Andrew Isles Natural History Books

    Member of ANZAAB - Australia

    Cage Birds Natural History Animals Birds Evolution

We are the leading natural history specialist bookshop in Australia. Established in 1981, we hold a world class inventory in new, secondhand and rare antiquarian books and wildlife art. Rare natural history books are our specialty and we ship books to anywhere in the world. Our books are sourced from publishers and suppliers worldwide. We have large stocks of books on birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, botany, ecology, palaeontology, insects, marine, biology, aviculture, fossils, entomology and conservation. Our natural history stock covers books for Australia, Antarctica, America, Britain, Africa, Europe and Asia. Our wildlife art gallery regularly offers original paintings by Neville Cayley (junior and senior), Sarah Stone, William T. Cooper, Raymond Ching and Peter Schouten.

Contact Information
Phone: +61 3 95105750
Website: https://www.andrewisles.com
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12 Glass Pl Prahran, 3181 Australia Get Directions

Highlights
Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania.
$2500
North, Alfred J. Sydney: Australian Museum, 1901-1914. Quarto, 25 egg plates, uncoloured vignettes by Neville Cayley senior, photographs by the author and H. Barnes. Contemporary green binder's cloth with later red labels, a very good set. Alfred John North (1855-1917) was one of the greatest of all Australian ornithologists and a founding member in 1880 of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. He was appointed Assistant Curator of Birds at the Australian Museum, under E. P. Ramsay, in 1891, a position he held until his death in 1917.
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An introduction to the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds.
$4500
Gould, J. London: Author, 1861. Small octavo, Publisher's cloth, a fine copy. Inscribed "Professor Huxley from the author 22 March 67". A magnificent association copy, from John Gould to Thomas Henry Huxley ("Darwin's bulldog").
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A natural history of British birds.
$14000
Hayes, William. London: Author, [1771-1779]. Folio, 40 proof plates handcoloured by Hayes and his family, without a title page. All but seven signed, captioned and dated. The Green Woodpecker has the signature of William Hayes and Gabriel Smith. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, a few spots but otherwise the plates in fine crisp condition, very scarce. William Hayes (1735-1802) was an early English bird artist who was a postmaster for much of his life. He had a large family, was often in financial difficulties, and was helped with the colouring of his plates by his daughters.
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Birds of Arabia. Edition de Luxe.
$6000
Meinertzhagen, R. London: Henry Sotheran, 1980. Quarto, tipped in plates, folding map. Full green morocco with inlaid leather falcon design on upper board, silk endpapers, all edges gilt. The special issue of ten copies lettered A-K, this copy is "I". Limited to ten copies bound in a spectacular full morocco; the standard issue of the reprint of Meinertzhagen's classic Birds of Arabia (first published 1954) was limited to 295 numbered copies and bound in half morocco.
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Conchology, or the natural history of shells: containing a new arrangement of the genera and species, illustrated by coloured engravings executed from the natural specimens, and including the latest discoveries.
$12500
Perry, George. London: Printed by William Miller, by W. Bulmer and Co., 1811. Large folio, 61 fine handcoloured engraved plates, illustrating hundreds of specimens, and interleaved descriptive text. modern quarter calf and marbled boards, with red label; a fine tall, uncut copy with the plates clean and crisp. Perry's Conchology was the subject of considerable criticism at the time of publication and many of the leading conchologists, such as L. A Reeve, author of the Conchologia iconica, were particularly scathing.
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The insects of Australia and New Zealand.
$1000
Tillyard, R. J. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1926. Octavo, illustrations, very fine copy, scarce in this condition. Tipped in letters from Tillyard to Charles Barrett. A wonderful copy, with important letters, and almost certainly Charles Barrett's copy.
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The Tower menagerie: comprising the natural history of the animals contained in that establishment; with anecdotes of their characters and history.
$1200
[Bennett, Edward T]. London: Robert Jennings, 1831. Octavo, wood-engraved illustrations; finely bound by Ramage in plum morocco, spines elaborately gilt, sides with ornamental corner-pieces within rules, top edges gilt (spines faded), a superb set bound by John Ramage. A history of the strange and exotic collection of wild animals kept in the Tower of London, which were used at various times for both entertainment and scientific study by royalty and members of English society. With chapters on Kangaroo and Emu.
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The reptiles of British India.
$2000
Gunther, Albert C. L. G. London: Ray Society, 1864. Folio, 26 uncoloured lithographic plates. Publisher's boards with label, rebacked to match with later maroon quarter cloth, some cracking and minor fraying of corners, a few minor spots, all contained in a modern maroon solander box. German born British herpetologist and ichthyologist Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther (1830-1914) was, along with his near contemporary Alfred George Boulenger, the most prolific of all reptile taxonomists with more than 340 descriptions to his name.
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