This brand new copy has small dots of discoloration across the back cover.

This book was originally prepared in conjunction with an exhibition of books from the E.A. McIlhenny Natural History Collection displayed at the Hill Memorial Library in 2011, showcasing Four centuries of illustrated books on the birds of Mexico, the Caribbean, and South and Central America. The book is far more than an exhibition catalogue as it contains biographies of many eminent collectors and ornithologists who worked and traveled in the New World tropics. A commentary on the principal works produced by these individuals accompanies the biographical sketches. Illustrations in color and black & white from the books and expeditions are included. The book concludes with an account of past and continuing research on neotropical ornithology by the LSU Museum of Natural Science.

Limited to 500 copies, this contribution to the history of ornithology in the neotropics is delightful to read and an invaluable reference. Tom Taylor has put his considerable experience as a book collector and antiquarian bookseller to great use.

BIOGRAPHIES: Miguel Alvarez del Toro, Felix de Azara, William Beebe, Hermann Burmeister, M. A. Carriker, Jr., Francis L. de Laporte, Comte de Castelnau, Frank M. Chapman, George K. Cherrie, Charles B. Cory, Charles Darwin, Jean Theodore Descourtilz, eugene eisenmann, Claudio Gay, Frederick DuCane Godman, Phillip Henry Gosse, John Gould, Francois Haverschmidt, Carl eduard Hellmayr, Francisco Hernandez, W. H. Hudson, Alexander von Humboldt, Maria Koepcke, Georg Markgraf, Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee, Leo e. Miller, Juan Ignacio Molina, Robert Cushman Murphy, Johann Natterer, elsie M.B. Naumburg, Alcide d'Orbigny, Ted Parker, William Phelps, Jr., William Phelps, Sr., Robert Ridgway, Osbert Salvin, Richard Schomburgk, Robert Schomburgk, Philip Lutley Sclater, Helmut Sick, Alexander Skutch, emilie Snethlage, Johann Baptist von Spix, Johann Jacob von Tschudi, Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, Alexander Wetmore, Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, John T. Zimmer