4to (337 x 246). 6 lithographed plates with hand-coloring (of 12) by or after Swainson, all mounted on stubs. (Some spotting and mostly marginal staining.) Later half morocco, marbled boards (covers slightly bowed, some minor rubbing); original front card wrapper bound in. Provenance: John Gould (1804-1881), English ornithologist (presentation inscription, see below); William Herbert Mullens (1866-1946), English ornithologist (armorial bookplate). 

FIRST EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY GEORGE ROBERT GRAY TO JOHN GOULD: “J. Gould, Esqr., F.R.S. with G.R. Gray’s kind regards.”

George Robert Gray originally drew his series of plates for a series on Chinese birds he was planning with his brother, zoologist John Edward Gray. George Gray was contributed entomological material for Cuvier's Animal Kingdom. Gray assisted Gould with the writing of the section on birds in The Zoology of the Voyage of the H. M. S. Beagle which included lithographic plates by Elizabeth Gould after John Gould. W. H. Mullens, also an ornithologist, was one of the authors of A Bibliography of British Ornithology from the Earliest Times to the End of 1912. A SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY.