A Naturalist's Calendar, with Observations in Various Branches of Natural History; Extracted from the papers of the late Rev. Gilbert White, M. A. of Selborne, Hampshire, Senior Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. Never before published.

London:: B. and J. White, 1795., 1795. 8vo. (196 x 123 mm) iv, [5]-170, [6] pp. One hand-colored plate. Uncut. Modern quarter white paper spine, preserving original boards, new head caps and paper spine label. RARE. FIRST EDITION. The advertisement preface notes that Dr. John Aiken compiled this work, incorporating the author's unpublished notes and observations. The first section of this work is devoted to the calendar itself, giving month-by-month landmarks of plant flowering, insect activities, animal behaviors, etc. The second section, Observations on Various Parts of Nature, White discusses his observations of birds, quadrupeds, insects and vermes (worms), vegetables and weather. The hand-colored plate of a hybrid pheasant is particularly handsome. With regard to meteorology, White quotes Dr. Samuel Johnson in mentioning the 'Black Spring' of 1771 in which the weather was so severe that on the Isle of Skye, "The snow, which seldom lies at all, covered the ground for eight weeks, many cattle died, and those that survived were so emaciated that they did not require the male at the usual season." The last chapter consists of a summary of the noteworthy meteorological events from 1768 until the present year. The British naturalist and "man of genius" [Martin], Gilbert White spent much of his time in the quiet study of his beloved subject, nature. The substance of White's calendar observations, made during his many years of country walks, was originally incorporated into his renowned Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, 1789. At his death, his manuscripts and notes became the property of his brother, the bookseller and publisher, Benjamin White, and in 1795 Dr. J. Aiken, a fellow naturalist. "prepared and extracted . . . from the Naturalist's Calendar which White had prepared, and added thereto from White's papers a selection of Observations on Various Parts of Nature. From its depth of observation, and the diversity of subjects dealt with, the minute details which characterize the observations, and the well-reasoned conclusions to which the author arrives, it could not fail, even now, to make a lasting impression on the natural history literature of the day." [Martin]. BM Readex, Vol. 26, p. 1149; DNB, Vol. xxi, pp. 36-48; Martin: Bibliography of Gilbert White, p.98.