Ornithology. Godwits, Snipes, Shank and Woodcock. Milton engraving c1811.

by Edwards, Sydenham

Order Grallae, Genus Scolopax. Hand-coloured Cyclopaedia antique print. Red Godwit, White Red Shank, Cape Snipe, Wood Cock, Great Snipe, American Godwit, Lesser Godwit.

Original copperplate engraving c1811 by Milton after a drawing by Welsh natural history illustrator, Sydenham Edwards (1768-1819) for The Cyclopaedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature by Abraham Rees, published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown at Paternoster Row in London.

The New Cyclopaedia was formulated Presbyterian minister and scholar, Abraham Rees (1743-1825) who for many years had revised Chamber’s Cyclopaedia. Rees commissioned the foremost artists and scientists in each field, for his encyclopedia. It was issued in parts for later binding, as 39 volumes of text and 6 volumes with an atlas and illustrations of natural history, agriculture, geology, the remaining sciences, foreign exploration, technology and the arts. Rees’s Cyclopaedia provided amazing insight into the world as then known. It was a very ambitious project, and the most comprehensive of the 19th century.

Longman and Rees began publishing in 1802. Over the years During the years publication was undertaken by different partnerships of publishers. The illustrations and text were entirely hand-set and printed from engraved plates. Each engraving was printed on thick, hand-made ‘wove’ paper. Engravings were printed uncoloured, but the later hand-colour certainly made them more collectable. Page size varied slightly - 26.5 x 20.5cm (approximately 10 1/2 x 8 inches).