Iconographia Zoologica

"Iconographia Zoologica is a 19th century collection of zoological prints that was created by bringing together various collections in the library of the Dutch Royal Zoological Society Natura Artis Magistra between 1881 and 1883. [..]

In addition to drawings, Iconographia Zoologica has a particularly large number of prints made using a variety of printing techniques and often hand-coloured. They originate from zoological publications dating back to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. [..]

Together these prints and drawings constitute a unique paper databank of more than 80,000 illustrations. A selection of approximately 20,000 illustrations of mammals, birds and fish have been included in Memory of the Netherlands."

Golden Eagle

Aquila fulva, now known as the Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos

"This Golden Eagle was drawn and etched from living nature by the Susemihl family. For a long time, stuffed animals served as model for many richly illustrated books on animals. At the time, this was called drawing from living nature. The establishment of zoos in Europe, later in the 19th century, enabled illustrators to also paint livestock. This resulted in illustrations becoming less stiff."

IN: 'Teutsche Ornithologie' 1811, Ed. by M Borckhausen

Portrait of a Pout-er

Is humbly dedicated to the Gentlemen of the Feather Club
by their Obedient Humble servant, M Eaton.
Painted & Engraved by D Wolstoneholme, 1852

Le Grand Duc
(Bubo capensis)

Le Pigeon Carrier Noir

IN: 'L'Acclimatation Illustrée' (breeder's journal, ~1900)

Le zopilote dit roi des vautours

(King-vulture or Sarcoramphus papa)

Gros-bec espagnol

(Spanish sparrow or Fringilla hispaniolensis)

Antillean Crested Hummingbird

(aka: Colibri Hupé or Trochilus cristatus)

Greater or American Rhea
(Rhea americana)

IN: 'Illustrierte Zeitung', 1890s
(a German or Swiss illustrated periodical - full title not given)

Hippopotamus amphibius
(Nijlpaard - Dutch for hippo)

Hippopotamus amphibius

(probably 18th century)

"The Quagga was a plains zebra living in South Africa. The last Quagga was killed by hunters in 1878. This species was then added to the long list of extinct animal species. Fortunately, there was one specimen still alive at Artis zoo [Amsterdam]. After its passing away on 12 August 1883, the Quagga disappeared forever from the Earth’s surface. The above print is now preserved in the zebra enclosure of that time."

Jungle cat* or Felis chaus (1835)

Le Petit Maki Gris

Eastern lesser bamboo or gentle grey lemur
or Hapalemur griseus (Madagascar)

Gibbon - genus Hylobates

Head of a young Indian elephant, Elephas maximus.

"This pen drawing of a young elephant from William V’s menagerie was done [in ink over pencil in 1774] by J. Camper, son of Petrus Camper (1722-1789). The Artis Library has three drawings by Petrus Camper of the elephants Hans and Parkie. During the French occupation these two elephants were transported to Paris in specially made vehicles as war loot and were exhibited in the Jardin des Plantes. Little is known about the elephant depicted here; but the drawing was certainly done before Hans and Parkie arrived in the Netherlands."

Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine*
(Atherura macroura)

Le Bardeau

Regal or Royal Angelfish*
(now classified as: Pygoplites diacanthus)

Koran or Semicircle Angelfish

(Pomacanthus semicirculatus)

Sole*

(now classified as: Synaptura orientalis)

Cicada from the genus Ficicina (just one of 100+ cicada genera)

Goliath bird-eating tarantula*

(now classified as: Theraphosa blondi*)

The dog-toothed cat snake* (Boiga cynodon)

Black snake (Anguis niger)

(alternative - original - version by Catesby)

Bosk's Fringe-toed Lizard (Acanthodactylus boskianus)
(Egypt and Saudi Arabia)

{All images have been variously spot-cleaned in the background; click through on any for an enlarged version. Many of the species names and notes above were deduced from the original - outdated - classifications}


Iconographia Zoologica: A Paper Animal Kingdom is available through the Memory of the Netherlands.

As with all their wonderful sprawling collections sites, there are a number of ways to sample and browse through the material. This is one of those sites fit to while away a rainy afternoon. It is worth taking the time and clicking around.

via / twitter / delicious

Natural South Carolina

Original title: Live Oak; Ivory Billed Wood-pecker
Common name: Laurel oak; Ivory-billed woodpecker
Scientific name: Quercus laurifolia | Campephilus principalis




Original title: Magnolia or Laurel-Flower
Common name: Southern magnolia
Scientific name: Magnolia grandiflora*




Original title: Flying-Fish as large as life; Dolphin
Common name: Sailfin flyingfish
Scientific name: Parexocoetus brachypterus





Original title: Helisa; [Queen butterfly]
Common name: Milkweed; Queen butterfly
Scientific name: Asclepias [variegata?] | Danaus gillipus





Original title: Blue Jay; Crab Tree
Common name: Blue jay; Flowering crabapple
Scientific name: Cyanocitta cristata | Malus augustifolia




Original title + common name: Balsam Apple
Scientific name: Momordica balsamina or Momordica charantia




Original title: Locust; Red Bird
Common name: Black locust; Cardinal
Scientific name: Robinia pseudoacacia | Cardinalis cardinalis




Original title: Summer Drake
Common name: Wood duck
Scientific name: Aix sponsa




Original title: Sweet Scented Small Melon
Common name: Watermelon [?] {Or not}*
Scientific name: Citrullis vulgaris [?]




Original title: Trumpet Tree
Common name: Cow itch vine
Scientific name: Campsis radicans




Original title: Punchapau of East Florida or Oleander
Common name: Oleander
Scientific name: Nerium oleander

[click on any image for an enlarged version]

The Ethelind Pope Brown Collection of South Carolina Natural History at the University of South Carolina consists of thirty two watercolour sketches of flora and fauna from the South East United States, produced between about 1765 and 1775.

The series has been attributed at one time or another to such luminary natural history artists as John Abbott^[previously] and Mark Catesby^[previously], and although the true painter remains officially unknown, expert opinion now favours the sketches having been produced by a local amateur artist called John Laurens. [info]

Piscium

These striking and sometimes fanciful hand-coloured 18th century engravings were published in Germany in 1777 in a book called 'Piscium, Serpentum, Insectorum, Aliorumque Nonnullorum Animalum'.

The illustrations were produced by Nicholaus Eisenberger and Georg Lichtensteiger. As I was to discover, they had re-engraved in folio format images that originally appeared in Volume II of Mark Catesby's seminal work, 'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'.

Catesby's magnum opus was published in London in instalments between 1729 and 1743 and stands as the first comprehensive illustrated natural history work detailing the flora and fauna of America.

[click on any image for an enlarged view; very large versions are also available]

• The plates above were obtained from 'Piscium, Serpentum, Insectorum, Aliorumque Nonnullorum Animalum', online at the Botanicus website. (100 plates of fish, turtles, crustaceans, snakes and insects) [there's a few crustaceans and a couple more fish saved in this set at flickr]
• Better: Volume I and II of 'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands' at the University of Wisconsin. (equally high resolution plates available : about 240 illustrations in total; it's a matter of taste as to any difference in illustration quality between the illustrations above and in this earlier work, and I'm not certain that every plate is identical to the later German edition {click 'Display gallery view' in the sidebar})
• Easier: 'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands' [2nd Ed.] at NYPL -- smaller images but you can quickly scan through all of them.
• The Life & Works of Mark Catesby, America’s First Naturalist/Illustrator by Terrance M. Wright.
• Previously.