British fresh-water fishes. Illustrated with a coloured figure of each species drawn from nature by A.F. Lydon [...].

2 vol., large 4to: xxvi-92, [4]-93/204 pp. (locally foxing with tissue guards and some text pp. more affected).

Pictorial publisher's brick cloth (sl. rubbed), black-, gilt- and blind-stamped piscatorial vignettes and motifs on boards and flat spines, a.e.g. Good copy.

1st edition of this beautiful work by the Shropshire clergyman and naturalist Houghton (1828-1895), originally published in 20 instalments. Ill. (complete) with 41 colour wood-engraved plates heightened with gum (20, 21) protected by tissue guards, and with nice vignettes in text. Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917) was a British illustrator and engraver of natural history and landscapes and one of the finest illustrators of British fish of the Victorian era. The impressive plates represent the fish in their natural environment, the vignettes depict delicate landscapes. Ref. Nissen (ZBI) 2009. - COPAC. Prov. Blind stamp on titles.