Keulemanns, John G. “Haliplana Lunata.” [Grey Backed Tern-Hawaii].

John G. Keulemanns.   “Haliplana Lunata.”  [Grey Backed Tern-Hawaii]. 

From The Avifauna of Laysan and the neighbouring islands: with a complete history to date of the birds of the Hawaiian possessions.  London: R.H. Porter, 1893-1900.  11 x 15 (paper).  Lithograph.  Original hand color. 

An important publication on the birds of the Hawaiian Islands.  Only 250 copies were issued and it was one of the first illustrated publications on the birds of Hawaii.  Dutch born Keulemanns (1842-1912), a skilled scientific artist in late 19th-century England, became one of the best-known and most prolific bird illustrators in a world exploding with discoveries, descriptions, and publications of species of animals and plants from all over the globe.  Excelling at draftsmanship, his consistently high standard of scientific precision and accuracy was so widely acknowledged and appreciated that an extraordinary number of the major ornithological monographs published between 1870 and 1910 contained illustrations by Keulemanns as artist, lithographer or both, as in this case.