Our Native Songsters by Anne Pratt, 1857 | Illustrated Victorian Bird Book

A wonderful 1857 Victorian study of British birds, Our Native Songsters brings together Anne Pratt’s engaging natural history writing and her finely colored illustrations. Published in London by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1857, this edition features a colored frontispiece and 72 chromolithographed bird plates.

Anne Pratt(1806-1893) was a botanical and ornithological illustrator and author from Strood, Kent. 

This work explores the lives of birds, from thrushes, warblers, and swallows to the ways they adapt, sing, and thrive through the changing seasons.

This copy has an attractive half-leather binding with marbled paper boards, leather corners, and gilt decoration to the spine. A former owner’s inscription dated April 12, 1863, appears on the front endpaper along with tipped in newspaper clipping.

Condition: Very Good. The binding shows light rubbing to the leather and board corners. The pages and plates clean.

Size: ~ 5½” × 4¼” 

Rare Book

A lovely addition to a collection of Victorian natural history, ornithology, or illustrated books.