Mark Catesby was an Englishman who spent a number of years in America studying botany, wildlife, and other aspects of nature, and is credited with being the first American naturalist. His famous work The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands was first published in 1731, and contained 220 hand-colored engravings, 109 of which were birds. Catesby's work was the first colored book on American birds. This Purple Jackdaw was Plate 12 in Volume I of The Natural History.... Sheet measures 20.6 x 14.2". This is a 19th century reprint with a "J. Whatman 1815" watermark.

References: Sitwell, p. 86.

Condition: A

Original color on woven paper with a "J. Whatman 1815" watermark and one small spot in image. There are minor damp stains along sheet edges at top and left, far from image, and a few tiny tears at right and left have been professionally repaired.