The Temple of Muses

Mythological Figures and Fables

The Chaos or the Origin of the World

Transformation of Cyguns into a Swan and Phaeton's Sisters into poplar trees

Bellerophon fights the Chimaera

Achelous in the shape of a Bull is vanquished by Hercules

Amphion builds the walls of Thebes by the Music of his Lyre

Arion preserved by a Dolphin

Atlas supports the Heavens on his shoulders

The Fall of Icarus

Glaucus changed into a Sea-God

The Moon and Endymion

The Dioscuri or Castor and Pollux the Guardians of Mariners

Ulysses and his companions avoid the charms of the Sirens

Hercules' Combat with the Hydra

Sisyphus's stone

Ixion's wheel

Hell

Bernard Picart (or Picard) (1673-1733) was a French book illustrator and one of the outstanding engravers from the first decades of the 18th century. His most famous work - see: Designer Religion - was an enormous compendium of the world's religions.

In 'Neueröffneter Musen-Tempel', a collection of mythological fables and stories (most notably from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses') is presented, accompanied by sixty copperplate engravings by Picart. The illustrations are superior in quality, even as they appeared in 1733 in the fading light of the Baroque tradition. The fabulous ornate border patterns lend the compositions something of a formal quality like framed paintings; indeed, Picart drew inspiration for a number of his engravings from mid-17th century works by the Rubens student, Abraham van Diepenbeeck. But the majority of the designs are by Picart himself.

Motives listed for Picart's illustration include: Alcyone, Alpheus, Andromeda, Apollo, Arethusa, Argonauts, Argus, Aristaeus, Artemis, Calais, Cassandra, Castor, Ceyx, Cycnus, Deucalion, Dioscuri, Echo, Enceladus, Endymion, Eos, Eurynome, Giants, Glaucus, Harpies, Heliades, Hera, Hermaphroditus, Hermes, House of Hypnos, Io, Iphis, Leander, Leucothoe, Lycaon, Memnon, Niobe, Niobids, Oeneus, Palladium, Pan, Perseus, Phaethon, Phineus, Polydeuces, Proteus, Pygmalion, Pyrrha, River Gods, Salmacis, Selene, Semele, Syrinx, Tantalus, The Flood, Tithonus, Trojan War, Troy, Underworld, Zetes, Zeus [source]

'The Temple of Muses' was published in France and Germany simultaneously in 1733 and includes captions in English, French, German and Dutch below each illustration. The images above are from a 1754 edition published in Amsterdam.

• 'Neueröffneter Musen-Tempel: Welcher das Allermerkwürdigste' (or, approximately/expanded: 'The Temple of the Muses contains mythological tales and fables of ancient authors, especially from Ovid's Metamorphoses, which are provided with comments and interpretations') was recently placed online at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg. [click anything below 'Inhalt' and then 'Vorschau' for thumbnail pages] {$12.5K!}
• Previously: Designer Religion / Artcyclopedia entry.

Crustacean Atlas

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst (1743-1807) was a German naturalist and entomologist as well as a theologian and chaplain for the Prussian army.

Herbst was best known for helping Carl Jablonsky attempt to survey all known beetles (Order Colyoptera). The effort resulted in the massive, but still incomplete 'Naturgeschichte der in-und Ausländischen Insekten' (1785-1806) (see: i, ii)

The title of present interest - 'Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse' ([An attempt at] The Natural History of Crabs and Lobsters) - was released in instalments between about 1782 and the mid-1790s. There were three volumes of text and an atlas consisting of more than sixty hand-coloured engravings. It appears various editions were issued before 1800, some coloured, some not and some coloured later : all having an impact on the auction price today (ranging from, say, $6K to $18K).

Herbst's crab and lobster book was - as far as I can tell - the first comprehensive work on the crustaceans and definitely included descriptions and illustrations of previously unknown species. It is still regarded as a primary source in the field.

• The images in this post from 'Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse' were sourced from Berlin's Humboldt University (thumbnail page).
• A pdf can be obtained from the Biodiversity Heritage Library of Europe.
• The series can also be accessed from Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum (different colouring/style).
• Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum has a number of other works by JFW Herbst available via their Animal Database.
• Other brief sources: one, two, three, four.
• via Scientific Illustration tumblr.

JFW Herbst titles on Amazon

Lear's Parrots - The Prequel

Edward Lear Sketches of Parrots Relating to 'Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots' (1832), ca. 1830 (MS Typ 55.9). Houghton Library, Harvard University.

A selection of plates from Lear's published book can be seen in the following post from 2008: The Parrots.

That book is definitely one of my all-time favourite natural history publications; so I was particularly happy to discover Harvard's intriguing collection of preliminary sketches and practice lithographs by Lear.

To quote myself:

"The balance of critical opinion regards Lear's book on parrots to be the finest ever published on that bird family and among the greatest ornithological works ever produced.

