Timor Olive-headed Parrot and Australian Iris Parrot.

by Goldsmith, Oliver

Parrots antique print. Olive-headed Lorikeet and Iris Lorikeet.

Original hand-coloured steel engraving for Goldsmith's A History of the Earth and Animated Nature, published in London c1848 by A. Fullarton & Company of London and Edinburgh. The earlier engravings had simple uncoloured habitats behind the fauna shown, so that the subjects stood out from their background.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) composed a work about the planets, earth and all nature. The first edition was published in 1774, but with beautiful hand-coloured illustrations it was an instant success, and was reissued more than 20 times over the following century - changing the process for the illustrations as technology changed over this period.

Pretty original hand-coloured parrots engraving with the usual soiling at page edges. Page 162 x 250mm (6.3/8 x 9.3/4 inches).