Sowerby, James Pl. 172. From "British Mineralogy: or Coloured Figures intended to elucidate the Mineralogy of Great Britain"

James Sowerby. Pl. 172. From British Mineralogy: or Coloured Figures intended to elucidate the Mineralogy of Great Britain.

London: R. Taylor & Co. 1802-17. Octavo. Sheet size 9 x 5 ½”. Engraving. Original hand color. Very good condition.

On December 13, 1795, a fifty-six-pound meteorite fell from the sky into an English quarry. The landowner turned this lump of multi-colored minerals over to James Sowerby, a well-connected scientific illustrator and naturalist, who published an extensive account of what became known as the “Yorkshire Meteorite” in his five-part mineralogical handbook, inviting pushback from geologists who thought that including a “Phaëton from the heavens might seem absurd in a work on British Mineralogy.” Since the curious object contained substances commonly found within mines of the British Isles, Sowerby believed the meteorite belonged in a volume primarily devoted to more mundane earthbound subjects, such as table salt and oxygenized carbon.

Comprised of more than four hundred vividly hand-colored engravings of various rocks, minerals, and compounds, British Mineralogy saw the Royal Academy-trained illustrator depart from his focus on botany toward non-living specimens.

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