Miller, John Frederick "Struthio Casuarius." [Cassowary or Emu] From "Cimelia Physica..."

John Frederick Miller.  "Struthio Casuarius." [Cassowary or Emu] Pl. XIV. From Cimelia Physica.  Figures of Rare and Curious Quadrupeds, Birds, &c. Together With Several of the Most Elegant Plants.   

London: [1796].  Second edition, 1822.  Folio.  Engraving with original hand coloring.  Text by George Shaw. Full margins.  Fine condition.

This print is from a group of rare and fetching prints from an unusual 18th-century compendium of plant and animal life.  John Frederick Miller, the fine botanical artist, worked from the latest information about exotic specimens supplied to him by Sir Joseph Banks, one of the key figures in English natural history circles.  Miller painted and engraved these botanical and zoological subjects, which in many cases are the first illustrations of the species.  The descriptive text is also of historical importance, as it is the work of George Shaw, founder member of the Linnean Society.  These prints are almost unsurpassed for their winning subjects imaginatively arranged into large scale and beautifully colored compositions.  The birds nestled into trees, the quadrupeds pictured along with detailed renderings of their heads, along with the most enticing of botanicals, all exhibit the wonderful character and exuberance that make the prints of this period so special.