BUFFON (Georges-Louis Leclerc de). - Lot 11

BUFFON (Georges-Louis Leclerc de). Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière. [Followed by]: Histoire naturelle des oiseaux. [De] : Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, Servant de suite à la Théorie de la Terre, & d'introduction à l'histoire des Minéraux. Paris : Imprimerie royale, 1770-1785. - 51 volumes in-12 (out of 54), marbled calf, ornate ribbed spine, marbled edges (period binding). New edition by the Imprimerie Royale, the first in-12 of the famous natural history by Comte de Buffon (1707-1788). The set includes all volumes published during de Buffon's lifetime, i.e. 51 volumes; those published by Lacépède in 1788 and 1789, i.e. after the author's death, are missing. The edition is divided into 4 series. The first, entitled "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière", comprises 13 volumes published in 1769 and 1770. It is illustrated with 202 plates. The "Histoire naturelle des oiseaux" forms the second part of the series. It comprises 18 volumes published between 1770 and 1785, and includes 262 plates. The supplement constitutes the third part. It normally comprises 14 volumes published between 1774 and 1789, but here we have only the first 12 published between 1774 and 1782, i.e. during Buffon's lifetime. These twelve volumes include 144 plates and a fold-out map. The fourth part of this edition is "L'Histoire naturelle des minéraux", published in 9 volumes from 1783 to 1789. We have only the first 8, published between 1783 and 1787. The ninth volume was printed by the imprimerie des bâtiments du roi in 1789; it does not appear to have been planned in 1787, as volume 8 contains this statement on the last page: "Fin de la Table des Matières des Tomes VII, VIII & derniers des Minéraux." These 8 volumes have no illustrations. In all, the copy includes 608 plates and one map. A good copy in uniform contemporary binding. "Histoire naturelle": last leaf of volume 10 torn and restored. Plate 25 of volume 12 has been bound after page 372 in volume 6. "Histoire naturelle des oiseaux": tear to third leaf of volume 1, with loss and damage to text. Book N has been erroneously placed before book L in the second volume. Light spotting at the top of some plates in volume 5. Supplements: light spotting in volumes 4 and 8, heavier spotting in volume 5. Spines slightly faded, some headpieces missing.