[FIRST EDITION] William Holloway; John Branch - The British Museum; or, Elegant Repository of Natural History [35 HAND-COLOURED PLATES] - 1804

DESCRIPTION: I present at auction an exceptional and extremely rare example (1st EDITION) from the Georgian era: Volume III of "The British Museum; or, Elegant Repository of Natural History," written by William Holloway and John Branch and printed in London in 1804 by J. D. Dewick for John Badcock in Paternoster Row.

This volume (1st EDITION) is entirely focused on the fascinating world of fishes and insects (Fishes—Insects); it is one of the most beautiful and sought-after illustrated natural history encyclopedias from the early 19th century. It stands out for its sensational collection of copperplate engravings meticulously hand-colored with era-appropriate watercolors, depicting exotic, abyssal, and terrestrial creatures with an unparalleled artistic liveliness and historic charm.

ILLUSTRATIVE DISPLAY AND ARTISTIC FEATURES

+ Spectacular HAND-COLORED COPPERPLATE ENGRAVINGS: Full-page illustrations illuminated individually with vivid colors and period pigments of great transparency.

+ Exceptional Thematic Range: Includes cetaceans and exotic sea creatures (The Whale, Sea Bat, Sun Fish, Puffer Fish, Anguilla) as well as fascinating Lepidoptera, mantises, and beetles (Stag Beetle, Mantis, Papilio).

The hand-colored plates of this work constitute a wonderful example of Georgian scientific illustration, where taxonomic detail embraces cabinet-of-curiosities figurative art:

+ Deep-Sea Fishes and Singular Forms (22 PLATES): Notably the striking representation of the Sea Bat with a body speckled in purplish tones and finlike limbs; the Sun Fish with an ovoid form in green and yellow hues; the Puffer Fish covered in delicate spines; also impressive plates dedicated to the whale and to eels/sabre cats with intense crimson pigments.

+ Exotic Insects and Beetles (13 PLATES): Notable is the Stag Beetle plate with its prominent jaws colored in reddish tones and brown body; the graceful Mantis Religiosa depicted with leaflike wings in greens; and majestic Lepidoptera such as the swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon) with yellow wings, blue ocelli, and tail details.

ORIGINAL PROVENANCE:

Ex-Libris Engraved by Rev. William Mufsage Bradford: The inner guards preserve the full-page engraved bookplate with the heraldic shield of Reverend William Mufsage Bradford, showing a stag in the crest, three deer heads in the blazon, and the famous Latin motto "Humani Nihil Alienum."

PUBLICATION YEAR: London, England, United Kingdom, 1804. 1st Edition

LANGUAGE: English (Original Version)

SIZE AND PAGE COUNT: Dimensions: 15 x 10 cm. Pagination: [4] + Cover + VIII + 216 + [4] pp. WITH 35 HAND-COLORED PLATES OF ILLUSTRATION

CONDITION: Original half-leather binding, in good overall condition, with some rubbing and signs of use as shown in the photos. Flat spine decorated with gold lines and the title in gold. The interior is in good overall condition as shown in the photos.

RARE AND EXTREMELY COVETED FIRST EDITION. DO NOT LET IT ESCAPE.
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