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

The Book of Knighthood

Miniatures cropped from the ~1460 manuscript containing Christine Pizan's 'Épître d'Othéa' (Epistle to Hector; sometimes known as the Book of Knighthood) - Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 49, courtesy of the Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland [link].

































































Christine de Pizan (Pisan) (c.1363-1430) was raised among the nobility of Paris and pursued intensive studies in literature, history, languages and the sciences.

Towards the end of the 14th century, Pizan took up writing to support her three children, following the death of her husband. She is widely credited with being both the first professional female writer, and first feminist to advocate for her sex, in all of Europe.

Her writing career might be considered to have had two phases: poetry, then prose; and she achieved great renown during her lifetime. Between 1393 and 1412, Pizan composed more than three hundred ballads, and even more shorter poems. She was similarly prolific in longer form, having written some fifteen books and numerous essays by 1403.

"Her poetic work is notable both for its technical mastery of the accepted forms of her time, and for its innovativeness. Christine excelled in the complex metrical forms of courtly poetry: ballads, lays, and rondeaux. She also went well beyond the conventions of her time by integrating personal, political, moral, religious, and feminist themes within those structures. [..]

[Pizan] combined extensive historical knowledge with a deep concern for the political and social issues of her day [and she] expanded and developed many of the themes first introduced in her poetry. The importance of responsible government and political ethics; women's rights and accomplishments; and religious devotion, appear consistently as themes throughout Christine de Pizan's writing."

Othea's Epistle to Hector (the Book of Knighthood) is a work of moral instruction in both verse and prose. It describes the spiritual and moral education of a young knight, Hector, in the form of an allegorical story.

"'Épître d'Othéa' takes the form of a letter written by Othea (a goddess who symbolizes wisdom and prudence) to the Trojan hero Hector. The letter is divided up into 100 chapters, each consisting of a miniature illustration and a verse text recounting a story from classical mythology, a prose explanation designed to expound the moral significance of the story, and finally a prose allegory expounding its underlying spiritual/Christian interpretation." [source]

The present parchment manuscript of 'Épître d'Othéa' was commissioned by the bibliophile Antoine de Bourgogne in 1460 and was written in Middle French, with the full complement of exquisite miniatures. Gold highlights can be seen in (at least) the opening full page decorations: the first image up above.

Incidentally, Pizan retired to a convent for the last twelve or so years of her life emerging only once - in the writing sense - when she circulated a poem in 1429 in support of Joan of Arc (d. 1431).

• 'Épître d'Othéa' [Cod. Bodmer 49 Pizan] {Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer} is available online through e-codices, the Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland. [http://www.fondationbodmer.org/]
  
• An alternative contemporary set of Othea Epistle miniatures is available from Meermanno Museum in The Hague : these include descriptions of each in English (that I was too lazy to marry up with the example miniatures seen above).
• Christine de Pisan at The Middle Ages.
• Christine de Pizan: Wikipedia, New Advent, CSU Pomona, UPenn.
• Tangential: Christine de Pizan The Making of the Queen's Manuscript at Edinburgh University Library.
• 'The Epistle Of Othea To Hector: Or The Book Of Knighthood' (1904).

General Herpetology

Illustrations from 'Erpétologie Générale, ou,
Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles'
by AMC Duméril & G Bibron, 1854.

The multi-volume series, 'Erpétologie Générale, ou, Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles', was released over a twenty year period beginning in 1834. The final volume is an atlas with more than one hundred steel engravings that were (I presume) hand-coloured.

'Erpétologie Générale' is owned by the Smithsonian Institution and is made available online through the Biodiversity Heritage Library and the Internet Archive (the plates featured above were downloaded from the latter source).

[via the Biodiversity Heritage Library blog Book of the Week from earlier this year]