Ornithology

1927 · ref. ST19567-213 — Norwood Massachusetts: Printed by Norwood Press for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1927-29. Volume I the 1928 second printing; Volumes II and III FIRST EDITIONS. 255 x 185 mm. 10 x 7 1/4". Three volumes. Dark green publisher's cloth covers with a blind-ruled border and gilt text flat spine. With 93 total color plates after paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Allan Brooks 48 total pages of black and white photographic plates and numerous illustrations printed in the text. All with "Spec. Coll" and a library call number in pencil on the title verso. Volume I with a few small areas of worming mostly to rear endpaper and adjacent pages text not affected front cover with a thin trailing discoloration from damp the bindings otherwise bright and clean with just trivial shelfwear. A nice bright little-used copy internally. The result of the combined efforts of several of the most important American ornithologists of the early 20th century this is an attractively illustrated reference book intended to "interest the general public of Massachusetts and New England in birds and their rational conservation" via a usable field guide. Edward Howe Forbush 1858-1929 was an economic ornithologist who for many years served as the Director of the Department of Ornithology of the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture. This book represents a culmination of his career; Forbush died shortly before the completion of the final volume and it was edited and furnished with a glowing bibliographical sketch by Forbush’s colleagues who write that he was "a pioneer in the field of conservation and much of our progressive legislation of to-day is due to his far-sighted policy in urging greater protection for our wild life and to his efforts in stimulating public opinion in this direction." The first volume here covers water birds the second land birds from bob-whites to grackles and the third land birds from sparrows to thrushes. The work features animated illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 1874-1927. He was a lecturer in ornithology at Cornell and an outstanding painter of birds; in the words of the Audubon Society his "work was distinguished not only by the minute detail of each illustration but by his ability to capture each species' way of acting and holding itself. Every bird he painted seemed to have its own unique and vital personality." The third volume was completed following Fuertes’ untimely death so his illustrations are supplemented with a final 24 artworks by Allan Brooks 1869-1946. Brooks like Forbush and Fuertes was a respected member of the ornithological community and furnished illustrations of birds for publications both in his native Canada and throughout the world. Printed by Norwood Press for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts unknown