Handsomely bound, a set of Gould’s Birds of Britain offered as part of the small but select Dorros ornithological library at Christie’s New York sale of June 15 failed against a $60,000-80,000 estimate, but in a Dominic Winter (19.5% buyer’s premium) sale of the previous day a very differently presented set brought a mid-estimate £36,000.
The South Cerney copy was in the original 25 parts in their blue-green, cloth backed and printed boards, complete with all 367 coloured litho plates. One, depicting a pair of hoopoes, or ‘Upupa Epops’ to use the exotic-sounding Linnean designation, is shown right.
A few other lots from the Dorros sale were noted in ATG No 2298.