Extinct Birds from Mascarene Islands. 2 antique prints c1878.

by M. & N. Hanhart

Mauritius, Réunion and Seychelles extinct Dodo and friends - including a one-horned ram?

2 charming early copperplate engravings reprinted by zinc lithography by M. & N. Hanhart lithographers and printers. Michael and Nicholas Hanhart were a firm who published fine lithographs in London between 1839 and 1882. These antique prints are a suitable pair, with later hand-colour. From the subject matter they were appropriate additions to embellish the text of George Rowley's Ornithological Miscellany published in London between 1875 and 1878.

The upper 'Dronte Alijs Dod-Aers' and 'A Hen' was first published within text, in Melchisedec Thevenot's1672 updated edition of Relations de Divers Voyages Curieux (Accounts of Various Curious Voyages) - as the Dodo Willem Ysbrandtszoon Bontekoe claimed to have seen on Réunion Island.

The lower, featuring 4 birds flying above 8 others is reprinted from an engraving by Herman Weyen (1625-1672) (Flemish, who worked in Paris), after a drawing by French artist, engraver and publisher, Henri le Roy (1579-? active until 1651).

They are in fair condition, with slight soiling. Measuring 245 x 315mm (9 5/8 x 12 3/8 inches).