Folio Archives 88: The Bird Paintings of Henry Jones 1976 Limited Edition
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1wcarter
The Bird Paintings of Henry Jones 1976 Limited Edition
In 1976, the Folio Society took an enormous gamble. At a time when the average FS book was selling for £4 to £5, they published a fine press book for the enormous price of £350. Amazingly, the price later rose to £425. According to Google, £350 is equivalent to £2450 in 2018. In 1976, the average male wage was £70 a week.
500 numbered copies were printed, but only 200 were bound in the first batch, smaller batches being bound as demand required for several years. It is doubtful that the full 500 copies were ever bound. My copy is number 388 of 500.
It was published in cooperation with the Zoological Society of London to celebrate its 150th. anniversary, had a brief foreword by the Duke of Edinburgh, an introduction by Bruce Campbell and a preface by Prof. Lord Zuckerman. The landscape style book was designed by Colin Cohen.
There are 24 colour plates, each one having a title on the preceding recto page, and a description on the verso opposite the painting. Henry Jones produced over a thousand bird paintings, and the selection here is purportedly a collection of his best paintings.
It is half bound by Hunter and Foulis in green leather with green buckram boards, and is housed in a dark brown slipcase blocked in gilt with the Zoological Society crest. The endleaves are Compton marbled. In its slipcase the book is 47.3x40.5cm, with a landscape format. It has a total of 108 pages. I purchased my copy for US$200 in 2013.
Slipcase
Endleaves
Each painting is introduced by a title page
There is a description of the bird on the verso page opposite the painting.
Detail of above painting
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
In 1976, the Folio Society took an enormous gamble. At a time when the average FS book was selling for £4 to £5, they published a fine press book for the enormous price of £350. Amazingly, the price later rose to £425. According to Google, £350 is equivalent to £2450 in 2018. In 1976, the average male wage was £70 a week.
500 numbered copies were printed, but only 200 were bound in the first batch, smaller batches being bound as demand required for several years. It is doubtful that the full 500 copies were ever bound. My copy is number 388 of 500.
It was published in cooperation with the Zoological Society of London to celebrate its 150th. anniversary, had a brief foreword by the Duke of Edinburgh, an introduction by Bruce Campbell and a preface by Prof. Lord Zuckerman. The landscape style book was designed by Colin Cohen.
There are 24 colour plates, each one having a title on the preceding recto page, and a description on the verso opposite the painting. Henry Jones produced over a thousand bird paintings, and the selection here is purportedly a collection of his best paintings.
It is half bound by Hunter and Foulis in green leather with green buckram boards, and is housed in a dark brown slipcase blocked in gilt with the Zoological Society crest. The endleaves are Compton marbled. In its slipcase the book is 47.3x40.5cm, with a landscape format. It has a total of 108 pages. I purchased my copy for US$200 in 2013.
Slipcase
Endleaves
Each painting is introduced by a title page
There is a description of the bird on the verso page opposite the painting.
Detail of above painting
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2folio_books
Lovely photographs, Warwick. They really capture the book in its magnificence. I remember it being released, staggered at the price, I hadn't been a member for long and (not long married and with a mortgage) was struggling to afford the required four volumes a year, which would have cost around £15. It's only comparatively recently I was lucky enough to find one at a decent price, much lower than the original selling price.
4garyjbp
I got my copy after Warwick pointed it out on some thread many years ago, so I guess I owe him a double thanks, both for my getting the book, and for the great portrayal of it here. I especially like the last picture, familiarly called the Stellars Jay. I see them outside my study window every day, and this picture is remarkably perfect, remarkable in that Henry Jones was a Brit, and this bird only inhabits the Western US and Mexico, so how he knew about it is a puzzle. The Foreword does say that the Royal Society received specimens from all over the world.
5LesMiserables
>1 wcarter:
Stunning volume. I have always loved birds and as a lad I was in the Young Ornithologist Club (RSPB) in the UK. These are remarkable paintings.
Stunning volume. I have always loved birds and as a lad I was in the Young Ornithologist Club (RSPB) in the UK. These are remarkable paintings.
7boldface
>6 wcarter:
The seller says it's copy no. 290, but in the photo "290" has been crossed through very neatly three times. Does this suggest that it was replaced, possibly by another "290", and that therefore this copy might in some way be defective, or this there a more innocent explanation?
The seller says it's copy no. 290, but in the photo "290" has been crossed through very neatly three times. Does this suggest that it was replaced, possibly by another "290", and that therefore this copy might in some way be defective, or this there a more innocent explanation?
8affle
>7 boldface:
Look at the photo of the limitation page of Warwick's copy above, Jonathan - the enumerator was clearly very keen to get their writing level, the product of an abusive primary school education, I shouldn't be surprised to learn.
Look at the photo of the limitation page of Warwick's copy above, Jonathan - the enumerator was clearly very keen to get their writing level, the product of an abusive primary school education, I shouldn't be surprised to learn.
