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 is Plate 68, depicting a Little Black Bulfinch sitting on the branch of a Fringe Tree. Sheet measures 14.3 x 20.6".

References: Sitwell, p. 86.

Condition: A

Original color on hand-laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily over "G P" watermark. There are a few minor creases along the edges of the sheet, a small chip at top left, and binding holes along the left edge. All edges gilt.