Imperial folio (542 x 370 mm). 32 hand-colored lithographic plates by Gould and Henry Constantine Richter, printed by Hullmandel and Walton. (Very light spotting to a few plates.) Late 19th- or early 20th-century dark brown morocco gilt, covers with wide baroque frames, ornamental cornerpieces, spine in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands, gilt-lettered in 2, others with baroque tools gilt, all edges gilt, stamp-signed by Kelly (a touch of light rubbing at spine ends and fore-corners, upper cover with faint vertical and horizontal depressions).

FIRST EDITION OF GOULD'S FIRST MONOGRAPH ON GAME BIRDS. The monograph, dedicated to Charles Lucien Bonaparte, was Gould's fourth and featured illustrations of birds in mating pairs, a format that had already garnered considerable success. To create this work, Gould visited bird collections across France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. He added around twenty-four new species to the eleven American partridges previously known, many of which were illustrated and described for the first time in this volume. In the preface (p.9), Gould says that he was drawn into the undertaking "by the sight of the beautiful Callipepla Californica, presented to the Zoological Society of London by Captain Beechey, in 1830." Anker 176; Ayer/Zimmer p.257; Fine Bird Books, p.102; Nissen IVB 376; Sauer 13; Wood, p.365.