Includes Wilson's Aves, one of 25 copies on special paper. A rare complete set of the Natural History reports from Scott's Discovery expedition. This set especially desirable for volume II being the limited edition on special paper which shows Edward Wilson's bird illustrations to their best advantage.

Of Wilson's contribution to volume II, Rosove writes: 'Wilson's Cetacea and Aves are among the finest reports in the entire scientific output, and they are remarkably readable. Aves includes a description of the first emperor colony discovered, at Cape Crozier. The colour plates by Wilson in Aves are, simply put, magnificent, with their rare combination of attention to the finest detail, artistic mastery, and quality of printing and coloration.' Good as they are in the standard edition, the printing of the colour plates in our limited edition is incomparably better.

The National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–1843). Organized on a large scale under a joint committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society, the new expedition carried out scientific research and geographical exploration in what was then largely an untouched continent.

Its scientific results covered extensive ground in biology, zoology, geology, meteorology and magnetism. The expedition discovered the existence of the only snow-free Antarctic valleys, which contains the longest river of Antarctica. Further achievements included the discoveries of the Cape Crozier emperor penguin colony, King Edward VII Land, and the Polar Plateau (via the western mountains route) on which the South Pole is located. The expedition tried to reach the South Pole travelling as far as the Farthest South mark at a reported 82°17′S.

As a trailblazer for later ventures, the Discovery expedition was a landmark in British Antarctic exploration.

First edition; 6 vols, 4to; all vols bound in original buckram-backed boards gilt, spines faded as usual, comprising: vol. I, 'Geology', 1907, 7 folding plates (plate 1 slightly frayed on fore-margin), 3 plates of rock specimen each with 1 page of descriptive letterpress, 2 folding maps in pocket at end, spine rather worn, rubbed and soiled, presented by the Trustees of the British Museum to the noted geologist G. V. Douglas who served on Shackleton's last expedition; vol. II, 'Zoology (Vertebrata, Mollusca, Crustacea)', 1907, number 24 of 25 special copies printed on special thick paper, 1 coloured lithograph after Wilson of whales showing 4 subjects, 4 lithographs of seals (2 coloured) after Wilson, 18 photographic plates of mammals (16 showing 2 or more subjects), 13 coloured lithographs of birds by Edward Wilson, 23 photographic plates of birds, (most showing 2 or more subjects), 1 plate after Gronvold showing penguin anatomy, 2 lithographs of fish, 7 cephalodiscus plates (1 photographic, 6 lithograph including 2 partly coloured), 4 shell plates (3 lithographed), 1 crustacea lithograph, illustrations in the text, folding chart in pocket at end, spine rubbed and worn; vol. III, 'Zoology and Botany', 1907, 48 plates (mostly lithographed), 1 chart, illustrations in the text, ex U.S. Public Health Service Library with perforated library stamp to title and other library markings to binding and edges of the book block, surplus stamp of the Library of Congress to British Museum presentation slip internally clean; vol. IV, Zoology (various invertebrata), 1908, 59 plates (some partly coloured), spine soiled; vol. V, 'Zoology and Botany',38 plates (most lithographed), spine rubbed, lightly soiled, signed by the editor, F. Jeffrey Bell on title page; vol. VI, 'Zoology and Botany', 1912, 3 lithographs, subject and author indexes for the set.

Anker 535 & Ayer/Zimmer 99 (vol. II); Nissen ZBI, 4700; Rosove 288-1.A1; cf. 288-2. A1 (the limited edition not mentioned); 288-3.A1; 288-4.A1; 288-5.A1; 288-6.A1; cf. Taurus 49 (all vols limited editions); Spence 837.