HOUGHTON, William. British Fresh-Water Fishes. First edition. Two volumes. Volume I. half-title, blank (2), frontispiece, title, blank, dedication, blank, preface vii-viii, contents ix-x, introduction xi-xxvi, 1-92; volume II. half-title, blank (2), frontispiece, title, blank, 93-204., 41 large chromolithographic plates, including the frontispieces, of different types of freshwater fish, with vignettes and wood engravings, drawn from nature by A.F. Lydon, and engraved by Benjamin Fawcett. A fine bright copy bound in the original brown pebble-grained cloth, bevelled edges, gilt decorated boards, all-edges-gilt. Some foxing, mainly to the end-papers and tissue guards, and occasionally transferring onto the plate margin. The inner hinges are uncracked, and the contents are secure in the binding. folio. William Mackenzie. [1879]. ~ British Fresh-Water Fishes was originally published in 1879 in two volumes or ‘divisions’ as here. It was re-issued in 1884 as a single volume, and a second edition without colour plates was published in 1893. The illustrations in the first edition are superb and were quite revolutionary at the time, showing fish in a representation of their natural habitat. The work was a long time in preparation and Houghton corresponded widely - basing some of his work on paintings supplied by Jonathan Couch - as well as taking the time to visit many collections of preserved specimens. He was an extremely thorough man and British Fresh-Water Fishes eliminates many of the errors that had been repeated in earlier works. The book was exhibited at the London International Fisheries Exhibition of 1883.