Stories About birds by M & E Kirby Victorian Book Very Rare / Scarce Edition

  
Full title is'Stories About Birds of Land and Water' by M and E Kirby. It is undated, but the publishers were in operation between 1848 and 1878, so it would have been printed sometime within that period.

I can not find an example of this edition anywhere online at all, so can't be more specific (even tried a google image search to no avail). This beautiful book would make a welcome addition to any collection. The hardback cloth cover is inlayed with a fantastically vibrant colour illustration. Inside, there are further black and white illustrations on almost every page.

It really is a handsome book. Domestic and tropical birds are listed in alphabetical order with a comprehensive summary of each type. Unfortunately, the cover has totally come away from the book inside (please see pictures). The cloth is also slightly split on the spine.

The pages themselves are all intact and look to be in great shape. I'm listing a few books so please feel free to check out my other items.