A hand coloured antique print entitled Le Grue (The Crane).
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 Grue translates as The Crane. Cranes live on all continents of the world except for Antarctica and South America. They are opportunistic feeders changing their diet according to the season and their own requirements. They eat rodents, bird’s eggs, fish, amphibians, insects, grains and berries. In the breeding season they construct platform nests in shallow water. They lay two eggs at a time. Both parents raise they young who remain with them until the next breeding season.
Size: 27 x 19 cms or 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.
Condition: Near Fine. the coloured part of the engraving is clean and fresh. The white surround is slightly browned at the edges and otherwise lightly marked. The paper upon which the engraving is printed is uneven in shape . This was normal for the period of manufacture. There are two white strips of paper glued to the reverse side. They were probably once used to affix the print to a mount.
