Eagle: A 16th/17th Century Hand-Colored Engraving by Aldrovandi, 1599

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This very rare, first edition, folio hand-colored engraving of an eagle is plate 215 from Ulisse Aldrovandi’s 'Opera Omnia', published … Read more This very rare, first edition, folio hand-colored engraving of an eagle is plate 215 from Ulisse Aldrovandi’s 'Opera Omnia', published between 1599 and 1648 in Bologna, Italy by Clemente Ferroni, Niccolo Tebaldini, & Giovanni Battista Bellagamba. The publication was a massive, 13 volume, natural history encyclopedia, which was the first to publish an image of toucan and bird of paradise birds. The first three volumes focussed on birds and was entitled in Latin "Ornithologiae hoc est De auibus historiae" (The History of Birds). In addition to illustrations and descriptions of animals, plants and minerals, later volumes featured fantastic “monsters”, including dragons. Only four of the volumes credited to Aldrovandi appeared in his life time. He was aware that the enormity of his task would stretch beyond his lifetime. He hoped that his own pupils would continue the unfinished business of writing the definitive history of nature. At the end of his life, his literary production totaled more than 400 volumes, a number that he claimed would take more than a century to print. As he had hoped, his students used his manuscripts to complete the remainder of his work. It was the largest collection of natural history illustrations to appear before the 18th century.
This beautiful hand-colored wood-cut engraving on chain-linked laid paper depicts an eagle standing on land with a mouse under its left talons. There is Latin text on the verso. The sheet measures 14" x 9.25". There is ghosting of the text from the verso, a short thin wormhole in the right margin, a small defect in the upper right edge and a small focal area of color loss over the bird's chest. It is otherwise in very good condition. It is rare to find individual engravings from Aldrovandi's work for sale. A set of the 13 volumes is currently available for over $312,000. See less