Antique Maps & Prints of Natural History, Botanicals, & More
Lot 5025:
Description
This first edition lithograph is from Hugh Edwin Strickland & Alexander Gordon Melville’s
The Dodo and its Kindred, or the History, Affinities, and Osteology of the Dodo, Solitaire, and Other Extinct Birds of the Islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon. The work was published in 1848 in London by Reeve, Benham, and Reeve.
The Dodo and its Kindred sought to parcel out the reality and myth of the dodo bird. The work inspired further search for fossil evidence of the dodo in Mauritius. "These singular birds … furnish the first clearly attested instances of extinction of organic species through human agency … and many species of animals and of plants are now undergoing this inevitable process of destruction before the ever-advancing tide of human population." (p.5)
Strickland refined many of the plates for the work himself. His wife, Catherine Dorcas Maule Jardine Strickland, created the drew and helped create some of the lithographs for the work including the frontispiece, plates 3, 3*, and 4. Catherine was also the daughter of noted naturalist Sir William Jardine.
Hugh Edwin Strickland (1811-1853) was an English geologist, ornithologist, naturalist, and systematist. He created the Strickland Code of nomenclature which influenced later systems. He helped found the Ray Society in 1844 which sought to help publish natural history works.
Alexander Gordon Melville (1819–1901) was an Irish comparative anatomist. He served as a professor of natural history for over 30 years at Queen’s College Galway. Strickland approached Melville for their work on the dodo, where he began studying the anatomy in 1847 from the head and foot at Oxford from John Tradescant’s example as well as the foot at London.
Paper Size: ~ 9 1/2" by 13 1/4"
Paper Type or Special Features: Lithograph with Professional Hand-coloring
Condition report:
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 with any questions.
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