soft underplumage and the large flight feathers being equally well drawn.

Folio. xx, 111 pp., 27 fine hand-coloured lithographed plates after and by J.G. Keulemans. Later tan half morocco gilt, black morocco lettering piece, light fade to spine, tiny marginal repair to outer blank margin of page xiii, old stamp to title verso and page 198, a good example, plates clean and fresh. 380 x 295mm (15 x 11½ inches).

(Jackson, C. E. Bird Illustrators p. 90); Fine Bird Books, 72; Nissen IVB, 270.