The Natural History of Selbourne

First published in 1789, this work is a series of letters from the curate Gilbert White of a Hampshire parish to the naturalists Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington. White records the birds, insects, plants, weather, and antiquities of one village through the year: the migration and song of swallows, the habits of harvest mice and a tortoise, the strata of the hanger, and local customs. He argues from daily watching rather than from system alone. The book is a local natural history in letter form, not a general textbook of zoology.

Three-quarter bound in brown buckram, green front board printed and blocked with a black and gilt design by Neil Gower. Brown slipcase with gilt front title. Brown endpapers. Gilded top page edge. Brown ribbon marker. 70 full-page colour plates.