The Academy Of Natural Sciences

Plate 6. Mergulus Cassinii (Cassin's Auklet)

      The Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 1848. Fine with original hand-coloring From The Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences. A Fine original hand-colored lithograph. Folio (9.25 x 13 inches, 235 x 330 mm). The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia was established by the learned naturalists of high Philadelphian society in early 19th century America to document the recent natural discoveries of a new nation. The founding members, and contributors, were the luminaries of early American natural history and sciences; Titian Peale, Thomas Say and George Ord, to name a few. The Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences was their clarion, and was illustrated with wonderful folio-sized hand-colored lithographs by J.T. Bowen and Co. in Philadelphia, America's premier lithographers of the mid-19th century, and the very same company to produce John James Audubon's landmark lithographs for the first seven Royal Octavo editions of the Birds of America (c. 1840-65) and both the Imperial Folio and Royal Octavo editions of the Quadrupeds of North America. (c.1840-54). In essence, the same artists and printers who produced Audubon masterful lithographs created this work. We classify these fabulous plates as one of the best unsung values in the art of 19th century ornithology. Lowry-James Rare Prints & Books, ABAA, ILAB Rare Prints & Books from The Age of Discovery: 16th-19th Centuries PO Box 376 Clinton, WA 98236 USA Shop location: 101 Anthes Langley, WA rarebooks@lowryjames. com www. lowryjames. com (360) 221-0477.