Mayflies at Dusk. Eintagsfliege. Brehm's Tierleben lithograph c1869.

by Brehm, Alfred Edmund

Antique print of Mayfly swarm at water's edge.

Original colour-printed lithograph c1869 for Illustrirtes Tierleben (Illustrated Life of Animals) by Alfred Edmund Brehm (1829-1883) published in Leipzig between 1864 and 1869, with lithographic illustrations mainly based on the watercolours of German artist, Robert Kretschmer (1812-1872). Eminent German zoologist and well-travelled writer, Brehm was the first director of the Zoological Garden of Hamburg, where he had a wide access to exotic wildlife.

Alfred and his siblings were encouraged to read by their mother. He was later greatly influenced by his father who was a famous ornithologist and pastor, Christian Ludwig Brehm. Initially focussing on birds, Alfred acquired fame after publication of his well-illustrated and expressively described series of books on the lives of all kinds of animal life.

Page size 255 x 170mm (10 x 6.65 inches). Lithograph size 210 x 133mm (8.25 x 5.25 inches).