Bilby, T. Young Folk's Natural History, with Numerous Illustrative Anecdotes. New York: Hurst & Co., 1887. Arlington Edition. [10945]
Green cloth decorated in black & gilt, spine & front clean, a few small stains to the back, 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches. Gift inscription on ffep. 200 pp. with many text illustrations and plates, one leaf torn about 3 inches, with no loss. The text is dark, the book is a bit shaken with nothing detached. Good. Hardcover.
This book was first published in 1838 as, The Book of Quadrupeds. This copy was printed in 1887 from older plates. The "shaken" aspect is due to the binding strings being still strong, but the paper quality is poor, with the leaves pulled away a little bit from the strings.
Thomas Bilby (1794-1872), b. Southampton, England. He was a teacher, founder of a school for teachers, and was the parish clerk for St. Mary's Church in Islington. In addition to writing several books of instruction for children, he wrote several hymns that appeared in his The Infant Teacher's Assistant.
