Nicoll's Birds of Egypt, 2 volumes (First Edition)

A significant and comprehensive early study of Egyptian ornithology — though one whose completing author's later, extensively documented history of scientific fraud has led modern scholars to treat its contents, and its very genesis, with considerable and warranted caution.

Michael John Nicoll (1880–1925) spent much of his career as an ornithologist attached to the Egyptian government's Zoological Gardens in Giza, amassing a substantial body of field observations toward a comprehensive study of the birds of Egypt before his death in 1925 left the project unfinished. His friend and fellow ornithologist, Richard Meinertzhagen undertook to complete the work, incorporating what he described as many original observations of his own into what became, at the time, the first fully comprehensive published account of the country's birdlife.

The book's reputation, and Meinertzhagen's more broadly, has been substantially and irrevocably complicated by revelations beginning in the 1990s. Sustained scientific investigation has proven that Meinertzhagen systematically stole ornithological specimens from major museum collections and falsified their collection data to support his own theories, casting long and warranted doubt over the reliability of his published observations and claims more generally. The book retains genuine historical significance as an early landmark of Egyptian ornithological literature, and its illustration programme remains of real documentary value.

First edition. 2 volumes, quarto. Original green cloth, gilt-decorated and lettered. Portrait frontispiece. Three coloured folding maps, 31 coloured and 8 black-and-white plates, 88 illustrations in text. Near fine. Cover corners a bit worn and bumped. Some mild rubbing at spine ends and some markings to uncut page edges. Overall, a beautiful set that has been well preserved. 

Please note: This is a large two-volume set. Additional postage costs may apply. If so, we will contact you after purchase.

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Catalogue Number: HH000766