The natural history of British birds.

Edward Donovan (1768-1837) was an Anglo-Irish naturalist and artist best known for his remarkable natural-history collections and the books he based on them. He began collecting as a teen-ager and built his collections largely through the purchase of others', especially at auctions of specimens from voyages of exploration. The natural history of British birds was issued from 1794 to 1798 (vols.1-5) and, after Donovan purchased over 500 lots of the Leverian bird collection, from 1809 to 1819 (vols.6-10). Donovan drew, etched or engraved, and hand-colored each of the 244 plates. The hand-coloring is particularly important since the etched lines were often only a suggestion of the bird's form and required significant coloring (gouache and water-colors) to complete the figure. The book includes new species descriptions and a number of rare migrants not normally found in Britain. Note: Half of the purchase price was donated by a National Museum of Natural History ornithologist, so the adoption amount reflects the other half that is available for adoption.