Mark Catesby
Sciurus (Bushy-tailed Squirrel)
1731-43

Name: Sciurus (Bushy-tailed Squirrel)
Brand: Mark Catesby
Price: 2150 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

MARK CATESBY. (1682(83)-1749). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Drawn by Mark Catesby and G.D. Ehret. Etched by MarkCatesby. London, 1731-43. 160 copies to subscribers. II. London, 1754. Reissued by George Edwards. III. London, 1771. Reissued by Benjamin White with Linnaean nomenclature. Hand-colored copperplate etchings. 13.5” x 19 7/8”. 220 plates numbered in Arabic numerals, most proceeded by a T. Nuremberg, ca1750. Hand-colored engravings. 220 plates numbered in Roman numerals proceeded by a T. London, 1815. Hand-colored engravings. 220 plates numbered in Arabic numerals proceeded by a T. In 1712, Mark Catesby came into a small inheritance, which enabled him to fulfill a long-standing dream and book passage to America. His sister was married to the Secretary to the Governor of Virginia, and was able to provide him with introductions to the leading men of the Colonies. During the next seven years, he traveled extensively to collect and record the flora and fauna of the New World. Many of the specimens were sent to England; soon they found their way into gardens in Paris, Leyden and Danzig. Encouraged by his English friends (including many members of the Royal Society), Catesby returned in 1722 and walked over most of what are now Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas. In 1725, he extended his research to the Bahamas. The notebooks that he filled with drawings and the packing cases of preserved specimens were the raw material for an unprecedented project: a scientific account of heretofore-unknown wildlife, with illustrations taken from life. The text recorded his personal observations, as well as theories, legends, and folktales gathered over the course of a decade. Unable to interest sponsors for his massive Natural History, Catesby learned to etch copperplates from Joseph Goupy, a French artist then working in London. Thus, he secured both accuracy and economy. He produced all but two of the plates for his Natural History and either painted the impressions himself or closely supervised the work to insure its fidelity to his models. Catesby’s Natural History is considered to be one of the great achievements of natural science in the 18th century. “In designing the plants,” he said, “I always did them while fresh and just gathered; and the animals, particularly the birds, I painted while alive (except a very few), and gave them their gestures…I have adapted the birds to those plants on which they fed, or have relation to. Fish, which do not retain their colours when out of their element, I painted at different times, having a succession of them procured while the former lost their colors….” The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands became the first book devoted to the natural history of North America. An illustrated nature study of American plants and animals, it has lost none of its power to delight in the 250 years since it was first published. A monument to Catesby’s intelligence and love of nature and even his single-mindedness, it provided ornithologists and scientists, including John James Audubon who followed in Catesby’s footsteps a century later, the model for their own achievements. Reference: Flower & Fruit Prints. Dunthorne. Da Capo Press. Washington, D.C., 1938. Mark Catesby’s Natural History of America. McBurney. Houston, 1977.

Creator:

Mark Catesby (1682 - 1749, English)

Creation Year:

1731-43

Dimensions:

Height: 23.75 in (60.33 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)

Medium:

Etching

Movement & Style:

Academic

Period:

18th Century and Earlier

Condition:

Clean, crisp image. Beautiful original hand-coloring. Framed to museum specifications using archival matting, backing, hinging. Linen mat. Glazed with ultra-violet filtering Plexiglas.

Gallery Location:

Florham Park, NJ

Reference Number:

Seller: 2015 05-06-151stDibs: LU652376002

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Shop All Mark Catesby

Mark Catesby

Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America. It included 220 plates of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants. Mark Catesby's The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands is generally credited as the first published work to provide illustrations and descriptions of North American flora and fauna. From 1722-1726 Catesby, an English naturalist, ranged over South Carolina, Georgia and the Bahamas sketching and collecting specimens of native plants and animals. Little is known of Catesby's early life. He was born in eastern England in 1683. Although Catesby does not appear to have attended university or studied for the Bar, he was sufficiently educated to write clear English and Latin. His interest in and knowledge of plants may have derived from his uncle, who maintained a botanical garden. Catesby also appears to have benefited from an acquaintance with John Ray, a leading English naturalist of the 17th century and the co-author of an early classic study of birds. It is unclear when or how Catesby developed his skills as an artist. Catesby's first visit to North America occurred in 1712 when he traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia, to live with his sister and her husband, who had settled there. During his seven-year stay, he explored the length of the James River sketching plants and collecting botanical samples. Upon Catesby's return to England in 1719, his work in Virginia drew the attention of several influential members of the Royal Society. And with their financial backing, Catesby returned to North America three years later, arriving in Charleston in May 1722. During his four-year stay, he traveled throughout South Carolina, coastal Georgia and to the Bahamas. The sketches and specimens Catesby gathered during his second North American trip formed the basis for The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Although most often found as a two-volume set, Catesby's Natural History was published in 11 discrete sections from 1734-1747 and sold by subscription. Although Catesby died in 1749, his work was republished in 1754 and again in 1771. Catesby's work predated the classification system developed by Swedish botanist Carl Linneaus. However, the 1771 edition, featured here, includes a catalog of the Linnean names for the plants and animals Catesby featured in Natural History.