Mark Catesby Gallery

The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands
In 1712, Mark Catesby came into a small inheritance which enabled him to fulfill a long-standing dream and book passage to America. His sister was married to the Secretary to the Governor of Virginia, and was able to provide him with introductions to the leading men of the Colonies. During the next seven years, he travelled extensively to collect and record the flora and fauna of the New World. Many of the specimens were sent to England; soon they found their way into gardens in Paris, Leyden, and Danzig. Encouraged by his English friends, (including many members of the Royal Society) Catesby returned in 1722 and walked over most of what is now Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. In 1725, he extended his research to the Bahamas. The notebooks that he filled with drawings and the packing-cases of preserved specimens were the raw material for an unprecedented project: a scientific account of heretofore unknown wildlife, with illustrations taken from life. The text recorded his personal observations, as well as theories, legends, and folktales gathered over the course of a decade. Unable to interest sponsors for his massive 'Natural History', Catesby learned to etch copperplates from Joseph Goupy, a French artist then working in London. He produced all but two of the plates for 'Natural History' and either painted the impressions himself or closely supervised the work to insure its fidelity to his models. 'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands' became the first book devoted to the natural history of North America. An illustrated nature study of American plants and animals, it has lost none of its power to delight in the 250 years since it was published. A monument to Catesby's intelligence and love of nature and even his single-mindedness, it provided ornithologists and scientists, including John James Audubon who followed in Catesby's footsteps a century later, the model for their own achievements.
Publication City: London Medium: Hand-colored etchings Dimensions: 14 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches (approximate page size) Date: 1731-43
SELECTIONS FROM THIS WORK
American Goldfinch details	Bahama Titmouse details	Bald Eagle details	Baltimore Bird details
Bill of the Flamingo details	Black Squirrel details	Blue Jay details	Blue Linnet details
Brown Bittern details	Brown Curlew details	Canada Goose details	Chatterer details
Crested Bittern details	Crested Heron details	Finch Creeper details	Fishing Hawk details
Flamingo details	Flying Fish details	Gold Winged Woodpecker details	Ground Squirrel details
Hooded Titmouse details	Hooping Crane details	Ilathera Duck details	Java Hare details
Kingfisher details	Large Lark details	Larger Red Crested Woodpecker details	Lark details
Laughing Gull details	Little Brown Duck details	Little Owl details	Little White Heron details
Mangrove Grape Tree details	Mangrove Snapper details	Noddy details	Nuthatch details
Oyster Catcher details	Painted Finch details	Parrot of Carolina details	Parrot of Paradise of Cuba details
Pied Billed Dopchick details	Pigeon Hawk details	Pine Creeper details	Purple Finch details
Red Bellied Woodpecker details	Red Bird details	Red Curlew details	Red Legged Thrush details
Red Start details	Red Winged Starling details	Rice Bird details	Round Crested Duck details
Small Bittern details	Summer Duck details	Swallow Tail Hawk details	The Booby details
The Hind details	The Laurel Tree of Carolina [Magnolia Grandiflora] details	The Sole details	The Tang details
White Crowned Pigeon details	White Faced Teal details	Wild Pine details	Wood Pelican details
Yellow Breasted Chat details	Yellow Titmouse details