Heliconii Apollo, Heliconia Piera, Heliconia Polyhymnia antique print c1805.

by Mrs. M. Griffith

Papilio, Wanderer Butterflies. Griffith engraving for George Shaw.

Original copperplate engraving by Mrs M. Griffith for General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History by George Shaw M.D., F.R.S. (1751-1813), published in London circa 1805 (later hand-colour).

The son of Reverend Timothy Shaw, George was educated by his father until 1765, when he entered Magdalen College, Oxford (B.A.,1769. M.A.,1772). George Shaw was ordained as a Deacon in 1774 but left this profession to study medicine in Edinburgh for three years. He then returned to Oxford where he was deputy-lecturer in Botany. He was admitted to the degrees of M.B. and M.D. in 1787 and then practised as a doctor in London. In 1788 he joined the newly founded Linnean Society of London, and in 1789 was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1791 Shaw was appointed to the natural history section of the British Museum and in 1807 he was appointed keeper, and retained that position until he died.

The size of each image is 23 x 13 cm (9 x 5 inches).