JARDINE/LIZARS - THE MAILED PERISTEDION gurnard fish print

These very beautiful fish steel engravings, with superb original hand colouring, are from the Ichthyology section of Sir William Jardine’s “Naturalist’s Library,” by Dr. J.S Bushnan.

The Naturalist's Library is a monumental work consisting of forty volumes printed in Edinburgh and London, between 1833 and 1843.

This comprehensive, affordable and intelligent venture proved so popular that it was reissued in various formats throughout the century.

In 1835, and only a quarter of the way through publishing the series, the eminent Edinburgh engraver and printer, W. H. Lizars wrote,

“We have sold upwards of sixty thousand volumes, in which there have been nearly two million four hundred thousand plates.”

Today, these exquisite fish engravings are seen as some of the very finest Natural History miniatures ever produced.

(Ref: Sir William Jardine, A Life in Natural History by Jackson & Davis, 2001; Dean, Bibli. of Fishes, Vol.1, 1972, p. 630)