The miscellany of natural history edited by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart. F.R.S.E. Volume II. The feline species. [OR] The natural history of the feline species by William Rhind, Esq., M.R.C.S. with a biographical sketch of Baron Cuvier by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart.

Edinburgh, Fraser and Co., 1834. 8vo (16.5 x 11.0 cm). Frontispiece portrait of Cuvier; engraved title with vignette of a lion and tiger, two letterpress titles, engraved medallion of Cuvier, [iv], 44, 45-184 pp.; 36 engraved plates of which 35 hand-coloured and one plain, as intended. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Spine with four raised, gilt-lined bands and gilt title. = The "Miscellany" was a short-lived rival of Jardine's "Naturalist's Library" and only two volumes appeared (the first one deals with parrots). The first 45 pages contain a biographical sketch of George Cuvier, with two unnumbered plates. The remaining text, and 35 originally hand-coloured plates deal with the members of the cat family, including lions, tigers, but also the margay, chati, guepard, once, linked ocelot, and other less well-known cat species. A plate showing the skeleton of a young adult lion is not coloured, as intended. Careless compilers, including Nissen, missed the second plate numbered 23 ("tortoishell cat"), and the unnumbered skeleton plate. The Scottish surgeon, naturalist and botanist William Rhind (1797-1874) wrote the text concerning the Felidae (cats), whereas the biography of Cuvier was writen by the Scottish author Thomas Dick Lauder (1784-1848), a friend of Sir Walter Scott and Secretary to the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, and who also acted as editor. Rebacked with the old spine cover laid down. First title and frontis spotted; rather soiled and thumbed, a few leaves with a short tear in the fore margin; nevertheless quite a good, complete copy of this attractively illustrated and seldom-seen work. Nissen ZBI, 3382 [quoting in incorrect number of plates]. Not in Wood.