Unexplored Spain

London: Edward Arnold, 1910. FIRST EDITION. With frontispiece, 31 full-page plates, many with multiple photographic illustrations, and numerous text illustrations. Half morocco over marbled boards, gilt lettering on spine; an excellent copy from the library of James M. Dolan Jr., former head curator and director of collections at the Zoological Society of San Diego, with his small blind stamp on title. First edition of an important work on Spain and its wildlife, intended as the sequel to the authors’ Wild Spain (1893). Chapman and Buck spent two years in Spain marching through mountains and desolate marshes watching and inventorying fauna. Among many other sites, they describe the historic hunting places of Coto Dañana, Andalusia’s big game, wild geese, the Spanish bull fight, flamingoes, and wild camels. The work is enriched by stunning photographs that show the progress made in capturing animal images at that time.

Chapman (1851–1929) was a British naturalist and hunter who made regular visits to the Iberian Peninsula, together with his friend Walter Buck, the British vice-consul at Jerez. He saved the Iberian ibex (goat) from extinction thank to his hunting restrictions.