Baliste épineux. Plate 70 of Poissons by Buffon. Reproduction print

by Buffon, Comte de

Lovely little print of Fish, Baliste épineux (Plate 70), reproduced from a hand-coloured engraving by Rousseau published between 1749 and 1788 by George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-88), for his monumental Histoire Naturelle, Generale et Particuliere avec la Description du Cabinet du Roi.

A philosopher and mathematician, Buffon wished to illustrate all the marvels of the natural world. Starting in his forties with a catalogue of King Louis XV’s “cabinet of curiosities” he worked on this series throughout his life. It was such a popular work that after he died it was completed, and later updated and reissued by M. le Comte De Lacépede for Suite aux Oeuvres de Buffon. Buffon’s work on fish was published as Histoire naturelle des quadrupèdes, ovipares, serpents, poissons et cétacées (Natural History of Quadrupeds, Egg-layng Animals, Reptiles, Fish and Whales).

Print approx. 18 x 11cm (approx. 7 x 4 1/4 inches).