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 lot includes:

A. Tab. III. Perca Marina, Pinna Dorsi Divisa / Perca Marina Rubra. This sheet depicts the Atlantic Croaker and the Squirrel Fish, and was published in the Nuremberg edition, which was translated into German by Georg Leonhard Huth with plates re-engraved by Johann Michael Seligmann. Sheet measures 19.7 x 13.6". Condition: Original color on hand-laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily over "H&Z" watermark. Binding holes along top edge of sheet.

B. Plate 19. [Vipera Marina: The Viper-Mouth]. This sheet depicts a Viper Mouth fish, and appeared in the 1754 Second Edition, published by George Edwards. Sheet measures 20.2 x 14.3". Condition: Original color on hand-laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily watermark. There are a few small chips and tears along the edges of the sheet, and a crease in the top right corner, all well away from image. Binding holes along right edge of sheet.

References: Sitwell, p. 86.

Condition: A

See description above for details.