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. Catesby's work was translated into German, French and Dutch and republished between 1749-81 with the plates re-engraved (and some new plates added) by Johann Michael Seligmann.

This is Plate 18, depicting an Yellow-Billed Cuckoo sitting on the branch of a Chinkapin tree from a French edition of Catesby's work. Sheet measures 9.5 x 15.2". This plate is accompanied by a sheet of French text describing the bird and tree, based on Catesby's original text.

References: Sitwell, p. 93.

Condition: A

Full contemporary color on a bright sheet with minor soiling. Accompanying text sheet is bright with light dampstains along the edges of the sheet.