(Sora Rail or Moorhen) A Natural History... Nuremberg, 1749-76. $295.00

"Tab XXXIX Gallinula minor Canadensis. La petite Foulque d'eau de L'Amerique"

George Edwards was an ornithologist and bird artist whose most famous work,  A Natural History…,was published between 1743 and 1764. It was a beautifully illustrated book in which Edwards presented his subjects in landscape backgrounds, an innovation at the time. The work was highly valued for its decorative plates and for the ornithological information it contained. In fact, demand was so strong that Johann Michael Seligmann (1720-1762) re-engraved the plates in Nuremberg and reissued A Natural History between 1749 and 1776. This engraving was included in that edition of the famous work. Seligmann added German and French titles and references to Linnean forms of classification. Seligmann also re-engraved plates from Catesby’s Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands and bound them together with his re-engravings of Edwards’ work. The resulting natural history was so popular that it appeared in several editions and three languages during the 18th century. 

A beautiful engraving depicting a secretive bird frequently heard but seldom seen on ponds in the Eastern United States.

15 ½ x 9 ½ inches, sheet.
Engraving with original color.