It's not just because such an audacious project was successfully completed by so young a character, or that the subject matter was drawn so sensitively and with great scientific accuracy and naturalistic detail, but because the exceptional quality of Lear's plates - drawn, wherever possible, from living specimens - would significantly influence the work of two contemporary artists, John James Audubon and John Gould, perhaps the greatest ornithological illustrators of all time.

Both Audubon and Gould would employ Lear during the 1830s to assist in their projects and it was only failing eyesight that foreshortened Lear's bird illustrating career."

Note: Edward Lear was TWENTY YEARS OLD when his Parrot book was published!!




Lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo : ink, graphite and watercolour drawing. 45 x 30.9 cm.

Drawing cut-out and pasted on leaf.

Inscribed upper left:
"September 1830. Plyctolophus Sulphureus. from a living specimen at Bruton Street."

Two small green birds : hand-coloured lithograph

Macaw : graphite and watercolour drawing. 35.4 x 25.7 cm.

Two small parrots in foliage : ink and watercolour drawing. 37.2 x 55 cm.

Parrot head [red and yellow macaw] : graphite and watercolour drawing. 36.5 x 37 cm

Grey cockatoo : graphite and watercolour drawing. 42.8 x 31.6 cm.

Salmon-crested cockatoo : graphite and watercolour drawing. 54.7 x 36.6 cm.

Drawing for plate 2 in 'Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots' , 1832.

[Two supplemental pieces of paper [MS Typ 55.9 (22/25a), MS Typ 55.9 (22/25b)] were detached from the sheet for drawing 22 by Lear himself and affixed to drawing 25. One, with colour samples, overlaid the lower right corner of drawing 25; the other was used to extend the feathered crest of the cockatoo beyond the upper edge of the main sheet of drawing 25.]

Small parrot : hand-coloured lithograph. drawing. 55.4 x 36.4 cm.

Green parrot : ink, graphite and watercolour drawing. 33.7 x 29.2 cm.

Inscribed:
"Palaeornis Torquatus. Leila: living at Mr. Vigor’s – Chester Terrace. drawn February 1831."





Parrot : graphite and watercolour on lithograph. 54.2 x 36.6 cm.

Inscribed upper left:
"Intended for P. Obscurus, alive at Bruton St. June 1830."

Blue parrot [Lear’s macaw] : graphite and watercolour drawing. 54.3 x 37.3 cm.

Green parrot : graphite and watercolour drawing. 54.8 x 27 cm.

Tabuan parakeet : lithograph. 55.6 x 37 cm.

Inscribed at top of leaf:
"Pattern for Printing. E. Lear."




Barnard's parakeet : graphite and watercolour drawing. 37.5 x 28.4 cm.

Drawing for plate 18 in the 'Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots', 1832.

Dark blue parrot : hand-coloured lithograph. 55.5 x 37.2 cm.

Black-capped lory : hand-coloured lithograph. 55.3 x 37.2 cm.

Inscribed on top portion of leaf:
"drawn from the living Lorius Domicella at Bruton St. my first lithographic failure."




Two parrots : ink, graphite and watercolour drawing. 55.7 x 37 cm.

One drawing cut-out and pasted on composite leaf.

Inscribed upper center:
September. 1830. "Macrocercus - ? – from living bird at the gardens."





Green and red parrot : ink, graphite and watercolour drawing. 34.3 x 27.4 cm.





Sulphur-crested cockatoo : graphite and watercolor drawing. 51.2 x 36.2 cm.

Drawing for plate 3 in 'Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots', 1832.



Lear, Edward, 1812-1888. Edward Lear sketches of parrots relating to 'Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots' (1832), ca. 1830: Guide. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library.

• Check out the published illustration plates in The Parrots - includes more background and links.
• Edward Lear, The Parrots: The Complete Plates (Taschen).
• via @john_overholt / Houghton Library Blog
• Also see: Turtle Diary.
  
• Addit. (Nov 2012) A bit tangential, but still: David Attenborough receives his copy of Sharpe's Birds of Paradise from the Folio Society. It's a fabulous 6mins of video, promise!

Sedam Linoreza

Mihailo S. Petrov [Michael S Peter or Mihaila S. Petrova or михаило с петров] (1902 – 1983) was a Serbian graphic artist, painter, illustrator, poet and critic, professor, book and poster designer and typographer.

Petrov was a leading graphic protagonist of the Yugoslav anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-nationalist Avant-Garde movement known as Zenitism, that flourished in the 1920s.

"The international review of new art and culture Zenit (1921-1926) enjoyed a reputation in the world as the only Yugoslav Avant-Garde journal, which was included in the international Avant-Garde scene at the beginning of the 1920s. Zenit was launched by Avant-Garde artist Ljubomir Micic in February 1921 in Zagreb."

• Petrov's seven linocuts above {1921-22} were sourced from the Serbian National Library.
• The Wikipeida article on Zenitism provides direct links to all the issues of Zenit; again, hosted by the Digital National Library of Serbia.
• Mihailo S. Petrov biography from the Avant-Garde Museum (this is a detailed site in English devoted to modernist arts from member states of the former Yugoslavia)