First edition. Elephant folio. Handsomely bound in contemporary half red morocco over marbled boards with five raised bands to the spine, compartments richly decorated in gilt and with titles in gilt. All edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Illustrated with 26 tinted lithograph plates, including the title page. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with scuffing to the leather covering the corners, a little rubbing and the odd minor mark. The contents with the contemporary engraved armorial bookplate of Francis Markham to the front pastedown, the neat ink ownership inscription of Maria Markham to the front endpaper and some light scatted foxing largely to page margins, are otherwise in excellent order. The plates remain exceptionally bright and fresh for a work where foxing is often an issue. An attractive copy of a grand book.
The first edition of Cooper's outstanding lithographic work, praised by both contemporary and modern critics as containing plates which "are unsurpassed in their sheer brilliance of execution" (Westwood). Representing Cooper's last work on stone, 'Groups of Cattle, Drawn From Nature' confirmed his reputation throughout Europe as one of the pre-eminent animal artists of his age. A beautifully bound and unusually fresh copy of Cooper's lithographic masterpiece.
Stock code: 19492
£2,975