Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON. Histoire... Lot 6

Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON. Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du Cabinet du roy. Paris, Imprimerie Royale 1749-1789. 36 (of 44) volumes in-4, marbled calf, triple fillet and central coat of arms for some, spines with 5 ornate nerves (period binding). Brunet, I-1376 / Nissen, 672 /// Histoire naturelle : I. (3f.)-612 / II. (2f.)-603 / III. (2f.)-530 / IV. XVI-544 / V. (2f.)-311 / VI. VI-(1f.)-344 / VII. (3f.)-378-(1f.) / VIII. (3f.)-402-(1f.) / IX. (3f.)-375 / X. (3f.)-368-(1f.) / XI. (2f.)-450-(1f.) / XII. (3f.)-XVI-451 / XIII. (3f.)-XX-441-(1f.) / XIV. (3f.)-411 / XV. (3f.)-207-CCCXXIV / Supplements: I. (3f.)-542-XXVIII-(1f.) / II. (3f.)-564-XXIV-(1f.) / III. (5f.)-330-XXI / IV. (4f.)-582-XX / V. (1f.)-VIII-615-XXVIII / VI. VIII-405-XXV / VII. XX-364 / Birds: I. (4f.)-XXIV-496 / II. (4f.)-560 / III. (2f.)-IV-(6f.)-502-XCVI-(1f.) / IV. XVI-590-XXVIII / V. XV-546-XXVIII / VI. (1f.)-XVI-702-(1f.) / VII. (2f.)-XVI-554-XCVI / VIII. (2f.)-VIII-498-LXII / IX. VIII-438-XXX-284 / Minerals: I. (2f.)-557-XL / II. (2f.)-602-XXVI / III. (3f.)-636-XIX / IV. (3f.)-448-XXXIX / V. VII-208-368. ORIGINAL EDITION of the most famous work on natural history. It must comprise 44 volumes, including 15 volumes for the Natural History, 7 volumes for the Supplement to the Natural History, 9 volumes for Birds, 5 volumes for Minerals, 5 volumes for Fishes, 2 volumes for Oviparous and Snakes and one volume for Cetaceans. Our copy comprises 36 volumes, the 8 missing volumes being those devoted to Fish, Oviparous and Cetaceans. The set is illustrated with a portrait, 1,064 (out of 1,065) fine hors-texte plates by Sève and his son, copper-engraved by Baquoy, Basan, Moitte, Barron, Tardieu, Chevilet, Rousselet Some of the engravings were drawn by Buvée. 32 headers, 4 (of 12) maps and 1 fold-out table complete the illustration. This superb iconography is the first in which animals are depicted, one by one, with great fidelity, each one placed in the natural setting in which it lives. A homogeneous copy, but with differences in the bindings, which come from 2 series. 29 volumes are bound with the coat of arms, the other 7 without (Sup. VII, Ois. IV and IX, Min. I to V). The arms have been masked, probably at the time of the French Revolution, by a small repeated gilded iron, and the numbers on the spine have been covered by gilded decoration or by an added piece. Nevertheless, the royal coat of arms and the crowned double L on the back are easily recognizable. On the other hand, all the titles have been damaged by the revolution: "M. le comte", "Roi" and "Royale" have been crossed out in black ink, and the fleurons have either been covered by a sheet of paper with a handwritten Thabaut de Linetière bookplate (1816), or covered with watercolors in the colors of the French flag (Hist. II, XII, XIV, Sup. VI, Ois. II, III). They also bear another handwritten bookplate, Cilabert or Cillabert. A very pleasant copy, despite minor wear to bindings, accidents to headpieces and small leather chips to 2 spines and 4 hinges. Missing 1 plate in volume IX of the Birds, all 8 plates of the Minerals, a faux-title, a few browned leaves in 3 volumes and the inversion of 3 plates.