Keulemans, John G. "Hypsipetes parvirosiris. Turdus comorensis"

John G. Keulemans. "Hypsipetes parvirosiris.  Turdus comorensis."

From Nouvelles Archives du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Paris: 1865-1874; 1878-1880; after 1880. Quarto. 12 1/4 x 9 1/8 (paper size). Lithograph. Original hand color. Initialed in image by artist.  Very good condition.  

A print from a scarce set issued in Paris during the latter half of the nineteenth century. No mention of this rare periodical is in the standard references. Editors of the Martin Catalogue (Vol.V, #1758) believe that this series ceased publication after the second series was issued; however, in this grouping, there are a few prints from the third and fourth series. Some of the finest bird illustrators, such as Werner, Huet, Oudart, Keulemans and others, contributed to this publication. The prints are beautifully lithographed and hand tinted with vibrant colors.

Dutch born Keulemans (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 Keulemans as artist, lithographer or both, as in this case.