The British zoology. Class I. Quadrupeds. II. Birds. Published under the Inspection of the Cymmrodorion Society, instituted for the Promoting Useful Charities, and the Knowledge of Nature, among the Descendants of the Ancient Britons. Illustrated with One Hundred and Seven Copper Plates
THE FOLJAMBE SET, WITH THE MAXIMUM COMPLEMENT OF PLATES
Two volumes. London: J. and J. March for the [Cymmrodorion] Society, [1761–]1766. First edition.
Folio (21 ½” x 14 ¾”, 534mm x 375mm).
Vol. I: binder’s blank, π2 (–π1 blank) 2π-4π2 A-B2 C-F2 G2 H2 I2 K-O2 χ2 P-Ee2 [$1 signed]. 65 leaves, pp. [14] (title, blank, dedication, blank, 6pp. preface, 2pp. divisions, references/errata, blank) 1 2-115 [1] (blank, pasted to the rear binder’s blank). With 69 hand-colored engraved plates.
Vol. II: binder’s blank, π2 Ff-Rr2 χ1 [$1 signed] pp. 116 116* 117-162 [4] (index, 2pp. glossary, subscribers). With 64 hand-colored engraved plates.
With 133 hand-colored engraved plates by Peter Mazell after Peter Paillou et al. in toto.
Bound in contemporary half sprinkled calf over marbled boards. On the spine, 7 raised bands. Title gilt to blue morocco in the second panel. Number gilt to the third panel. Gilt “fff” monogram under a leg (jambe) crest gilt to the tail. All edges of the text-block speckled red.
Joints split, with losses at the heads and tails. Chipped, rubbed and worn. The first four leaves of vol. I laid in, with tanning and splitting to the edges. Quire 3π (pp. 3-6 of the preface) trimmed at the three free edges with some old repairs. Wax spots to B2r. Plate 2 (the fox, opp. p. 28) trimmed at the fore, just crossing the plate mark but not affecting the image. Old repairs to the plates opp. pp. 69 (the female sparrow hawk), 91 (stale/ redwing/ flycatcher/ fieldfare), not affecting the image; and to the plate opp. p. 147 (vol. II, dun diver). Further repaired splits throughout, most quite short. Ee2 (the final leaf of vol. 1) stuck down to the rear binder’s blank, obscuring a blank. A long marginal note in ink manuscript to B2v, and a striking-through of three lines to p. 111. A tall (e.g., P2 lower deckle) set, entirely unsophisticated.
Thomas Pennant (1726–1798) was a naturalist and antiquary, writing both local histories and major surveys of the zoology and botany of Britain as well as India and the arctic. This multifarious Welshman was also in correspondence with the scholars of his day, and is increasingly the object of study in the history of science (see Edwin Rose’s Reading the World (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2025), drawing on Arader’s holdings of Pennant’s published work as well as his working papers). The British Zoology was his first work, and his most ambitious; later editions (and works) were invariably smaller. An enthusiastic correspondent with Linnaeus, Pennant attempted a systematic survey of the fauna — mostly avifauna (just nine plates are quadrupeds) — of the British Isles. Published in parts from 1761, the project grew in the five years of its publication, such that by 1766 a supplement of 25 plates was issued, bringing the total to 132. Mullens and Swann (465) are aware of sets, such as the present, with 133 plates, claiming without comments that “these are not as originally published.” The list of subscribers accounts for 140 sets (12 of which were taken by Pennant himself, presumably for gift or sale); the number of supplements issued is undetermined.
Pennant intended the work, as indicated by the title-page, to benefit the Welsh Charity School on Clerkenwell Green (now the Marx Memorial library) that was supported by the Cymmrodorion Society, founded in 1751 by the Morris brothers as a Welsh cultural organization in London. The cost of the work, however, meant that no profit was generated, though Jenkins and Ramage, authors of a 1951 history of the society, note that Pennant made a £100 donation.
Francis Ferrand Foljambe M.P. (1749–1814) assembled, with the aid of George Montagu, the greatest bird museum (i.e., collection of specimens) of his age at the home he commissioned, Osberton Hall, about halfway between Sheffield and Lincoln in Nottinghamshire. The collection of books — some inherited from his father-in-law John Thornhagh M.P., continued after his death by his grandson George Savile Foljambe. The elder Foljambe’s ownership is indicated by the triple-F monogram beneath the leg (“jambe” in blazon) crest canting on his name. The present set was lot 40 in the Christie’s London sale of the library of Osberton Hall, 30 April 2008.
Anker 392; Ayer/Zimmer p. 487; Nissen, IVB 710; Sitwell, Fine Bird Books p. 131.
Item #JLR0795
Price: $85,000