Turnspit dogs. Popular in Victorian England - now extinct. c1790

by Buffon, Comte de

Turnspit and Variety of the Turnspit. Small engraving c1790.

From as early as the 15th century, Turnspit short-legged, long-bodied dogs were bred to run on a wheel that turned meat on a spit. By 1850 they had become scarce (only used by the poor after cheap spit-turning machines called clock jacks were invented to do the job), and by 1900 turnspit dogs were extinct.

Original pair of small copperplate engravings for Buffon's Histoire Naturelle Generale et Particuliere avec la description du cabinet du roi (Natural History, General and Specific with the description from the King’s library), published between 1749 and 1790. Buffon's monumental work was one of the earliest with small portraits of the world's animal life. Georges-Louis Le Clerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, biologist, cosmologist and author. Buffon's views influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin.

18th century engraving with soiling which does not detract from images. Page size 205 x 130mm (8 x 5 inches). Image to border measures 120 x 76 mm (4 3/4 x 3 inches).