Charles-Lucien Bonaparte - Pigeons
Eight large and extremely rare hand-colored lithographed plates after the great French natural history illustrator Paul Louis Oudart (1796 - 1850) and by F. Willy, another talented illustrator of the time. Published 1857.
Charles-Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857), the nephew of Napoleon, had an long and prolific career as a natural historian. He spent six years in the United States between 1822 to 1828, where he was a friend of John James Audubon. His key works include an updating of Alexander Wilson's American Ornithology, an 1841 study of Italian wildlife, Iconografia della Fauna Italica and this work, Iconographie des Pigeons.
Bonaparte's fine collection of portraits of pigeons was intended to appear in thirty monthly installments (livraisons) with a total of 150 plates but the author died after the publication of part four. The publishers went forward with an additional eight installments, the last of which appeared in July 1858. The total number of plates from this work is therefore only 55.
Sold as a set with the cover folder, or individually, each with their accompanying texts. The eight lithographs in our set do not correspond to those listed on the livraison (installment) cover.
Each measures 35.5 X 54.5 cm
Light age toning, and Several sheets have light spotting. Click on the individual images for larger pictures and additional details on condition. |
