Australian Petrel. Fuliginous Peteril. Procellaria Fuliginosa engraving c1790.

by White, John

Fuliginous Petrel antique print. Procellaria fuliginosa rostro albido. The markings beyond its beak make it look quite ferocious!

White noted that "This is probably nothing more than a variety of the Procellaria Aequinoctialis of Linnaeus. Its size is nearly that of a raven. The whole bird is of a deep sooty brown, or blackish; except that on the chin is a small patch of white, running down a little on each side from the lower mandible. The beak is of a yellowish white.

Rare original copperplate engraving for the Surgeon-General of the First Fleet and Settlement in Australia, John White's Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales published in London by J. Debrett in 1789-1790. As well as being Surgeon-General of the British settlement at Port Jackson, White was an avid amateur naturalist who sent a collection of natural history specimens to England in mid-1789. Artist not indicated, but Sarah Stone drew forty-nine of the sixty-five specimens that were then engraved by five London nature artists, Frederick Nodder, Charles Catton Jr., Edward Kennion, Mortimer, and Stone herself.

This page has slight imperfections (reflected in the price). Finely coloured some time after publication. Size of page: 28 x 22cm (11 x 8.5 inches).