Antique Print-SYSTEM OF SUBDIVISION OF BIRDS-BEAK-FEET-Martinet-Diderot-1751

Copperplate engraving on hand laid (verge) paper with watermark (not visible in every sheet). on paper.

Size in cm: The overall size is ca. 26 x 41,5 cm. The image size is ca. 20 x 34 cm. Size in inch: The overall size is ca. 10,2 x 16,3 inch. The image size is ca. 7,9 x 13,4 inch.

Plate 50 : ‘Histoire Naturelle, Regne Animal. Distribution methodique des Oyseaux par le bec et par les pattes’. (Natural History, animal kingdom. System of subdivision of birds by the beak and the feet.) This antique print originates from: ‘The Encyclopeie ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des metiers, par une Societe de Gens de lettres’ which was published under the direction of Diderot and d’Alembert, with 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of plates between 1751 and 1772. It contained 72,000 articles written by more than 140 contributors. This encyclopdia was a massive reference work for the arts and sciences, as well as a means to propagate the ideas of the French Enlightment. The impact of this encyclopedia was enormous. Artists and Engravers: Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was a French philosopher, art critic and writer. Jean le Rond d’Alembert (1717-1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher. These plates are engraved by J.A.Defehrt and Bonaventure/Benoit-Louis Prevost after J.R Lucotte or Goussier.

Condition: Very good, given age. Bottom margin a little stained, a small brown stain in the lower half of the image. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.

Keywords: ANTIQUE PRINT-SYSTEM OF SUBDIVISION OF BIRDS-BEAK-FEET-MARTINET-DIDEROT

(PCOMAN) A53-25