[Beautifully bound, fully coloured] Dictionnaire pittoresque d'histoire naturelle

et des phénomènes de la nature (...) rédigé par une société de naturalistes, sous la direction de M. F.-E. Guérin. Paris, Bureau de Souscription, 1840, 9 text volumes and 3 plate volumes, text volumes: each volume 640 p. (except volume 9, with 663 p.), plate volumes: with altogether 720 engraved plates nearly all (but ca. 20) handcoloured and partly heightened with gum, contemporary uniform purple half calf by J. CORFMAT (volume 1 signed on the spine), abundantly gilt spine with stamps of various animals, 4to.

Very fine set, each volume with small ex libris of "M. Léonce Deltil, à Peruwelz". Text volume I lacks p. 319-320 (apparently never bound), else a set with only a few minor imperfections: plate 25 lacks a piece of blank top corner, plates 109, 222 bis and 478 repaired, plate 568 tender and slightly frayed; else here and there slightly foxed as usual. Text volume 9 lacks a piece at the top of the spine. The 11 bis- and ter plates are numbered twice, bound in this copy by their bis-numbers, e.g. plate 2 bis (also plate 256) behind plate 2 and therefore not before plate 257. Rare title edition, we found - also in libraries worldwide - only copies dated 1833-1839, often lacking one or more plates. The beautiful, detailed plates after Sainson and Fries catch the eye not just because of their refined colouring but also due to the lively entourage and realistic backgrounds (incl. detailed landscapes) with which the subjects are depicted. Corfmat was the royal bookbinder to queen Marie-Amélie (1782-1966), see Fléty, 47 (erroneously "Corfinat") (total 12 finely bound volumes).