SALERNE (François). L'Histoire naturelle éclaircie dans une - Lot 140

SALERNE (François). L'Histoire naturelle éclaircie dans une de ses parties principales, l'ornithologie, qui traite des oiseaux de terre, de mer et de rivière, tant de nos climats que de pays étrangers. Paris, Debure père, 1767. Small folio (30 x 23 cm.), XII-[4]-464 p., 31 plates including frontispiece. Red morocco, 5-rib spine decorated with richly gilded caissons, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, inner gilt roulette, green morocco title and author pieces, richly decorated caissons, double fillet and scroll framing the boards, fleururettes at the corners, gilt roulettes à la chasse, gilt edges. First French edition of the ornithological part of John Ray's Synopsis methodica avium et piscium, published in London in 1713. Enlarged with remarks and observations by the best scholars of the time, including Belon, Aldrovandi, Willoughby, Olina, Klein, Gessner and Linné. Salerne's edition includes articles on birds from the West Indies, Brazil, Mexico, Jamaica and Fort St. George in India, taken from works by various authors. Over 200 birds not included in Ray's work are described. Salerne entrusted the plates to François-Nicolas Martinet, the artist who engraved the famous ornithological plates by Buffon and Brisson. Includes 31 black etchings, beautifully hand-colored, sometimes with gum highlights: a frontispiece engraved by Longueuil depicting a hunt in flight and 30 bird plates drawn and engraved by Martinet. "As the best-engraved plates cannot perfectly reproduce the natural colors of the objects they represent, the bookseller informs amateurs and the curious that he has had a small number of copies of the plates in this work colored after nature: birds will be seen with all their beauty, vivacity and the different shades of their colors. These plates are painted and colored after nature (...) beautifully bound in morocco." (publisher's Avertissement ff.). Engineer, draughtsman and engraver for the King's Cabinet, Martinet (1731-1800) was one of the most eminent bird illustrators of his time. He breathed realism into his representations, making his works indispensable references to this day. The quality of his drawings and engravings earned him recognition from 18th-century ornithologists, with whom he collaborated closely. An alphabetical table completes the work. The Histoire naturelle by François Salerne (1706-1760) was published after his death, as was the Synopsis by John Ray (1627-1705). Provenance: Library of Roger Leygonie, with his bookplate engraved in black by René Stern on the first flyleaf and ex dono dated 1990 and signed in his hand, in black felt-tip pen, partly on the bookplate. Not described by Cohen in his Bibliographie des livres français illustrés du dix-huitième siècle. Nissen, 757; "Copies in large paper have the plates colored: they are usually found dressed in morocco, but are becoming increasingly rare Thiébaud, 823. Spine slightly faded, spine ends and edges slightly rubbed, title page and frontispiece restored, scattered freckles. NATURAL HISTORY. BOOK WITH PLATES. ORNITHOLOGY.