Birds of California: Large Paper Edition; William Leon Dawson; South Moulton (1923); Signed (Vol.1only); Limited to 350 (un-numbered); 4-Vol. Set; VG (all vols); Oversize folio (12.2/8”x 9.4/8”); Not Ex-Library, Not Facsimile, Not Print on Demand; All Vols: Hb-Light olive green textured cl w/stamped pale green lettering/design on front cover + spine, lightly bumped, slight edgewear, smudging. Deckle edged paper (top edge gilt), Title pages printed in red + black, 30-tissue protected photogravure plates, 110-tissue protected colour plates by Major Allen Brooks (tissues decorated w/descriptive letterpress) 120 duotone plates + over 1100 half-tone illustrations scattered throughout.

Noted American ornithologist, author, lecturer W.L. Dawson was a lifelong photographer of birds + author of numerous articles + books on the subject. His major works include ‘Birds of Ohio: A Complete Scientific + Popular Description of the 320 Species of Birds Found in the State’(1903),+ ’Birds of Washington: A Complete Scientific + Popular Description of the 372 Species of Birds Found in the State’(1909.) In 1915 he founded the Museum of Comparative Oology (soon to become the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History) acting as its first director until 1925. He founded The Birds of California Publishing Company, was involved w/ several nature conservation clubs as well as lectured on several species of birds, their habitats + the importance of conservation.

'Although Dawson had successfully produced other ornithological works, this was by far the most ambitious project he had undertaken + he quickly ran into financial problems which were not resolved until he found a patron in Mrs. Ellen Brown Scripps who was willing to underwrite the entire cost. With almost unlimited funds now available, the author spared no expense in making this an ornithological [sic] + typographical tour-de-force. The different editions were all printed from the same hand-set type and+y of paper + the quality of bindings.'