CATESBY, Mark (?1679-1749). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands; containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants... Together with their Descriptions in English and French . London: Printed for C[harles] Marsh and T[homas] Wilcox, 1754.
CATESBY, Mark (?1679-1749). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands; containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants... Together with their Descriptions in English and French . London: Printed for C[harles] Marsh and T[homas] Wilcox, 1754. Second Edition, the first edition of Edwards's revision of the text. Hunt describes the work as "The most famous colour-plate book of American plant and animal life... A fundamental and original work for the study of American species." 2 volumes, large folio (523 x 357 mm). Title-pages and text in English and French, text double-column. Hand-colored engraved folding map in volume one and 220 hand-colored etched plates, by and after Catesby and most signed with his monogram, except for plates 61 and 96 in vol. II by Georg Dionysius Ehret; etched head-pieces. Plates numbered in three series: 1-100; 1-100; and 1-20. Plates are watermarked with crowned shield and fleur de lys L.V.G. [Lubertus van Gerrevink] or I H S, Villedary, all undated. Vol. I with "An Account of Carolina," 1 leaf catalogue of Linnaean names bound in at end; vol. II with 3 leaf index for both volumes at end, 1 leaf catalogue of Linnaean names laid in. Accompanying text numbered in two series: 1-100; 1-120. (Some minor mostly marginal staining, short repaired tear to map.) Contemporary calf (rebacked, some wear to edges). Provenance : Chester Library (armorial bookplate). Anker 95. Catesby as a young man studied the natural sciences in London and in 1712 travelled to Virginia, returning in 1719 with an extensive collection of plants. This collection attracted the attention of Sir Hans Sloane, who helped fund Catesby's second trip to Carolina, Georgia, Florida and the Bahamas from 1722 to 1729. Back in London, he prepared his natural history of the region, drawing a map from his own knowledge and Henry Popple’s map of 1733, and engraving the majority of the plates to reduce the costs of his venture. The first edition was issued by Catesby in parts, completed in 1747, and was the earliest colored book on American birds. Its popularity was such that a second edition was required within five years of his death, undertaken by George Edwards and in 1754. Anker 95; Ellis/Mengel 478; Fine Bird Books , p.65; McGill/Wood, p.282; Nissen IVB 177; Edwin Wolf 2nd, A Flock of Beautiful Birds (Philadelphia, 1977), pp.5-7 ("He was the first to observe and depict North American birds in their natural settings, combining ornithological details with botanical ones.;") Cumming 210; Schwartz & Ehrenberg pp. 151-52.
CATESBY, Mark (?1679-1749). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands; containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants... Together with their Descriptions in English and French . London: Printed for C[harles] Marsh and T[homas] Wilcox, 1754.
CATESBY, Mark (?1679-1749). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands; containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants... Together with their Descriptions in English and French . London: Printed for C[harles] Marsh and T[homas] Wilcox, 1754. Second Edition, the first edition of Edwards's revision of the text. Hunt describes the work as "The most famous colour-plate book of American plant and animal life... A fundamental and original work for the study of American species." 2 volumes, large folio (523 x 357 mm). Title-pages and text in English and French, text double-column. Hand-colored engraved folding map in volume one and 220 hand-colored etched plates, by and after Catesby and most signed with his monogram, except for plates 61 and 96 in vol. II by Georg Dionysius Ehret; etched head-pieces. Plates numbered in three series: 1-100; 1-100; and 1-20. Plates are watermarked with crowned shield and fleur de lys L.V.G. [Lubertus van Gerrevink] or I H S, Villedary, all undated. Vol. I with "An Account of Carolina," 1 leaf catalogue of Linnaean names bound in at end; vol. II with 3 leaf index for both volumes at end, 1 leaf catalogue of Linnaean names laid in. Accompanying text numbered in two series: 1-100; 1-120. (Some minor mostly marginal staining, short repaired tear to map.) Contemporary calf (rebacked, some wear to edges). Provenance : Chester Library (armorial bookplate). Anker 95. Catesby as a young man studied the natural sciences in London and in 1712 travelled to Virginia, returning in 1719 with an extensive collection of plants. This collection attracted the attention of Sir Hans Sloane, who helped fund Catesby's second trip to Carolina, Georgia, Florida and the Bahamas from 1722 to 1729. Back in London, he prepared his natural history of the region, drawing a map from his own knowledge and Henry Popple’s map of 1733, and engraving the majority of the plates to reduce the costs of his venture. The first edition was issued by Catesby in parts, completed in 1747, and was the earliest colored book on American birds. Its popularity was such that a second edition was required within five years of his death, undertaken by George Edwards and in 1754. Anker 95; Ellis/Mengel 478; Fine Bird Books , p.65; McGill/Wood, p.282; Nissen IVB 177; Edwin Wolf 2nd, A Flock of Beautiful Birds (Philadelphia, 1977), pp.5-7 ("He was the first to observe and depict North American birds in their natural settings, combining ornithological details with botanical ones.;") Cumming 210; Schwartz & Ehrenberg pp. 151-52.
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