Goldsmith’s History of Animated Nature. With Numerous from the works of the Most Distinguished British and Foreign Naturalists. Illustrated by Upwards of Two Thousand Figures. Two Volumes. London: Blackie & Son, 1868. Half calf, cloth boards, spine ruled in gilt with red morocco letter-pieces. Light spotting to preliminary leaves otherwise a very good set.

Illustrated with seventy-two  plates in full colour & numerous small text drawings throughout.

Originally published in 1774 & adapted from the works of Buffon, Linnaeus, Ray, and others, Goldsmith’s sought to draw together all that was known about the planet and its plants and animals in the late eighteenth century.