Natural History

Scarlet Mite (Autumnal Acarus) by Shaw & Nodder – 1790

Original copper engraved and hand coloured this engraving of the Scarlet Mite (Autumnal Acarus) was published on 1st September 1790 by Shaw & Nodder. The rather scary little guy likes apples and pears and in real life is rather tiny.

George Shaw was in charge of the Natural History Department at the British Museum. Nodder was a natural history artist and worked for Banks on his Florilegium.

Very good condition with a great plate impression …23cm by 14cm … framed nicely with external frame dimensions 29cm by c6cm …. a good one for the eclectic study.

Price $90.00 unframed or $220.00 framed in Voyager Natural History style ..

Unusual engraving from 1790 of the aptly named Scarlet Mite

$90.00

Updating cart…

Slow-paced Dwarf Lemur – by Shaw & Nodder -1790

An original copper engraved hand coloured engraving of the Slow-paced Lemur from Madagascar published in London in 1790 by Shaw & Nodder.

The Madagascan dwarf lemur …. bigger than the mouse lemur but still only 20cm long … and rather skinny when at full stretch … Surely one of the cutest of all mammals.

George Shaw was in charge of the Natural History Department at the British Museum. Nodder was a natural history artist and worked for Banks on his Florilegium.

Price $220.00 farmed in Voyager Natural History style. Enquire if you wish.

Slow – paced Lemur – we love him!

$190.00

Updating cart…

South American Aguti and Paca – 1820

An original hand coloured engraving using the stipple technique published as part of the “Dictionniare des Sciences Naturelles” by Dumont de Saint-Croix published in Paris c1820’s. Engraved by Stranhi after an image by Pretre.

At the time the Aguti (Agouti) and Paca were thought to be of the same family group … not so now .. they have different toe arrangements etc.

They are however, both herbivorous rodents and among the largest in the world.

The Paca can achieve a weight of 14kg on a good diet and is the more attractive with its sides patterned with spots and stripes. There are two distinct types … the lowland variety cab be found all the way from Northern Argentina to Mexico. A smaller Paca lives in the northern Andes and the Paramo grasslands.

The Agouti is generally a smaller animal weighing in around 4 kgs. They are pretty shy compared with the Paca and pretty scared of humanoids. They prevail over much of the middle and north of South America and in the West Indies.

Price $160.00 framed in Voyager Natural History style ….

South American Rodents – rather cute – and large

$160.00

Updating cart…

Australian Natural History Trade Cards

A group of five natural history trade cards all from different sources two of which are circa 100 year old (Wills and Liebig).

Bright and clean the largest being Liebig’s Black Cockatoo which is 116mm by 70mm.

Two cards represents the Tasmanian Devil and the narrative on both sadly reflects an earlier period when their numbers were reduced as a result on attacks on poultry and sheep. The Platypus looks like the larger Tasmanian type and is curiously described as a Duckbill or Platypus. The Bennett’s Wallaby is shown feeding and carrying a joey.

Nice mixed group – Australian wildlife theme

$50.00

Updating cart…

Wildlife and Wilderness – An Artist’s World – Keith Shackleton

A really super book of Keith Shackleton’s Polar art. Much of the work completed on the Ms Lindblad Explorer (see our copy of Keith Shackleton’s Antarctic Pilot). In his well written introduction he expresses his gratitude to Lars-Eric Lindblad for putting his vessel on the high seas with him aboard.

First US edition published by Salem House 1986. Small quarto, landscape 120 pages with 8 full page colour images of selected cold weather painting with a nice page of attendant narrative. Very good if not fine condition.

A nice forward by HRH Prince Charles. But to the art … something special … the subjects naturally well chosen and the style clean bright and dramatic

Keith Shackleton’s beautiful paintings – where can we get one?

$50.00

Updating cart…

Hooded Racket-Tailed Magpie (Crypsirhina Cucullata) From Burma – John Gould – The Birds of Asia – 1860′s

Original hand-coloured lithograph produced on limestone from John Gould’s most impressive series “Birds of Asia” completed and published in London in the1860’s.

A striking bird found the in the lower jungles of Northern Burma. Threatened by clearing but currently still strong in numbers. Also known as the Hooded Crypsirhina and Hooded Treepie

First formally described by Thomas Jerden a British ornithologist in 1862. You can see form John Gould’s narrative that he was working from sketches provided by Jerden and unlikely to have an example of the bird.

The birds appear to be figured in natural size being roughly 30 cm long and two thirds of that being the remarkable tail… the accompanying narrative describes their colouring is some detail. The execution of the lithograph is excellent, it is very clean and the colouring still very bright and full and enhanced by the use of gum arabic which creates a sense of richness and depth

We all know about John Gould but maybe not so much about Jensen.

Thomas Caverhill Jenson (1811-1872) was a Scottish born surgeon in the East India Company and then the Military and spent most of his working life in India. He was a keen naturalist in a number of fields. Early on he sent birds back to Sir William Jardine in Scotland to be classified. They arrived moth eaten so from then on Jerden decided to complete that work himself. He became the leading authority in the broader region and sponsored by Lords Canning and Elgin produced The Birds of India in three volumes in the 1860’s. He was also an instigator of the broader work The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma.

Price $590.00 unframed … enquire if you wish

Unusual well executed Magpie from Burma

$390.00

Updating cart…

Scarlet Mite (Autumnal Acarus) by Shaw & Nodder – 1790

Slow-paced Dwarf Lemur – by Shaw & Nodder -1790

South American Aguti and Paca – 1820

Australian Natural History Trade Cards

Wildlife and Wilderness – An Artist’s World – Keith Shackleton

Hooded Racket-Tailed Magpie (Crypsirhina Cucullata) From Burma – John Gould – The Birds of Asia – 1860′s

Product Categories