Catesby, Mark | The "most famous colorplate book of American plant and animal life..."

Catesby, Mark. The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands: Containing the figures of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, insects, and plants. London: printed at the expence of the author and sold by W. Innys, R. Manby, Mr. Hauksbee, 1731-1743

2 volumes, folio (vol. I 508 x 357 mm; vol. II 493 x 341 mm). Text in English and French, 214 of 220 hand-colored engraved plates; three plates (11, 39, and 84) supplied from other copies, three plates (81, 94, and 99) lacking outright, lacking first 8 leaves from vol. I and text leaf for plate 81, title-page and f.f.e.p. of vol. II detached, title frayed and worn affecting text of colophon, supplied plate 39 frayed, worn and browned, marginal tears to a number of plates, light spotting, soiling, and offsetting to plates. Vol. I nineteenth-century tan morocco gilt with central cruciform stamp, morocco label; heavy wear to edges, corners and joints exposed, scratches to covers, spine dry and cracked. Vol. II nineteenth-century red morocco gilt, morocco label; joints and edges worn with exposure, covers scuffed and scratched, spine worn, label loosening. [with:] supplementary volume (521 x 362 mm) comprising boards and text-only leaves from vol. I, used to replace missing leaves in the main set, including two plates (11 and 84). Speckled calf; boards only, worn, particularly at edges, scratched and scuffed.

“A fundamental and original work for the study of American species… the most famous color-plate book of American plant and animal life” (Hunt).

Catesby’s Natural History was the first major work to illustrate the flora and fauna of British North America. Following an initial trip to Virginia in 1712, Catesby returned to the American colonies in 1722, encouraged by patrons such as Sir Hans Sloane and William Sherard. Over four years he travelled through the Carolinas, Florida, and the Bahamas, observing, collecting, and sketching. He later studied under Joseph Goupy to etch the plates himself—a rare undertaking at the time.

In his preface, Catesby explained his belief that “a clearer Idea may be conceiv’d from the Figures of Animals and Plants in their proper Colours, than from the most exact Description without them,” a principle that informed his fusion of scientific precision and visual elegance. The result was a work hailed by contemporaries as a triumph of both natural history and bookmaking: Cromwell Mortimer of the Royal Society called it “the most magnificent work I know since the Art of printing has been discovered.”

This composite copy has 214 of the 220 plates bound in, with three additional plates (11, 39, and 84) supplied from other copies. Where leaves are lacking, a third supplementary volume—comprising some text and plates from another copy—has been used to restore portions, mainly of volume I.

REFERENCES:

Anker 95; Dunthorne 72; Ellis/Mengel 476; Fine Bird Books 65; Great Flower Books 53; Hunt 486; Jackson, Etchings 86–87; Nissen, BBI 336; Nissen, IVB 177; Nissen, ZBI 842; Pritzel 1602; Sabin 11509; Stafleu, TL2 1057; Wood 282; cf. Nelson & Elliott, eds., The Curious Mr. Catesby (University of Georgia, 2015); cf. McBurney, Illuminating Natural History: The Art and Science of Mark Catesby (Paul Mellon Center, 2021)

(Sold not subject to return.)