WHITE, Gilbert.

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The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, First edition of one of the great 18th-century English books, a landmark of natural history and the product of more than 20 years' work. White's Natural History has long been valued as much for its literary style as for its scientific contributions.Gilbert White (1720-1793) first seriously engaged with the natural world in a series of hunting trips in the early 1740s. On returning to the Wakes, his family home in Selborne, this engagement accelerated, producing a series of journals with the raw material for his most celebrated work. The Natural History is a lyrical and highly personal exploration of Selborne's flora, fauna, buildings and artefacts. In his studies of the Hampshire fauna, White pioneered a focus on animal behaviour (as opposed to morphological differences), earning him a prominent place in the history of ethology. "Writer and reader each share the inheritance of the natural world, and delight in what is given, so that Selborne becomes an expression of universal thanksgiving, treasured by all" (ODNB).Provenance: Richard Webster Huntley (1793-1857), fellow of All Souls, Oxford, his signature dated 1816 on final leaf verso; William Holland Ballett Fletcher (1852-1941), barrister, his engraved armorial bookplate on front pastedown. There are a handful of later pencilled annotations in the margins, often extending (or challenging) White's observations, and two loosely inserted newspaper clippings. The first records th

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