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Mark Catesby
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands
SOLD
Mark Catesby was born in Essex, England on April 3, 1683. He studied Natural History in London, but in 1712 he took up the opportunity to visit the American colonies after his sister married Dr. William Cocke of Williamsburg, Virginia. Catesby spent the next seven years in Virginia, observing and sketching the local flora and fauna. It took some 20 years for the artist and naturalist to put together the two-hundred and twenty images which would comprise the final version of The Natural History of Florida, Carolina and the Bahama Islands (1747) . All of the images in the book were both drawn and engraved by Catesby's own hand.
The "Cucumber Tree with Velvet Ant" (Magnolia) is from the rare 20 plate Supplement published 1746. It has a watermark of a Crown with the inititals J H & Z (J Honig & Zoonen). There are records of documents hand dated 1753 & 1764 on paper with this watermark. Full text of "Catalogue of Malay manuscripts and manuscripts
There is a fascinating history behind this particular image. The engraving was actually done by Georg Dionysis Ehret at Catesby's invitation. Unlike Catesby, Ehret never visted North America and relied on samples sent by John Clayton by ship to Mark Catesby. This watercolour actually depicts two different species of magnolia - the leaf of the cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminata) with the flower of the sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana) - suggesting that specimens had become separated en route from Virginia to England and were then incorrectly matched up. In the etched plate Catesby added a velvet ant to the image, borrowed from a page of his own insect studies.
18th Century Copperlate Engraving
Original Hand-coloring
This extraordinary image comes from the first published account of the wildlife of North America which was published in the middle of the 18th Century --before the American revolution --by the pioneering British natural historian Mark Catesby.
Footnotes:
The Royal Collection: London
More Works by Mark Catesby
The original has been sold.. Gifts and stationery based on the image are available on Zazzle.
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