WILKS ENCY. LONDINENSIS - MARINE LIFE: ACROCHDUS AND ACTINIA - JAVA WART SNAKE & ACTINA SEA ANEMONES print 1726 - 1828

This very beautiful 1807 copperplate engraving by J. Pass, with exquisite handcolouring of - "Acrochordus & Actinia" (The Javan Acrochord or Warty Snake (an aquatic wart snake or elephant trunk snake) and "Curious Species of Actinia" (sea anemones) - is from the “Encyclopaedia londinensis, or, Universal dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature...., forming a comprehensive view of the rise, progress, and present state, of human learning in every part of the world.”

Encyclopaedia londinensis, compiled and arranged by John Wilks, was a monumental work consisting of 24 volumes published in London from 1796 - 1828, and provides an eloquent visual presentation of the history and most recent developments in the Arts and Sciences of the time.

It also serves as an extraordinary record of the talents of such fine engravers as Pass and Chapman.