The Art of Natural History : Animal Illustrators and Their Work

224 pp. As new hardcover in slipcase. B & W illustrations. Color plates.

Lavish illustration celebrates the beauty of the animal kingdom and the glories of zoological literature in this survey of the progress of animal illustration from its beginnings to the present.

Included are the early portrayals of animals, which fascinating though they are, were often erroneous or fanciful, having been based on hearsay, rather than on the sight of a specimen. While fine illustrations of more glamorous wildlife were produced in the 18th century, the author concentrates on the 19th century: the golden age of animal illustration. Enterprising artists such as Audubon, Gould, Lear, and Thorburn were now able to work from live animals, often observed in the field, to create work of unprecedented vividness and splendor.

S. Peter Dance, who is a bibliophile as well as a zoologist, considers the art of the animal illustrator in the light of the diverse factors that have influenced it: the rise of zoology as a science, innovations in the technology of early printing, and the stimulus of individuals who were hunter-naturalists and often sponsors.