The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne in the County of Southampton

London: Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1900. Leather. Very Good Indeed. 8.5" by 5.5". None. A charming copy of this work on natural history by Gilbert White Gilbert White was a pioneering naturalist and ornithologist. He is best known for his The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.This book was a compilation of 44 of his letters to Thomas Pennant, the leading British zoologist of the day, and 66 letters to the Hon. Daines Barrington, an English barrister and another Fellow of the Royal Society. In these letters, White detailed the natural history of the area around his family home at the vicarage of Selborne in Hampshire. These letters contained White's discoveries about local birds, animals and plants. He believed in distinguishing birds by observation rather than by collecting specimens, and was thus one of the first people to separate the similar-looking Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Wood Warbler by means of their song. In a red half calf binding with gilt detail. Externally very smart, with some slight rubbing to the joints and extremities. Scattered spotting to the cloth. Spine is slightly sunned. Slight offsetting to the endpapers. Internally firmly bound. Pages generally bright and clean, with just the odd spot, heavier to the fore-edge. Very Good Indeed