VERY RARE c1731-43 First Edition Mark
Catesby Hand Colored Etching Alauda Gutture Flavo: The Lark; Gramen Myloicophoron Oxyphyllon
Carolinianum &c.
Mark Catesby (1682-1749), British,
from 'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands', plate
32, Volume 1 or 2. Very good condition.
Frame size: 20” x 23.5”; visible image size: 14.5” x 11”.
Originally purchased from Good &
Hutchinson Antiques in Granville, Massachusetts. Museum quality framing.
In 1712, Mark Catesby
came into a small inheritance which enabled him to fulfill a long-standing
dream and book passage to America. His sister was married to the Secretary to
the Governor of Virginia, and was able to provide him with introductions to the
leading men of the Colonies. During the next seven years, he travelled
extensively to collect and record the flora and fauna of the New World. Many of
the specimens were sent to England; soon they found their way into gardens in
Paris, Leyden, and Danzig.
Encouraged by his English friends, (including many members of the Royal
Society) Catesby returned in 1722 and walked over most of what is now Virginia,
Georgia, and the Carolinas. In 1725, he extended his research to the Bahamas.
The notebooks that he filled with drawings and the packing-cases of preserved
specimens were the raw material for an unprecedented project: a scientific
account of heretofore unknown wildlife, with illustrations taken from life. The
text recorded his personal observations, as well as theories, legends, and
folktales gathered over the course of a decade. Unable to interest sponsors for
his massive 'Natural History', Catesby learned to etch copperplates from Joseph
Goupy, a French artist then working in London. He produced all but two of the
plates for 'Natural History' and either painted the impressions himself or
closely supervised the work to insure its fidelity to his models.
'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands' became the
first book devoted to the natural history of North America. An illustrated
nature study of American plants and animals, it has lost none of its power to
delight in the 250 years since it was published. A monument to Catesby's
intelligence and love of nature and even his single-mindedness, it provided
ornithologists and scientists, including John James Audubon who followed in
Catesby's footsteps a century later, the model for their own achievements.
Check out my other
items! Be sure to add me to your
favorites
list!
Shopping Cart