Houghton, The Reverend William : British Fresh-Water Fishes, illustrated with a coloured figure of each species drawn from nature by A F Lydon,  volumes I and II, first edition, publisher William Mackenzie, London 1879. Two volumes. Large Folio (280 x 372mm). Ppxxvi,92 and ii,93-204. Illustrated with 41 tissue-guarded coloured engraved plates of fishes, engraved by Benjamin Fawcett after paintings by Alexander Francis Lydon + 64 engraved illustrations of river and lake scenes + large woodcut vignettes heading each section of text, title-pages printed in black & red. Dark red textured cloth decorated in gilt/black with angling vignettes, bevelled boards, all edges gilt. The Reverend William Houghton's lavishly-produced two volume work on the British species of freshwater fish, all magnificently illustrated by Alexander Francis Lydon's fine coloured plates printed by Benjamin Fawcett.
This work features beautiful plates produced through a process known as xylography. This process was the particular speciality of A.F. Lydon who went on to illustrate William Greene's Parrots in Captivity and David Wooster's Alpine Plants, amongst others. This work could not have been more generously produced, with its lavish backgrounds to the river banks, and the substantial and detailed illustrations. Westwood & Satchell (supplement)        p. 11; Nissen ZBI 2009.                                                                                                        Condition: Exterior the boards are near fine, internally is also incredibly clean and bright, only issue is the gutta-percha on division 2 is starting to degrade leaving a few loose pages, although all are intact. Overall a lovely set in really nice condition.