HAND COLOURED PRINT FROM 1924-7

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The cheeky chinchilla gang are proud to present this original print of furballs
(Yet another one they have persuaded chin mummy to buy!)

Interesting to note that this actual print was produced in 1924 - in 1923, just a year before,
Chapman had established a colony of one dozen chinchillas from Chile that year!
(for those who do not know who Chapman is, you wouldn't have your furballs
today if it wasn't for him - he was the first person to breed chinchillas successfully)

Below are some interesting details about this print

This beautiful hand coloured plate is from The Animal Kingdom, Arranged in Conformity with its Organization, by the Baron Cuvier, Member of the Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the species hitherto named, and of many not before noticed, by Edward Griffith and others. London, printed for Geo. B. Whittaker, Ave-Marie-Lane, MDCCCXVII.

Condition: Excellent

ARTWORK - dated between 1824 and 1827. The plate measures 9" by 5 3/4".

Baron Georges Cuvier was a pioneer in the fields of comparative anatomy and palaeontology. He studied the regularity of natural forms and processes, and he produced a theory of the "correlation of parts" to explain the functional basis of living structures and processes. Although largely self taught, he worked for years at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and obtained many influential academic and administrative posts. His analysis of cats from Egyptian tombs led him to argue that organic evolution did not occur, since ancient felines were so similar to their modern counterparts. Although a staunch anti-evolutionist, his detailed understanding of anatomy and extinct species was often cited by evolutionists as evidence of dynamism in species development.  

Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was the French naturalist perhaps most responsible for the rise of European interest in natural history during the eighteenth century. His massive Histoire naturelle (36 volumes) set out to organize all that was then known about the natural world. He was the source of important ideas about the distribution of plants and animals around the globe, relationships among species, the age of the earth, the sources of biological variation, and the possibility of evolution. The numerous illustrations to Buffon's volumes, which began publication in 1749, became the source of information about the visual appearance of creatures that inhabited every continent. This particular work ranges through the many different species of animals that exist. Within are found such sections as entomology (insect), ichthyology (fish), ornithology (bird), mammal plates, and reptile plates. The animals featured in these sections are plentiful, as evidenced below by a selection of the animals, birds and insects that will eventually make their way online to be sold. In the insect section, there are roaches, beetles, ladybugs, and more. In the bird section we find eagles, hawks, owls, songbirds (thrush, sparrow), partridges, grouse, and many more. Of course the mammal plates are the most memorable of all, including lions, tigers, giraffes, monkeys, chimpanzees, orangutans, cats, dogs, horses and cows. All tolled this set is chock full of excellent prints.

The chinchillas agree that by the look of the above picture of their great, great granddaddies - they did evolve!