A Synopsis of The Birds of Australia and the Adjacent Islands by John Gould, F.L.S., published by the author, 20 Broad Street, Golden Square, London, 1837-38. 73 hand-colored lithographic plates by and after Elizabeth Gould, 8 pp. Description of New Species at end. Owner’s bookplate on end paper: George Ernest Morrison. Paper label on end paper: Angus and Robertson, Booksellers to the University, 89 Castlereagh Street, Sydney. Sheets: 10-5/8″ x 7-1/8″, Volume: super octavo. Dark green half-leather, gilt-ruled, decorative stamped binding, all edges gilt. Provenance: George Ernest Morrison (1862-1920) was a journalist, traveller and political adviser to the Chinese government. He sold his library of Western language works on China, over 20,000 volumes, maps and pamphlets in 1917 to Baron Iwasaki, then president of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. The collection is now held by the Tokyo Toyo Bunka Kenkyusho. (See Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University). Condition: Minor scattered foxing except for plate of “Graucalus Tenuirostris”, “Graucalus Swainsonii”, “Graucalus Mentalis”. Joints and corners rubbed.