Edward Lear parrot, Trichoglossus Pyrrhopterus, Orange Winged Lorikeet, c1836

by Lear, Edward

Small antique print of Orange-winged Lorikeet from Hawaii (Sandwich Islands).

Original hand-coloured steel engraving by eminent Edinburgh engraver William Home Lizars (1788-1859) after a drawing by Edward Lear who illustrated John Selby's Parrots for Sir William Jardine's Naturalist's Library, published in London c1836. Sir William Jardine (1800-1847) was a Scottish naturalist who employed naturalists in each field of wild life. From their drawings W.H. Lizars engraved each finely detailed specimen, each of which was hand-coloured with watercolour. With their backgrounds uncoloured, these small finely engraved nature portraits are some of the finest ever produced.

Edward Lear (1812-1888) worked as a scientific artist for the Zoological Society in London. He was the first eminent artist to draw fauna from life rather than from stuffed skins. Between 1830 and 1832 Lear painted and lithographed parrots for his own publication, Illustrations of the family Psittacidae, or Parrots - which resulted in his being elected an associate of the Linnaean Society. In his later years, with failing eyesight, Edward Lear was quoted as saying that if there was such a thing as reincarnation he would surely return as a parrot.

This page is nearly 200 years old and is slightly age-discoloured. The page size is 17 x 10cm (6.6 x 4 inches)