Natural History

Audubon / Bowen

Quadrupeds

John James Audubon and John Bachman's The Quadrupeds of North America, published by J.T. Bowen in Philadelphia (1849 and 1854), is one of the great American natural history publications of the 19th century. The hand-colored lithographs depict the mammals of North America with the same vivid accuracy and artistry that made Audubon's bird plates famous. We carry a small selection of original plates from this celebrated work.

Henry Seebohm

Best Eggs

Henry Seebohm (1832-1895) was a British ornithologist and steel manufacturer whose monumental work Coloured Figures of the Eggs of British Birds (Sheffield, 1896) remains one of the finest oological publications of the Victorian era. The plates, issued posthumously, are exquisite cromolithographs depicting the eggs of British birds in their natural colours with exceptional accuracy and beauty.

John Wilkes

John Wilkes published the Encyclopaedia Londinensis between 1796 and 1829 -- one of the great British encyclopaedic works of the early 19th century. Its natural history plates, engraved after drawings by Albertus Seba and other leading naturalists, are among the finest scientific illustrations of the period.

Henry Seebohm

More Eggs

A second selection of cromolithograph egg plates from Coloured Figures of the Eggs of British Birds, Henry Seebohm, Sheffield, 1896. Lithographed by Pawson & Brailsford, Sheffield. Each plate depicts eggs of British birds in their natural colours with exceptional Victorian precision.

Reverend F.O. Morris

Eggs

Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810-1893) was a Church of England clergyman and prolific natural history writer. His celebrated work A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds (London, 1851-1857) was illustrated with hand-colored cromolithograph plates of exceptional quality, and remains one of the most important and beautiful Victorian oological publications.

Moses Harris

Butterflies & Moths

Moses Harris (1730-1788) was an English entomologist and engraver whose celebrated work The Aurelian: A Natural History of English Insects (London, 1766) remains one of the finest and most beautiful entomological publications of the 18th century. Harris both drew and engraved the plates himself, producing hand-colored illustrations of extraordinary delicacy and scientific precision. His work is highly sought after by collectors of natural history prints.

James Ellsworth De Kay

Zoology of New-York, 1842 — Shells and Sealife

James Ellsworth De Kay (1792–1851) was an American naturalist and physician who produced the monumental Zoology of New-York (1842–1844), a comprehensive survey of the fauna of New York State commissioned by the state legislature. The volumes on crustaceans, mollusks, and marine invertebrates are illustrated with finely detailed chromolithographs — printed by the celebrated New York firm of Endicott — depicting lobsters, horseshoe crabs, shells, and sealife with scientific precision and considerable artistic beauty. De Kay's plates are among the finest examples of American natural history illustration of the mid-19th century.

Eleazar Albin

Natural History of English Insects

Eleazar Albin (fl. 1713–1759) was an English naturalist, watercolorist, and drawing master whose Metamorphosis: A Natural History of English Insects (London, 1720–1724) was one of the earliest and most important illustrated works on British insects. Albin drew and colored the plates himself with exceptional delicacy, and his work is celebrated for its vivid hand-coloring and meticulous scientific observation. His plates are among the rarest and most sought-after natural history prints of the early 18th century.

Tobias Gottlieb Wilhem

Sea Creatures

Tobias Gottlieb Wilhem (1758–1811) was a German naturalist and clergyman whose encyclopaedic work Unterhaltungen Aus Der Naturgeschichte (Conversations from Natural History), published by Martin Engelbrecht in Augsburg beginning in 1801, brought the natural world to a broad popular audience. The hand-colored engravings in this ambitious multi-volume series depict sea creatures, insects, birds, and other natural subjects with remarkable color and detail, combining scientific observation with the decorative sensibility of the period.