Lot 153: Jonathan Couch (British 1789-1870), Fifty Eight Hand Colored Plates from "A History of the Fishes of the British Islands" ca. 1878

London, hand colored wood block lithography, each plate numbered in Roman numerals and with titles of fish in English text. Fishes of the British Islands was first published in 1862. It still ranks today as one of the seminal works on British fish and contains over 250 coloured plates from original drawings by the author. Many of the specimens illustrated were brought to Jonathan Couch by the fishermen of Polperro. Couch would keep them immersed in water in order to presderve their color while he drew them. Copies of some of his original drawings of fish landed at Polperro, used to illustrate his Fishes of the British Islands, are on display at the Polperro Heritage Museum. "