Birds of the island of Java
Tokyo: by the author, 1933-1936. Two volumes. Folio. xv, 370, [1]; vi, 794, [1] pp. FIRST EDITION. Volume I with errata and addenda, 1 folding map and 14 plates; Volume II with 20 plates and 1 folding map. All tissue guards present. Contemporary half burgundy cloth over boards, gilt title on spine, with original dusk jackets, slightly torn, and preserved in the original slipcases. A very good copy. Item #16262
First edition of the work that remains the standard of reference for the birds of Java, the world’s most populous island located in Indonesia. The author offers the most comprenshive catalogue of Java birds, describing in detail 25 families and 225 species of Passeres in the first volume and the whole non-Passeres order in the second. The images are crowded, typically ten to fifteen to a plate, and offer an excellent representation of the birds. The plate representing the Pittas and the Broadbill is by the author’s fourteen year old son, Nagahisa Kuroda, while the others are by Shigekazu Kobayashi, considered the leading bird artist in Japan.
Kuroda (1889-1978) was a famous Japanese ornithologist and honorary Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union. He is well known for his Birds of the Island of Java and his Parrots of the world in life colours.
Price: $1,500.00