Edward Lear parrot, Nanodes undulatus, Undulated Nanodes Parakeet. Lizars engraving c1836.

by Lear, Edward

Grass Parakeet or Budgerigar antique print, Melopsittacus undulatus (Nanodes Parakeet).

Fine original hand-coloured steel engraving by Edinburgh engraver William Home Lizars, after a drawing by Edward Lear (1812-1888). Lizars small, finely engraved portraits are exquisitely presented against the uncoloured engraving of each bird's habitat. Lear assisted John Selby with illustrations for his Parrots published circa 1836 for Sir William Jardine’s Naturalist's Library. 

Between 1830 and 1832 Lear worked as a natural history draughtsman at the Zoological Society in London, he recorded the different members of the parrot family for his Illustrations of the family Psittacidae, or Parrots. They were considered a perfect combination of science and art, and resulting in his being elected an associate of the Linnaean Society. 

This beautiful little hand-coloured antique print of a Budgerigar is nearly 200 years old and is slightly soiled/age-discoloured. Page size is 17 x 10cm (6.6.x 4 inches)