Lot 17640: Lot of 10 Sea Life Engraving & Lithographs

This original hand-colored engraving is from Edward Donovan’s work The Naturalist’s Repository of Exotic Natural History… Of Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Insects, Shells, Marine Productions… . The work was published in London between 1822 and 1827.

Edward Donovan was involved in all the steps of creating the illustrations in his works from the drawing, etching, engraving, and hand-coloring. His artistic hand created some of the finest engravings that often have the appearance of watercolors. Donovan was an avid natural history collector, fellow of the Linnean Society and the Wernerian Natural History Society. He also opened his own private museum in 1807, the London Museum and Institute of Natural History.

Donovan’s engravings are noted for their exceptionally hand-colored images. He drew the images himself from his own museum as well as the collections of Sir Joseph Banks & Dru Drury.



This first edition, folio shell engraving is from Niccolo Gualtieri's Index testarum conchyliorum quae adservantur in museo Nicolai Gualtieri. The work was published in Florence by C. Albizzini in 1742. The plates were engraved by Antonio Pazzi & Giuseppe Menabuoni.

Gualtieri was an Italian physician and naturalist. Many of the images in the work were from his personal and renowned collection of shells. Linnaeus used many of Gualtieri's speciments for his Systema Naturae..



This striking, originally hand-colored folio engraving is from Marcus Elieser Bloch’s Ichthyologie, ou Histoire Naturelle Generale et Particuliere des Poissons. The work was published in Berlin between 1785 and 1797.

Ichthyologie is noted as "... the finest illustrated work on fishes ever produced. The plates, by a variety of artists and engravers, are outstandingly coloured, and are heightened with gold, silver, and bronze to produced the metallic sheen of fish scales." (Nissen)

Bloch was a medical doctor before he became fascinated with fish later in his life. He collected several of his own specimens to produce this famous work which described over 200 species of fish.



This exceedingly scarce lithograph is from Anatole Nikolaevich de Demmidoff (Demidov)'s work Voyage Dans La Russie Meridionale & La Crimee par la Hongrie, la Valachie & la Moldavie. It was published in Paris by Gihaut Freres between 1842 and 1848 on India paper. The artist was Denis Auguste Raffet. The work focused on the natural history of Russia and featured images of fish, mammals, birds, snakes, mushrooms, and shells.

.Demidov's father sponsored Anatole's scientific expedition through Russia and Crimea for half a million francs. Frederic Le Play led the expedition, and Jean Janin was brought for an official account to help Anatole regain favor with the Tsar who was upset with his settlement in France. While the work was dedicated to the Tsar, the team being primarily French did not help Demidov gain favor.



This superb, originally hand-colored folio engraving is from Georg Wolfgang Knorr’s rare, monumental work, Delices Physiques Choisies, ou choix de tout ce que les trois regnes de la nature renferment de plus digne des recherches d'un amateur curieux, pour en former un cabinet choisi de curiositez naturelles. The work was published in Nuremberg between 1751 and 1767.

Knorr was a German paleontologist, painter, draftsman, engraver, collector, and art dealer. He learned engraving from Leonhard Blanc and Martin Tyroff and worked on the illustrations in Jacob Scheuchzer’s Physica Sacra. He worked with the celebrated Christoph Jakob Trew as well. Knorr's Delices... is often considered his masterpiece.

Knorr was one of the leading proto-geologists of the eighteenth century as well as an excellent engraver, painter and art dealer. Born in Nuremberg, he was initially apprenticed to his father's trade of wood turning, but at the age of eighteen became an engraver of copper-plates for Leonhard Blanc, working with Martin Tyroff on the illustrations for Jacob Scheuchzer's Physica Sacra (1731). This work and his acquaintance with J.A. Beurer, a mineralogist-correspondent of the Royal Society, quickened Knorr's interest in natural history. Further stimulus was provided by the wealthy doctor and polymath Christoph Jakob Trew, owner of a menagerie as well as a wide-ranging natural history collection. Trew gathered around him a highly talented group of artists, engravers and scientists, all of whom contributed to making Nuremberg a centre for the publication of top quality large format natural history books.

In this stimulating intellectual atmosphere Knorr went on to publish a number of lavish folio volumes, but the present work is his masterpiece. It is also one of the greatest fruits of this flowering of talent in Nuremberg. It acted as a showcase for the talented artists working in the city (most of whom were patronised by Trew). Beautifully designed and executed, the work includes some of the finest natural history plates ever produced.

~ 5 3/4" by 9 1/8"<br>~ 11 7/8" by 17 1/4"<br>~ 16 1/8" by 10 1/8"<Br>~ 11 3/4" by 17 3/8"<br>~ 13 1/2" by 19 1/2"

Originally Hand-colored Engraving<br>Hand-colored Folio Engraving<br>Originally Hand-colored Engraving<br>Hand-colored Lithograph<br>Originally Hand-colored Engraving

1822-1827<br>1742<br>1785-1797<br>1842-1848<br>1751-1767

The work is in very good to excellent condition overall. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.

The Naturalist’s Repository of Exotic Natural History… Of Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Insects, Shells, Marine Productions…
Index testarum conchyliorum quae adservantur in museo Nicolai Gualtieri
Ichthyologie, ou Histoire Naturelle Generale et Particuliere des Poissons
Voyage Dans La Russie Meridionale & La Crimee par la Hongrie, la Valachie & la Moldavie
Delices Physiques Choisies, ou choix de tout ce que les trois regnes de la nature renferment de plus digne des recherches d'un amateur curieux, pour en former un cabinet choisi de curiositez naturelles