ELEAZAR ALBIN (1680-1741) English
The Natural History of Birds 1731-38. Hand-colored copperplate etchings. (9"x11") Albin, a professional watercolor painter, published the first English colorplate bird book. Prices --$195-$600.

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON (1785-1851) American
Birds of America 1827-1838. Hand-colored copperplate etching with aquatint by Robert Havell, Jr. (25"x38") The Double Elephant Folio printed in London consisted of 435 lifesize plates of all the known American bird species. It is considered the pinnacle of all natural history art. Prices--$3800 - $29,500.





Birds of America 1840-44 . Hand-colored lithograph by J. T. Bowen. (7"x10") Audubon's "great national work" consisted of 500 plates printed in Philadephia. Prices -- $250-$3600.

Birds of America 1858-1860. Hand-finished chromolithographs by Julius Bien. (26"x39") The Bien Edition began in 1858, brought to a sudden halt by the outbreak of the Civil War, making it the most rare of all Audubon editions. It considered the most outstanding example of large-scale American chromolithography. Prices -- $3000-$20,000.

COMTE DE BUFFON (1707-1788) French
Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux 1770-86. Hand-colored copperplate etchings (9"x11") Francois Martinet was the artist for this work, published by the greatest of all naturalists of the 18th Century, George Louis Leclerc, Comte De Buffon. Prices -- $225-$575.

MARK CATESBY (1682-1749) English
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands 1731, 1754, 1771. Hand-colored copperplate etching. (14"x20") Mark Catesby was a pioneer in the field of scientific illustration and has been called the "founder of American ornithology" or the "Colonial Audubon." Prices -- $850 - $7,000.

GEORGE EDWARDS (1694-1773) English
Gleanings of Natural History 1758-64. Hand-colored copperplate etchings. (9"x11") Edwards abandoned his father's desire for him to pursue business in order to paint nature. Prices $250-$650.

JOHN GOULD (1804-1881) English
Monograph of the Trochilidae or Family of Hummingbirds 1849-1861. Hand-colored lithographic plate. (14 1/2" x 21") Gould's masterpiece remains a feast of beauty and a source of wonder. Each plate exquisitely portrays the delicately colored birds with flowers indigenous to their area. Prices -- $850 - $1600.

Birds of Great Britain 1862-1873. Hand-colored lithographic plate. (14"x21") Gould's work was the most comprehensive record of native birds at that time, many of which are also indigenous to North America. Prices -- $550 - $1500.

FRANCOISE LEVAILLANT (1753-1825) French
Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux 1801-1806. Copperplate engravings printed in color and finished by hand. (18"x23") Jacque Barraband, the principal artist of this work, decorated the diningroom in Napoleon's chateau, St. Cloud, and supplied drawings to the Sevre porcelain factory. Prices --$995-$2200.

SAVIERIO MANETTI (1723-1784)
Ornithologia Methodiea Digesta 1767-1776. Hand-colored etched plates. This was one of the finest bird books issued that date and one of the most sumptuous publications of 18th Century Italy. Prices -- $500-$1,200.

THOMAS PENNANT (1726-1798) English
The British Zoology 1761-1766. Hand-colored copperplate etchings (14 1/4" x 20 1/4") from drawings by Peter Paillou (1712-1784). The first colored illustrations of birds in a book which attempted to list and portray all of the British species, many of them life size. The plates cost Pennant so much that the publication was barely profitable. Prices -- $700-$2,500


PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY (1788-1867) English
Illustrations of British Ornithology 1818-33. Hand-colored copperplate etchings. (20"x25 1/2") The cool, classical quality of Selby's plates belongs to the Age of Elegance. His atlas, with its life size figures was a great achievement in the long history of bird illustration. Prices -- $575-$2300.

ALEXANDER WILSON (1766-1813) American
American Ornithology 1808-14. Hand-colored engraved copperplate.(11"x14") Wilson published the first book of native birds in America. He is considered the father of American ornithology. Prices -- $500-$2500.





BOTANICAL & INSECT PRINTS

ELEAZAR ALBIN (1680-1741) English
A Natural History of English Insects 1720, 1749. Copper plate etchings with original handcolor (9" x 11.5"). Eleazar Albin was a professional watercolor painter. This work was his first book and the hand-colored plates are considered his finest work. Albin's book on English birds is a result of his observations of the national enemies of insects. Prices -- $325-$450.



ABBE LAURENT BERLESE (1784-1863) French
Iconographic du Genre Camellia ou Description 1839-43. Hand-colored stipple engraving. (10"x14") Berlese was the world expert on Camellia propagation in the early 19th Century. Prices -- $450-$1200.






PANCRASE BESSA (1772-1835) French
Flore Des Jardiniers 1836. Hand-colored engraving. (9"x11") Bessa was Redoute's most prized pupil and they collaborated on many works. Herbier General de L’Amateur (1810-1827) Size 6 ½” x 9 7/8” Prices $150-$350.






