Our Birds Of Prey, Or The Eagles, Hawks, And Owls Of Canada

VENNOR, F. G. S., HENRY G

Publication: Published By Dawson Brothers, 1876, Montreal

First edition. Quarto (7-1/4" x 10-1/4") in recent black morocco leather with elaborate gilt-ruled covers and spine with hand-marbled paper and red morocco onlays, gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers; viii, 154 pages. Illustrated with 30 mounted albumen photograph plates on printed mounts by the Scottish-Canadian photographer William Notman, including the frontispiece depicting a bald eagle. The introduction notes that "the pictures produced by it are not only beautiful, but truthful to the most minute detail" and contains "every species of Falcon, Hawk, Buzzard, Harrier, Eagle and Owl, which has up to the present time been found in Canada." William Notman published a popular series of books of photographic portraits to 1868, including Longfellow and Buffalo Bill, after which he only worked on books produced by other artists, such as this. Accompanying Vennor's detailed text stemming from months spent outdoors studying the birds, Notman's photographs are early examples in the field of natural history. Signature of John Platt, 1876, at left top of title page, also inscribed To Wilfred Rolland from A.S. Christmas 1915, right top of page. Inscription on front endpaper: "Book bought by my great-grandfather, John Platt, the year he died, 1876. John Platt born 1806 in Montreal, he was Empire Loyalist, married 1826 to Elizabeth Eleanor Charlotte Augusta Cavendish Bowes-Lyon, she died in 1837. John Platt served against the rebels in 1837. Book became property of my grandfather Adam Skaife, who in 1915 gave it to my brother. At his accidental death, my mother--Mary Lucy Skaife, gave the book to me. F. A. Rolland, 1928." ADAM SKAIFE was a trading partner with the Molson brothers, brewers in the Province of Quebec. HENRY GEORGE VENNOR (1840 - 1884) was a Canadian geologist and ornithologist. He attended McGill College, where he studied natural sciences and civil engineering under the geologists John William Dawson and Thomas Sterry Hunt, graduating with honors in 1860. While a student Vennor collected Montreal Island fossils and wrote on ornithology for the Canadian Naturalist and Geologist and the British American Magazine of Toronto. After McGill, he joined the trading company of John Frothingham and William Workman in Montreal, then in 1865 accepted an apprenticeship under Sir William Edmond Logan, director of the Geological Survey of Canada, becoming a full member a year later. For fifteen years he worked on the geology of Ontario and Pontiac County, Quebec. WILLIAM NOTMAN (1826-1891) founded the Notman photographic studio in 1856. During its 78 years in operation, the studio and the personal history of its founder were closely linked. After finishing his studies in Scotland, Notman began his career in business by working in the family firm. But when it ran into financial difficulties he decided to move to Montréal. In 1860, Notman photographed the Prince of Wales during his visit to Montréal, then placed over 350 of the photographs into a maple box. This box was presented to the Prince of Wales by the Canadian government, an honor that earned Notman the title of "Photographer to the Queen." Also in 1860, Notman took part in the founding of the Art Association of Montreal, and the association's very first meeting was held in Notman's Bleury Street studio. Notman's photographers immortalized the most influential men and women of the day, the most beautiful panoramas, the wildest and the most developed regions in the country, the latest technological advances and First Nations peoples. Notman also received medals at the world exhibition in Montréal in 1860, in London in 1862, in Paris in 1867 and 1878, in Australia in 1877 and again in London in 1886. Slight foxing to title page and to a couple of photographs which are in excellent condition. Fine copy.

Inventory Number: 48771