Original antique engraving with contemporary colouring.
Engraved by George Edwards and taken from his "A History of Natural Birds".
Published in 1750 at the Royal College of Physicians, Warwick Lane.
George Edwards FRS (1694 – 1773) was an English naturalist and ornithologist, known as the "father of British ornithology".
Edwards was born at West Ham, then in the county of Essex. In his early years, he travelled extensively through mainland Europe, studying natural history, and gained a reputation for his coloured drawings of animals, especially birds. He was appointed as beadle to the Royal College of Physicians in 1733.
Over a period of 21 years, Edwards published seven volumes containing descriptions and hand-coloured etchings of birds. In a few cases, he depicted other animals. None of the species were native to the British Isles. The first four volumes were published between 1743 and 1751 with the title "A Natural History of Uncommon Birds." The three subsequent volumes were published between 1758 and 1764 with the title "Gleanings Of Natural History." The volumes contain a total of 362 hand-coloured etchings of which 317 depict birds. The etchings were all drawn by Edwards.
