A hand coloured antique print entitled Le Kamichi.
From ‘Histoire Naturelle Des Oiseaux’ by George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.
Published by L’Imprimerie Royale, Paris between 1770 and 1786.
Engraved by M. R. verve Tardieu
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 Kamichi is a South American bird with spurs on its leg and a alder horn-like ornament on its head. It is often domesticated and kept by native people with domestic poultry. It protects these birds from hawks.
Size: 27 x 19.2 cms or 10 3/4 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 very lightly foxed. There is a short closed tear on the left hand side of the surround that has been secured using archival tape. The paper on which it has been printed is uneven in shape and slightly creased. This was normal for the period of manufacture. There are two white strips of paper on the reverse side. They were probably once used to affix the print to a mount.
