Jonathan Couch (1789 /1870) - Benjamin Fawcett (1808 /1893) - "Dentice, Grugnitore, Emulone, Acerina, Cernia di fondale, Spigola, Cernia bruna, Persico reale" - 1864

Lot of 16 sheets, of which 8 are woodcuts and 8 descriptive sheets

Type: color woodcut (Benjamin Fawcett technique) finished by hand;
Support: Heavy, smooth, absorbent paper (often imported from France), capable of withstanding repeated passes under the press without warping, with protective tissue;
Condition: Excellent inking, good preservation state with slight traces of bloom and browning, binding marks, all as per photo;
Shipping: insured by Bartolini/DPD courier, declare any damages at collection;
Provenance: from a private collection;

Unlike the classic woodcut that used boards cut in the direction of the grain (sugar pine wood), Fawcett etched exclusively on end-grain wood (or transverse section), importing extremely hard blocks of Turkish boxwood.

Final watercolor touch: Although most of the color was mechanically printed from the wooden blocks, the premium plates of natural history works were examined one by one: often a craftsman would manually add small touches of watercolor or gum arabic to give a glossy, wet look to the eye or to the fish’s livery.

Plates from the collection of the masterpiece, A History of the Fishes of the British Islands (published in four volumes between 1862 and 1865).

Jonathan Couch (1789–1870) was an extraordinary figure of Victorian science: a British country physician, ichthyologist, and polymath naturalist, whose life was closely tied to Polperro, a small fishing village on the Cornwall coast. Working for over sixty years as the village physician, Couch formed a unique bond with local fishermen, who were the ones bringing him the most unusual and freshly landed specimens.

Jonathan Couch (15 March 1789 – 13 April 1870) was a Cornish naturalist, the only son of Richard and Philippa Couch, from a family long resident in Polperro, a small fishing village between Looe and Fowey on the south coast of Cornwall. A blue plaque on the wall of Warren Cottage commemorates his birthplace. After receiving a classical education in Cornish schools and a few years of internship with two local doctors, he entered the United Hospitals of Guy’s and St. Thomas’s in 1808, and in 1809 or early 1810 returned to Polperro, where he served as village physician for sixty years. He died on 13 April 1870, aged 81. wikipedia

Benjamin Fawcett (1808–1893) is universally regarded as one of the greatest pioneers and masters of color wood engraving in the Victorian era. His absolute dedication to quality and his rejection of commercial compromises made him a unique figure in the 19th-century publishing landscape.