A Book For The Birds

Here's a new book, recommended by Dug North at the Automata Blog:

This unique book traces the evolution of singing birds from antiquity to modern times, with particular attention to the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the "Golden Age" of mechanical singing birds - Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Rochat were the most famous artists of this period - the first part of the book deals with the transformation of singing birds during the Renaissance period into an instrument of bird imitation during the 17th and 18th centuries - rich color iconography of subjects selected from museums and private collections all over the world, with several yet unpublished pieces (over 500) - an indispensable reference for collectors, specialists and for those as yet unacquainted.