Natural History of Mammals
Heinrich Rudolf Schinz, Lithographed by Carl Joseph Brodtmann
Type: Hand colored Lithograph
Publisher: Zurich/Switzerland
Date: 1824
Size: 9 ¼” by 13”
Heinrich Rudolf Schinz (1777-1861) was educated in Zurich and studied medicine in Würzburg and Jena. He returned to Zurich in 1798 as a physician. Schinz became a teacher at the Medical Institute in 1804, and after the establishment of the university in Zurich in 1833 he became a Professor of Natural History. He served several posts for the Natural History Society of Zurich including, secretary, board member and curator. Schinz produced a series of popular illustrated books on natural history between 1824 and 1852 on humans, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish, the Natural History of Mammals. Carl Joseph Brodtmann lithographed the plates.
Carl Joseph Brodtmann (1787-1862) was one of the most accomplished Swiss lithographers of the day, as well as a print and bookseller who lived in Zurich and Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Brodtmann's lithographs were richly detailed, accurately and beautifully composed. Antique prints of animals were often exaggerated while Brodtmann captured the beauty and personality of his subjects.
These hand-colored original stone lithograph are taken from “Naturhistorische Abbildungen der Saeugethiere” or Natural History of Mammals. These large antique prints are part of a series on the animal kingdom, showing a variety of species, including elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, monkeys, horses, reptiles, butterflies and insects. Some plates also depict indigenous peoples. These are early examples of educational natural history books about the animal kingdom, a genre that remained popular throughout the 19th century.
Reference: Bénézit, E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs. France: Librairie Gründ, 1966. Vol. 2, p. 146. |