ELIZABETH BLACKWELL (1700-1747) English - CURRENTLY SOLD OUT
Curious Herbal 1737. Hand-colored engraving. (10"x14") A knowledgable herbalist, she produced this work to free her husband from debtors prison. Prices --$150 & up.

JOSEPH P. BUC'HOZ (1731-1807) French
History of the Vegetable Kingdom 1774-1780. Copperplate engraving. An extremely prolific author of over 300 volumes on natural history. He was physician to the King of Poland at age 28, but left to pursue his passion for botany. Prices -- $150-$250

WILLIAM CURTIS (1746-1799) English
The Botanical Magazine 1787... Hand-colored copperplate etchings (7"x10") This publication depicted the most beautiful and interesting plants that were being discovered worldwide. Prices -- $49-$175.

Flora Londinensis 1777-1798. Hand-colored engravings. (12"x20") Depicted all the plants found within a radius of 10 miles of London. Prices -- $200-$600.

EDWARD DONOVAN (1768-1837) English
Insects of Britain 1796. Hand-colored etched plates. English author, naturalist, and fellow of the Linnean Society. The great expenditure on his many publications forced this once wealthy man into financial difficulties when he reached the age of retirement. Prices --$75-$200.





WILLIAM F. KIRBY (19th Century) English
A Handbook to the Order of Lepidoptera 1896-1897. Chromolithographs (6"x9"). Beautiful plates of butterflies and moths. Prices --$45-$95.





THOMAS MOORE (1821-1887) English
The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland 1857. Nature printed by Henry Bradbury. Octavo Edition (7"x10"). Folio Edition (15" x 22"). The finest example of nature printing where prints are made from a mold impression. All ferns are printed life-size. Henry Bradbury's accomplishment is considered a milestone in printed illustration. Prices -- $80 - $1200.




PIERRE JOSEPH REDOUTE (1759-1841) French
Les Roses (folio) 1817-1824. Stipple engraving with hand finishing. (10"x13 1/2") Acclaimed the greatest rose and flower painter of the 19th Century. Redoute, painting instructor to Marie Antionette, survived the French Revolution. Napoleon's wife, Josephine, became his patron and these prints recreated her rose garden. Prices avalible upon request

ROBERT JOHN THORNTON M.D. (1768 - 1837) English

The Temple of Flora (1798-1807) A variety of intaglio processes were used to create these impressive folio prints; mezzotint,aquatint,engraving,etching and stipple. They were color printed and finished by hand. These works are considered the most magnificient and famous of all flower prints. Prices $5,000-$18,000 The Temple of Flora (1812) Quarto sized copies of the great folio prints, using the same printing methods. Published by Thornton for the Great Botanical Lottery. Prices $850-$1500

ROBERT WARNER (19th Century) English
The Orchid Album 1882-1897. Hand-colored stone lithograph. (10"x14") John Nugent Fitch (1840-1927) was the acclaimed artist for this monumental work on Orchids. Prices --$195-$375.





Johann Weinmann (1683-1741) German
Phytanthoza Icongraphia 1737-1745. Original Color -printed Mezzotints, (11 1/2"x 17 1/4" )    with hand finishing. (Weinmann 's plates are among the earlist published colored botanicals.) Weinmann, a prominent apothecary, produced an important work describing his vast plant collection. Many of the illustrations are by Georg Dionysius Ehret- acclaimed the greatest flower painter of the 18th century. Prices  $450-$1,200

ANIMAL, NATURE & HISTORICAL PRINTS

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON (1785-1851) American
The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America 1845-1848. Hand-colored stone lithograph. (22"x28") His last major accomplishment was the first attempt ever to document and depict all of the mammals of North America. The folio is acclaimed as the definitive 19th century work in the field of American mammalogy. Prices -- $1200 - $18,000.

The Quadrupeds of North America 1849 (Octavo Edition) Hand-colored stone lithograph (7"x10") The octavo edition of Audubon's famous folio Viviparous Quadrupeds
Prices -- $100-$1600.


MARC ELEISER BLOCH M.D. (1723-1799) German
Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Fische 1782-1795 and Ichthyologie, ou Histoire Naturelle Generale et Particuliere des Poissons 1785-1797. Copper-plate engraving with original hand-coloring (10.25" x 7.5"). The work is often considered the most beautiful book on fishes ever published. Prices -- $675-$1300.

MARK CATESBY (1682-1749) English
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands 1731, 1754, 1771. Hand-colored copperplate etching. (14"x20") Mark Catesby was a pioneer in the field of scientific illustration, illustrating the flora and fauna of America. Prices -- $650 - $6000.



JAMES OTTO LEWIS (1799-1858)
The Aboriginal Portfolio 1835-36, 39, 41. Stone-lithograph with original hand coloring. The Aboriginal Portfolio represents the earliest attempt to publish a collection of portraits of North American Indians. Prices -- $825-$1200.