1905. BOUTAN Louis-Marie-Auguste (1859-1934). Permanent... Lot 5

1905. BOUTAN Louis-Marie-Auguste (1859-1934). Permanent Scientific Mission of Exploration in Indo-China. Zoological Decades - Birds - 1st part, Hanoi 1905. Rare copy in-4 numbered 23 out of 200 and dedicated in ink by the author, abundantly illustrated with 34 plates painted in color on rice paper by the Vietnamese artist Dang-ngoc-Quan. Half-bound with marbled boards, the spine with four nerves decorated with gilt fillets. (Wear to the cover, to the corners and lack to the spine, some traces of moisture at the bottom of pages). Considered as the first attempt to realize a natural history of Vietnam, the Boutan Mission conducted between 1904 and 1908 by the author of the book is distinguished by the involvement of local artists in the realization of the colored plates, which oscillate between Far Eastern pictorial tradition and scientific rigor.