253 •(NATURAL SPECIMENS)
Two neatly and meticulously arranged albums dedicated to flora and fauna with a total of more than 500 photographs by a British naturalist and photographer.
An remarkable visual record of local fauna lovingly created and conceived by an avid environmentalist. The first album, entitled "Nature Pictures," with 152 delicately hand-tinted photographs depicting mature birds and fledglings, their nests laden with blue eggs, and their marshland and farmland habitats. Also with related images of butterflies, moths, beetles, and other ephemeral flying creatures; numerous wildflowers; and hunters with captured prey. The second is entitled "Time" and contains more than 400 photographs of similar subject matter but nearly all are untinted; some are extremely finely cut out to the subject's shape, including delicate insect legs. Silver prints, the images measuring 2½ square to 3½x4 inches (6.4 to 8.9x10.2 cm.), mounted recto/verso 2-9 per page, some mounts in the first album with a hand-applied rule, and many with captions, in ink. Folio and oblong folio, ¼ morocco; each with a hand-lettered introductory page. Early 1900s

[1,800/2,200]

The photographer's intimate access to wild animals is astounding, and his innate sensitivity and artistry in organizing and arranging the photographs extraordinary.

The endpaper on the first album has a written subtitle that reads "An attempt to shew, by means of the camera, some of the delights and beautifes of the open air." The second album contains a quote from John Ruskin, "I will even risk incurring your ridicule by confessing one of my fondest dreams, that I may succeed in making some of you like better to look at a bird than to shoot it, and even desire to make wild creatures tame, instead of tame creatures wild."