George Edwards Seligmann Animal Kingdom 1768 Prints

Please click on each image to enlarge and for prices


Porcupine. Hystrix Canadensis EDS298 ~~$105~~ Sale Price: $55	Water Buffalo. Bubalus minor Orientalis EDS295 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65


Wolverine. Ursulus lupo affinis Americanus EDS299 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65	Marmota Americanus EDS300 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65


Lacertus major cinereus EDS296 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95	Mongoose. Ichneumon Orientalis EDS297 ~~$105~~ Sale Price: $55


Gattorugina indicus EDS252 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Elephant, Rhinoceros EDS253 ~~$165~~ Sale Price: $115	Piscis paradisaea, Grasshopper EDS254 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85


Cyprini domestici EDS255 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Myrmecophaga minor EDS266 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Piscis vespertilio, Acarauna maculata EDS257 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85


Tortoise or Turtle, Testudo marinus, foetus nuper ex ovo exlusus EDS261 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95	Tortoise or Turtle, Testudo tessellata minor Africana, Lacertus minor, cinereus maculatus Asiaticus EDS260 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95	Tortoise or Turtle, Testudo parva lutosa EDS263 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95


Sorbus maxima pomifera EDS267 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95	Motacilla lutea, Insectum indiae occidentalis, Folium ambulans dictum EDS268 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Fish, Pisciculus cornutus, Scorpius marinus EDS292 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65


Lacertus major viridis coeruleo maculatus occidentalis EDS270 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Ispida minor viridi aurantioque Lacerta coerulea ex insula EDS271 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Butterfly aand Snake Seprens dilute fuscus, Barbadensis biceps EDS272 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95


Pica minor Bengalensis Sciurus minor striatus Carolinesis EDS273 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95	Urogallus minor Canadensis Astragalus caulescens EDS274 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95	Whimbrel and Coral Arquata minor Whimbrel, Muscus papyraceus EDS291 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95


Shark, Catulus major piscis EDS276 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65	Flying Fish, Remora Hirundo marina, Remora piscis EDS277 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Sharks, Stick Insect Galeus acanthias, Insectum virgultum ambulans dictum EDS278 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85


Quail, Coturnix Chinensis Lacerta ex insula Sarnia EDS282 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95	Calandra Talpa maculata EDS280 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Beetle Passer indicius fuscus EDS281 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85


Crab, Coral, Balanus ceti cum Polypis, Limax marinus, Cancer hirsutus, Coralalina halecum EDS285 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65	Hornbill, Rostra quatuor curiosa Avium EDS286 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65	Cricket, Cockroach, Blatta maxima, Insectum fistula dictum EDS287 ~~$115~~ Sale Price: $65


Rail, Rallus aquaticus Americanus EDS288 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Avis arctica foemina EDS289 ~~$135~~ Sale Price: $85	Ardea stellaris parva fusca EDS290 ~~$145~~ Sale Price: $95

George Edwards was an English draughtsman and a skilled observer of birds and one of the most prominent ornithologists of his day. He worked as Librarian to the Royal College of Physicians, where he was later elected a fellow, and was honored with the Gold Medal of the Royal Society. As the Librarian to the Royal College of Physicians, he oversaw a library of 8,000 volumes. The small honorarium he received for this post liberated him to pursue his ornithological studies and drawings. He died in West Ham, which was also his birthplace, in 1773.

Natural History and Gleanings was illustrated for the first time many foreign species often drawn from live specimens held in captivity in London. Edwards etched his own plates and then hand colored several copies before supervising others in the coloring. The result is a work of superb skill and breathtaking color that remains ever popular and is now increasingly rare. Such was the impact of Natural History and Gleanings, that Edwards is considered to have almost single-handedly popularized the art of bird and animal illustration, and is thus known as "The Father of British Ornithology."

In 1749-1776, Johann Michael Seligmann, a German engraver re-engraved these George Edwards plates, as well as many by Mark Catesby plates for the "Sammlung Verschiedener Auslandischer un Seltener Vogel" published in Nurenberg. In some cases, botanical and scenic backgrounds were added for superb decorative effect.