THE TOBACCO PIPE FISH, TRUMPETFISH, SAILFISH print

These beautiful rare copper engravings with original handcolouring are from the twelve volume, “Bilderbuch für Kinder” (Picture Book for Children) published by Friedrich Justin Bertuch in Weimar, Germany, between 1790 and 1810.

Bertuch (1747 -18222) studied theology and law before developing a keen interest in natural history and publishing. In 1776 he opened a free school for drawing in which students would be “supported according to their abilities, rather than their social background,” and paid for the artistic resources to produce the “Bilderbuch für Kinder” illustrations.

“A picture book is as important and indispensable as a cradle, a doll, or a hobby-horse for a nursery. Beautifully and properly drawn, and no badly engraved copper, because nothing is more important than to accustom the child's eye, from the very beginning, to the true representation of the objects."  Bertuch - Preface