Bertuch, Four Tree Frogs Including a Blue Frog, 1815, Print

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This antique frog print shows four frogs, among them a large blue tree frog, on an original hand coloured plate … Read more This antique frog print shows four frogs, among them a large blue tree frog, on an original hand coloured plate from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bilderbuch headed Amphibien XXX. The upper pair are large tree frogs with broad toe discs, one painted a clear blue with pink toes and the other shown in pink, yellow and blue with pale spots. Below them are two smaller frogs, one olive and one boldly marked in black and white with orange feet. The species named in Bertuch's text have not yet been confirmed, but the plate captures the variety of the tropical frogs that were reaching European cabinets in the early nineteenth century. The plate comes from the Vienna edition of Bertuch's Bilderbuch, published in Vienna under the title Bilderbuch zum Nutzen und Vergnuegen der Jugend. Its source is the celebrated Bilderbuch fuer Kinder, the picture book for children conceived and edited by Friedrich Justin Bertuch in Weimar, whose plates were engraved afresh by Viennese engravers for this edition. Most plates carry their subject class and number in German, Latin and French across the top, so that the work could teach languages as well as natural history. Here the heading belongs to the series of amphibians, a class in which Bertuch, following the naturalists of his day, grouped snakes, lizards, crocodiles, frogs and even seals. The small engraved mark XV.B.5 places the sheet in volume 15 of the Vienna edition, which corresponds to the eighth volume of the Weimar original, dated 1813, so this Vienna plate cannot be earlier than that. It is a copperplate engraving, coloured by hand with watercolour in the manner of the Weimar original. Bertuch drew his images from the best natural history books of his time, and the result is a lively, accessible record of how the natural world was understood around 1800. Single plates from the Bilderbuch are popular with collectors of antique natural history prints, and a group of related plates makes a handsome display in a study, library or hallway. The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, small flecks inherent in the paper and minor edge wear; the image is clean and well coloured. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less