Simia Erythraea
Drawn by De Serre, Engraved by Boch
In 1774 Johann Christian Dan Schreber
compiled a set of books entitled "Die Saugthiere
in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen,"
(Mammals in Pictures from Nature with Descriptions.)
The books were illustrated with over 700 hand-colored
plates. But in many cases the artists who drew
them had never actually seen the animals in
question and their imaginations were given more
or less free reign.
Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (1739
- 1810) studied botany in Uppsala with Linnaeus.
He later became the director of the botanical
gardens and of the museum of natural history
in Erlangen.
