“A Singular Relic of Birding History — A Signed Roger Tory Peterson 1934 First Edition + Rare 1938 Audubon Letter + Original Photos”
 
For the discerning collector of natural history and rare books: a breathtaking offering steeped in legacy, lore, and the golden age of American ornithology.
This is a Third State of the 1934 First Edition of "A Field Guide to the Birds" — the book that launched a revolution in birdwatching—signed by Roger Tory Peterson himself on the title page. But its provenance is what sets it soaring.
Accompanying the book is a beautifully preserved typed letter, signed by Peterson in 1938, penned during his tenure as Educational Director at the National Audubon Society. Addressed to the original owner, Amelia E. Arny, the letter links directly to her 1936 visit to the renowned Hog Island Audubon Camp on Muscongus Bay, Maine, where she met Peterson along with renowned writer/photographer Allen D. Cruickshank, and Audubon's Director of Southern Sanctuaries, Alexander Sprunt Jr.—all of whom feature in three stunning 4.75" x 2.75" black-and-white photographs from that trip, mounted neatly inside the volume.
As if that weren’t enough, Cruickshank also signed the book, adding a small drawing and his personal motto: Dum Vivimus Vivimus (“While we live, let us live”).
Includes:
8vo. 167 pp., with 4 color plates and original descriptive tissue guards
Publisher's green pebbled cloth, very good+ condition with silver stamping
Dust jacket in poor condition, with original $2.75 price present but shows significant wear, detached along the spine, with archival restoration  
Foxing to endpapers; upper flyleaf bears original owner’s notations, slight spine lean
8.5" x 11" Audubon Society letter in near fine condition, neatly creased
An awe-inspiring survival of a beloved classic—this is not just a collectible, it is a living artifact of American ornithology. Museum-worthy, deeply personal, and utterly irreplaceable.