BUFFON (Georges-Louis Leclerc de). Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, Imprimerie royale, 1749-1789. 36 vol. in-4, marbled calf, triple fillet border, ornate spine, royal cipher with double crowned L repeated between the nerves, red title and appendices, marbled edges (period). Nissen, ZBI, n°673 (erroneous collation); Cohen 193-194. First edition of this major encyclopaedic collection. This set of 36 volumes was written and published by Buffon himself (1707-1788). It is divided into 4 parts: Histoire naturelle générale et particulière avec la Description du Cabinet du roi, 1749-1767, volumes I to XV; Histoire naturelle des oiseaux, 1770-1783, volumes XVI to XXIV; Suppléments à l'Histoire naturelle générale et particulière, 1774-1789, volumes I to VII; Histoire naturelle des minéraux, 1783-1788, volumes I to V. On the death of the famous naturalist, it was completed by 8 volumes written by Lacépède: the Histoire naturelle des Quadrupèdes ovipares et des Serpents, 1788-1789, in 2 volumes; the Histoire naturelle des Poissons, 1798-1803, in 5 volumes and the Histoire naturelle des Cétacés, 1804, in 1 volume. Jacques de Sève designed the hundreds of illustrations, engraved by some thirty artists from the Imprimerie Royale. Our copy includes 1059 (out of 1062) zoological plates. The illustrations also include attractive vignettes, an allegorical plate and 2 maps (Volume I), the "Table de l'Ordre des chiens" (Volume V), a portrait of Buffon (Supplement I), a fold-out map and a world map (Supplement V). Internally a fresh copy. Some foxing and spotting. Missing plates I to III of vol. IV (Horse). The title of volume III (1750) bears the words "Seconde édition". Binding worn, headbands missing, jaws split, corners dull, spotting; title-pieces of last two volumes different. Modern stamp "Neveu-Lemaire".