BRINCKEN (Julius Carl Holte von). Descriptive report on the Bialowieza Imperial Forest in Lithuania. Warsaw: N. Glücksberg, 1828 [1826]. - In-4, 274 x 229: frontispiece, (4 ff.), 127 pp. 3 plates, 1 map. Dark green half-maroquin with corners, ornate spine, gilt head, untrimmed (Champs-Stroobants). Thiébaud 131-132. Rare first edition, dedicated to Emperor Nicholas I, of this work by Julius Carl Holte von Brincken (1790-1846), Chief Conservator of Forests of the Kingdom of Poland, member of the Forestry Department of the Finance and Treasury Commission, Knight of the Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd class. This is the very first monograph devoted to the Bialowieza Forest, one of the last primary forests in Europe, now straddling Polish and Belarusian territory. It is divided into 4 sections: Topography. - Vegetation. - Animals. - Administration. It's in the section devoted to animals that we find rather important chapters on elk, bison and the various methods of hunting them. The edition is illustrated with a double-page map of the forest, and 4 plates engraved in the black manner, depicting a view of Bialowieza, a Lithuanian bison, an elk and a hunting scene. A second-issue copy, dated 1828. It differs from the 1826 issue only in the date on the title, where the 6 still stands out under the 8. Copies with the 1826 date are extremely rare, and Thiébaud does not appear to have been aware of them. A fine copy bound by Champs-Stroobants, decorated on the spine with hunting attributes. Spine slightly faded. Provenance: DT bookplate, with Latin motto "Venari non est occidere". - Robert Lefevre Pontalis, with ex-libris.