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E C STUART BAKER, The Indian Ducks and Their Allies, London: Bombay Natural History Society, 1908

xi; 292 pages including 30 coloured plates with deckled edges
Original half Morocco green cloth binding with upper edges gilt
27.5 x 19.5 x 4 cm

Limited edition of 1200 copies

Edward Charles Stuart Baker (1864 - 1944) was a British ornithologist and police officer, and became known as the foremost authority on the birds of India after spending many years in the country as part of the Assam Police. He was an excellent huntsman and sniper, and his obituary describes some of his escapades in India, where "he had many opportunities of indulging in his love for sport and natural history. He shot much big game and lost his left arm from an encounter with a leopard. This animal had killed several natives in a village near Silchar... Twice he was tossed by a bison, and trampled underfoot by a rhinoceros. Despite the disability of the loss of his arm he remained an excellent shot, even at snipe, and was also a good tennis player till recent years, winning a local tournament as late as 1937." (Ibis, 1944, Wiley Online Library, online)

It was in India that Baker also began collecting eggs and skins, researching ornithology and writing for Ibis and the Bombay Natural History Society. These papers were later compiled into a three-volume set of books published in London. Baker returned to London from India in 1911, where he served as the Chief Police Officer of the Port of London Police until his retirement in 1925. He is the author of numerous books on ornithology such as those included in lots 50 and 51 - and part of his collection of nearly 50,000 birds' eggs collected in India was donated to various museums.