Eleazar Albin (c.1680-1741/2), Elizabeth Albin (1708-1741?) and Fortinalus Albin (b.1719) " Esculent Fish engraved by Eleanor, Elizabeth and Fortin Albin " London: 1735-1741 [but later, some plates watermarked 1804]. Oblong 2° (255 x 415mm). Calligraphic manuscript title in black ink highlighted in yellow within a gilded roll-tool border flanked by green ink lines, 18 fine hand-coloured engraved plates by the Albins, each plate within a gilded roll-tool border flanked by black or green lines, extra-illustrated with an inserted cut-down uncoloured copy of the Mullet plate with early alterations and two small pencil drawings of fish. Early 19th-century green straight-grained morocco gilt by J.& W. Quinton of Norwich, titled in gilt on spine 'Albin's Fish', small leather ownership label mounted on upper cover (some scuffing, endpapers creased). Provenance : John Henry Gurney junior (F.Z.S., F.L.S., Keswick Hall, Norfolk, armorial ownership label, inscription dated 1866) -- John Roland Abbey (armorial bookplate, inscription 'J.A.1216 30:3:1936'). A POSSIBLY UNIQUE ISSUE OF THE ALBINS' FINE PLATES, WITH A DISTINGUISHED PROVENANCE. The known publishing history of these plates is as follows: the work was first published under the title Icones piscium cum nominibus Latinis, Anglicis et Gallicis , London, 1735-1741. The plates were re-issued to accompany Roger North's (1653-1734) The History of Esculent Fish... and an essay on the breeding of fish and the construction of fish ponds , London, 1794 (the text was originally issued unillustrated in 1713). This combined work was then reissued as A treatise on fish and fish ponds , London, [1832/35]. The present special issue appears to have been prepared for an individual collector in 1804 or shortly afterwards. The manuscript title and the gilt-tooled borders all suggest a special commission. The Norfolk origin of the binding allied with the early provenance lead to the possibilty that the work was originally produced for a member of the Gurney family, a number of whom published works on Natural History. The binding can be dated from the label to about 1835. Eleazar Albin (born Weiss) moved from Germany to England in about 1707 and is best known for his paintings of birds and insects. These he engraved or etched (with the help of his eldest daughter and later his son) and issued with appropriate text as A Natural History of English Insects (1720) and A Natural History of Birds (1731-1738), in 1736 he published A Natural History of Spiders , and in 1737 A Natural history of English song-birds . He published his own works and was supported by patrons such as Sir Hans Sloane. Cf. BM(NH) III, p.1448; cf. Nissen ZBI 57 & 2989.
Eleazar Albin (c.1680-1741/2), Elizabeth Albin (1708-1741?) and Fortinalus Albin (b.1719) " Esculent Fish engraved by Eleanor, Elizabeth and Fortin Albin " London: 1735-1741 [but later, some plates watermarked 1804]. Oblong 2° (255 x 415mm). Calligraphic manuscript title in black ink highlighted in yellow within a gilded roll-tool border flanked by green ink lines, 18 fine hand-coloured engraved plates by the Albins, each plate within a gilded roll-tool border flanked by black or green lines, extra-illustrated with an inserted cut-down uncoloured copy of the Mullet plate with early alterations and two small pencil drawings of fish. Early 19th-century green straight-grained morocco gilt by J.& W. Quinton of Norwich, titled in gilt on spine 'Albin's Fish', small leather ownership label mounted on upper cover (some scuffing, endpapers creased). Provenance : John Henry Gurney junior (F.Z.S., F.L.S., Keswick Hall, Norfolk, armorial ownership label, inscription dated 1866) -- John Roland Abbey (armorial bookplate, inscription 'J.A.1216 30:3:1936'). A POSSIBLY UNIQUE ISSUE OF THE ALBINS' FINE PLATES, WITH A DISTINGUISHED PROVENANCE. The known publishing history of these plates is as follows: the work was first published under the title Icones piscium cum nominibus Latinis, Anglicis et Gallicis , London, 1735-1741. The plates were re-issued to accompany Roger North's (1653-1734) The History of Esculent Fish... and an essay on the breeding of fish and the construction of fish ponds , London, 1794 (the text was originally issued unillustrated in 1713). This combined work was then reissued as A treatise on fish and fish ponds , London, [1832/35]. The present special issue appears to have been prepared for an individual collector in 1804 or shortly afterwards. The manuscript title and the gilt-tooled borders all suggest a special commission. The Norfolk origin of the binding allied with the early provenance lead to the possibilty that the work was originally produced for a member of the Gurney family, a number of whom published works on Natural History. The binding can be dated from the label to about 1835. Eleazar Albin (born Weiss) moved from Germany to England in about 1707 and is best known for his paintings of birds and insects. These he engraved or etched (with the help of his eldest daughter and later his son) and issued with appropriate text as A Natural History of English Insects (1720) and A Natural History of Birds (1731-1738), in 1736 he published A Natural History of Spiders , and in 1737 A Natural history of English song-birds . He published his own works and was supported by patrons such as Sir Hans Sloane. Cf. BM(NH) III, p.1448; cf. Nissen ZBI 57 & 2989.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
