MARK CATESBY - THE SOLE fish print (Solea lunata) 1743
This very striking engraving of a Sole, with beautiful original hand colouring by Mark Catesby, is from "The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands", published in London in 1743. The colours are rich and vibrant, and the plate is signed with Catesby's cipher.
Mark Catesby (1683-1749) was one of the most influential naturalists of the 18th century, and according to Hunt,
“Natural History of Carolina is the most famous colour-plate book of American plant and animal life, and a fundamental and original work for the study of American species.”
Catesby, born in England in 1683, was inspired by one of his father’s friends, the botanist John Dale, and possibly the eminent scientist, John Ray, to become a natural historian. On his visit to North America from May 1722, Catesby explored the remoter areas of South Carolina, coastal Georgia and the Bahamas for the next four years. Here he collected and sketched specimens of native plants and animals which formed the basis of this work.
"“The Body of the Fish brown sprinkled over with Figures of an oval Form, being like semi-circles with the ends pointing to one another, or like circles divided in the middle, of a bright blue color, whether they are eatable I know not, nor could I be informed, they being very rarely caught.”
Mark Catesby
Catesby then returned to London to prepare his collection for publication. With very little money, he taught himself to engrave and transfer all his drawings to copper plates, and colour them himself.
Catesby’s “Natural History of Carolinas” is a monument to patience, endurance and persistence.”
S. Peter Dance & Geoffrey N. Swinney, Classic Natural History Prints – Fish. London, 1990.