Second edition, revised and enlarged: the best edition of this handsome work. The present copy, with an impeccable provenance, is enriched by the inclusion of 3 fine original watercolours by the eminent William Brodrick (1814-88), falconer, taxidermist, physician and artist, whose works of avian portraiture set the standard of his times.
The first edition was published in 1855. The author, Francis Henry Salvin (1817-1904), was not satisfied with the first edition, so he made improvements and important additions. The resulting second edition must be preferred to the first, and Salvin wanted to leave no doubt that it would be the best modern book on falconry even written in England. It indeed remains even today an essential standard work. To illustrate the second edition new lithographs had to be made from scratch, because the stones that were used to illustrate the first edition were destroyed. The ornithological artist William Brodrick took up the task once more and apparently made some drawings for it that did not make the edition, but his original watercolour drawings are included in the present copy. These are, according to inscriptions by Brodrick himself: a saker (barred variety, 2 year old female); a 5 year old Dutchess falcon belonging to J. Pells; Comet, a 4 year old tierce.
With an inscription in ink on the front free endpaper: "Wm. Brodrick, Little Hill, 1873" and a partially erased pencil inscription on the title-page. Occasional spotting, heavier in the endpapers and half-title, but still in very good condition. Spine faded to brown, corners worn, rubbed. Harting 67; Nissen IVB 147; Schwerdt II, 145.