Signed limited edition, double folio, elephantine-sized copy of 1986 "Of Birds and Texas" by twins Scott & Stuart Gentling (1942-2011 and 1942-2006) and writer John Graves (Texas, 1920-2013), signed by all three authors in pen, no. 344/500; published by Gentling Editions (Fort Worth), containing 40 signed lithographs of Texas birds and 10 signed lithographs of Texas landscapes, plus narratives for each; loose museum quality pages, in a handmade linen-bound Buckram box

height 29.5 in. x width 23 in. x depth 3 in.

Provenance: From the collection of the Gentling brothers' publicist

Note from the present owner: "I represented the eccentric twin brothers when the book was published, getting worldwide attention (CNN, People Magazine, Associated Press) for the Sotheby's Auction to sell the only John James Audubon painting ever published in America, The Boat-tailed Grackle. The net from the sale, $231,000, permitted the twins to complete and distribute the 10-year, magnum opus art project and fulfill subscriptions. The Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth now owns about 43 of the original watercolors and about anything else the museum curators can acquire from the men's celebrated lives. They have in recent years had several major exhibits of the diverse paintings by the late Fort Worth artists. Additionally, this elephantine sized book is often confused with the U.T. Austin Press trade book, a quarto-size version."