Nürnberg, Adam Ludwig Wirsing, [1770-]1772. Tall folio (43.0 x 26.5 cm). Engraved and contemporarily coloured plate, numbered and captioned.

A fine plate from possible the first but certainly one of the most beautiful hand-coloured nidological works ever, and almost never found complete - even individual plates, such as this one, are rare. This plate, number six, deals with the Sperber, or eurasian sparrowhawk. The first author, Adam Ludwig Wirsing (1734-1798) was a versatile German engraver with a keen interest in natural history. The German medical doctor and naturalist (principally ornithologist) Friedrich Christian Günther (1726-1774) was responsible for the descriptive text. Uncut. With the widest possible margins. The colouring bright and accurate. Left edge a bit irregular due to former binding, otherwise fine. Anker, 537; Nissen IVB, 1002; Sitwell, Fine bird books, 157; Not in Zimmer.