A hand coloured antique print entitled Le Coua, Coucou de Madagascar.
From ‘Histoire Naturelle Des Oiseaux’ by George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.
Published by L’Imprimerie Royale, Paris between 1770 and 1786.
Engraved by Mansard.
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.
The Coua is a large bird of the cuckoo family. They live only in Madagascar where there spend much of their time on the ground. They have brightly coloured bare skin around the eyes, large feet and a reversible third toe.
Size: 26x 21 cms or 10 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches.
Size of coloured part of image: 19.2 x 15.2 cms or 7 1/2 x 6 inches.
Condition: Near Fine. The coloured part of the image is fresh and clean. The white surround is slightly browned and marked by small dark or black spots. The paper upon which the image has been engraved is uneven in shape. This was usual for the period of manufacture. There are two pieces of paper glued to the reverse side of the image. They were probably once used to affix the print to a mount.
