John Selby Prideaux
Falco Candicans (Falcon)
1824-1834

Name: Falco Candicans (Falcon)
Brand: John Selby Prideaux
Price: 1340 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY (1788-1867). Illustrations of British Ornithology Engraved by Lizars. Edinburgh, 1824-1834. Hand-colored engravings. 20.25” x 25”. 218 plates. Born in Northumberland and educated at University College, Oxford, Prideaux John Selby was a landowner and squire with ample wildlife on his country estate Twizell House. As a boy, he had studied the habits of local birds, drew them, and learned how to preserve and set up specimens. Later, Selby became an active member of several British natural history societies and contributed many articles to their journals. Although Selby was interested in botany, and produced a History of British Trees in 1842, he is best known for his Illustrations of British Ornithology, " the first attempt to produce a set of life-sized illustrations of British birds...remarkable for the delicacy of their execution and their truthfulness to nature". (Nissen, Die Illustrierten Vogelbuch, 853) Issued in nineteen parts over thirteen years, the book consisted of 89 plates of land birds and 129 plates of water birds by William Lizars of Edinburgh. Lizars, in 1825, was the printer initially chosen to engrave the plates for Audubon's Birds of America, but lost the job after ten plates because his colorists went on strike. Selby is considered the British counterpart to Audubon. Jackson has this to say regarding Selby's masterpiece: "The copper plates were superbly executed and have an austere beauty unmatched in other bird books illustrated by line. Every feather is clearly visible. Tone, shade and texture were all exploited to the fullest extent and demonstrate the best of which copper etchings and engravings were capable.” (Jackson, Bird Etchings, p.33, 51) Reference: Die Illustrierten Vogelbucher. Nissen. Stuttgart, 1953. Bird Illustrators and Their Etchings. Jackson. New York, 1989. Aver Ornithological Library, Zimmer, p.571.

Creator:

John Selby Prideaux (1788 - 1867, English)

Creation Year:

1824-1834

Dimensions:

Height: 33 in (83.82 cm)Width: 27 in (68.58 cm)

Medium:

Engraving

Movement & Style:

Academic

Period:

Early 19th Century

Condition:

Clean, crisp image. Original hand-color. Framed to museum specifications using archival matting, backing, hinging. Glazed with ultra-violet filtering Plexiglas.

Gallery Location:

Florham Park, NJ

Reference Number:

Seller: 2015 04-29-151stDibs: LU652364082

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