90 - COLLECTIVE [DETERVILLE].

COLLECTIVE [DETERVILLE]. New Dictionary of Natural History, Applied to the Arts, Primarily to Agriculture and Rural and Domestic Economy. Paris, Crapelet & Deterville, 1803–1804. 24 vols. in-8, root-stitched sheepskin, smooth spines richly decorated (contemporary binding). First edition, illustrated with 244 separate plates, 235 of which were finely colored at the time, depicting botany, mammals, ornithology, lepidoptera, etc. This dictionary was compiled by the most eminent scholars of the time, including Parmentier, Richard, André Thouin, and Tollard the Elder. The finest engravings were drawn and engraved by De Sève, Prêtre, Letellier, Tardieu, Voysard, etc. A beautiful work, with colored copies being relatively rare. There are a few interior imperfections, including a small wormhole in the white margin at the end of Volume 5, a few scattered foxing spots of varying severity, and some minor wear to the bindings.