Portfolio of "The Natural History Watercolours" by Mark Catesby
Item Details
A rare and substantial limited edition portfolio of prints, drawn from the original watercolors in The Natural History Of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands by Mark Catesby (1682-1749). The facsimiles were hand-printed, one color at a time, by the stochastic lithographic process on a flatbed proofing press from the originals in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. Containing a total of 263 impressions of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants, along with 26 unnumbered duplicate plates, this set is numbered 3/50.
Each impression is mounted on heavy stock with a penciled title and number under each mounted piece and are tissue-protected. An embossed stamp on the bottom right reads ‘AHE Edition No 3/50’ with a copyright 1996 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Encased in an acid-free millboard box covered in maroon cloth with a red leather plate on the front cover decorated with a gilt crown and ‘GRIII’, the box is lined in acid free paper. The boxes, produced by noted bookbinder Trevor Lloyd, are air tight, dust free, and a stable environment for loose contents.
A total of 60 sets of this kind were produced, including the limited edition of 50, along with 10 additional sets produced Hors de Commerce, or intended as gifts to institutions or ‘not for sale’. A complete portfolio produced by Alecto Historical Editions is exceptionally rare and has surfaced on the market in complete form on one other occasion (Sotheby’s London, 5/10/2011). Other complete portfolios can be found in Institutions, and some individual plates have surfaced, having been broken out from the original sets.
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands was a monumental undertaking by English naturalist Mark Catesby. It survives as a substantial record of the the Southeastern regions of North America and Caribbean Islands, and was rivaled only by the works of his contemporaries John James Audubon (1785-1851) and WIlliam Bartram (1739-1823).
Dimensions
Measurements are for each individual box, and there are three boxes.
Item #
16CIN503-399
