A hand coloured antique print entitled Le Corlieu ou Petit Courlis.
From ‘Histoire Naturelle Des Oiseaux’ by George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.
Published by L’Imprimerie Royale, Paris between 1770 and 1786.
Engraved by Haussard.
36 volumes of Histoire Naturelle were published during the author’s lifetime with a further eight being produced after his death by Leclerc’s friend Bernard Germain de Lacépède.
Born a man of modest circumstance George-Louis Leclerc secured a massive inheritance from his godfather. With this he travelled to Paris where, after some study, he earned a position as Head of Le Jardin du Roi, a major botanical garden in the city. Here he started his studies of plants and animals in earnest, collecting vast numbers of botanical and zoological specimens and turning the park into an institute of research.
Le Corlieu ou Petit Courlis translates as The Little Curlew. The curlew has mottled brown feathers and a long curved beak which is used when feeding on mud or soft ground to seek out worms and other invertebrates. They also eat crabs and other small creatures. Their English name is imitative of their call.
Size: 27x 21.5 cms or 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches.
Condition: Very Good. The coloured part of the image is faintly foxed. There is a small brown dot to the right of the image. The white surround is marked by faint foxing and other marks. The paper upon which the engraving is printed is uneven in shape with a ragged edge. This was usual for the period of manufacture. There are two strips of paper glued to the reverse side. These were probably once used to affix the image to a mount.
