Description
Description of Comte de Buffon's Historie Naturelle
These hand-colored engravings are from the famous work Historie Naturelle, "the most celebrated treatise on animals ever produced" (Dibner). Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, produced this work in an effort to write about every known entity in the natural world. Due to Buffon's "energetic and graceful style in scientific writing", Historie Naturelle was understandable to a wide audience which in turn increased interest in natural history in 18th century Europe. Buffon described his study quite broadly: "Natural history embraces all the objects the universe presents to us. This prodigious multitude of quadrupeds, birds, fish, insects, plants, minerals, etc., offers to the curiosity of the human mind a vast spectacle, of which the whole is so great that the details are inexhaustible." Jacques E. De Seve was the principal artist for the work, who not only portayed the animals, but insisted on creating magnificent backgrounds in which to view them. Due to its 44 volumes, this work employed scores of engravers, including C. Baquoy, De Fehrt, Chevillet and Jardinier. The first volume was printed in 1749 with the other volumes being published until 1783. They are on fine chain-linked, watermarked paper that measures ~ 6 1/5" by 4".