Mark Catesby
(1682-1749)
was an English
naturalist,
painter and
illustrator,
who gave in
his work "Natural
History of Carolina,
Florida and
the Bahama Islands"
for the first
time a fully
illustrated
systematic account
of the flora
and fauna of
of the British
Colonies in
the Americas.
In 1712 he
moved - together
with his sister
- from England
to Williamsburg
(Virginia, USA).
1714 he travelled
the Caribbean
Island. 1719
he came back
to England.
In 1722 he
started - supported
by the Royal
Society - an
expedition to
Carolina. From
there he made
study trips
through eastern
North America
and the Caribbean
Islands, where
he collected
many plants
and animals
which he sent
to England.
In 1726 he moved
back to England
to work on his
collections.
In 1731 and
1743 he published
the two volumes
of his work
"Natural
History of Carolina,
Florida and
the Bahama Islands",
illustrated
with 220 hand-coloured
etchings, which
he engraved
by himself,
mostly made
after his own
drawings or
watercolour
paintings.
For the first
time he used
full-page folio-sized
coloured plates
to illustrate
a natural history
book. In 1733
he became a
fellow of the
Royal Society.
In 1771 a third
edition of the
two volumes
of his work
was published
by Benjamin
White in London.
Please,
click on a picture
for more information.
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