Jardine Naturalist's Library - Mammalia by Sir William Jardine was published between 1833 and 1843.
The Naturalist's Library, by Sir William Jardine was published between 1833 and 1843. The etcher/engraver for all 40 volumes in this series was his brother-in-law , the Scottish artist William Lizars. This happy collaboration produced one of the most charming and popular collections of natural history books. The series was divided into 4 main sections - ornithology, ichthyology, mammalian and entomology. Jardine himself was a gifted naturalist and artist. Many of his original water colors are in the Natural History Museum, London and in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. Born in 1800, Jardine was the son of the 6th Baronet of Applegirth, whom he succeeded in 1820. He was educated in Edinburgh and became an enthusiastic sportsman and collector of bird skins, which he used in his paintings. The hand colored engravings in The Naturalist's Library are based on paintings by some of the finest natural history artists known - some past, as Maria Sybilla Merian in the entomology section, and some contemporary, as William Swainson and Edward Lear in ornithology. Jardine himself wrote 14 of the volumes. There is, as is usual, some toning to the plates. Size (in): 6 x 4
