Plate #709 The Madagascar Pigeon (Columba Australis): Shaw & Nodder's The Naturalist's Miscellany or Coloured Figures of Natural Objects: Drawn and Described Immediately from Nature.

London:: George Shaw and E. Nodder,, 1809.. First edition. Fine condition with original bright hand-coloring. . A Fine and rare original hand-colored copperplate engraving by Frederick Polydore Nodder and/or his son Richard Polydore Nodder from The Naturalist's Miscellany. Octavo (6 x 9.5 inches, 15.24 x 24.13 cm). Includes the original text in both English and Latin by George Shaw, MD, FRS. The Naturalist's Miscellany, distinguished by the refined hand-colored copperplate engravings and astute naturalists' observations, was aptly named as a diverse naturalists' compendium of the birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, fish and crustacean identified by seventeenth and eighteenth century naturalists spanning the globe, particularly around the South Seas. Many of nature's most fascinating and unusual creatures were discovered during this period, several of which were introduced through The Naturalist's Miscellany. Doctor George Shaw, (1751-1813), Fellow of the Royal Society, cofounder of the Linnaean Society, as well as Zoologist of the British Museum, contributed the text. Publication of the Naturalist's Miscellany ceased with his death in 1813. Upon the death of the artist FP Nodder (1770-1800), his wife Elizabeth, and their son Richard Polydore Nodder (1793-1820) contributed artistically and editorially to the publication. Indeed a family affair, both Frederick Polydore Nodder and his son Richard produced every one of the plates. A gifted and distinguished naturalist, Frederick P. Nodder was the preferred Botanical Painter to Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte. His early skills as botanical and animal draughtsman and engraver were honed from his association with Sir Joseph Banks, who employed Nodder to complete and engrave the drawings from the sketchbooks of the late Sydney Parkinson. Parkinson accompanied Banks as botanical draughtsman aboard Captain James Cook's The Endeavor in 1771. Parkinson died on the return of this South Seas Voyage. These engravings, along with the natural history collections of the British Museum, were the basis for the mastery of the Naturalist's Miscellany. Frederick's son, Richard P. Nodder, a gifted animal painter in his own right, was distinguished as botanic painter to King George III. At the time of its creation, The Naturalist's Miscellany was highly coveted as a definitive natural history offering, and as was the custom, the work was issued in installments between 1790 and 1813. Each volume was dedicated by permission and dutifully inscribed to the most devoted patrons and contributors of the natural historical pursuits of eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain: Queen Charlotte, Sir Joseph Banks, Thomas Pennant, Esq. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, The Trustees of the British Museum, to name a few. (Andrews,1986, Blunt 151,Coats, 25, Sitwell FBB 142, Wood 482). Copyright: Lowry-James Rare Prints & Books, 1/09.