ALEXANDER WILSON (1766-1813) A.LAWSON (engraver). An original copper printing plate, titled 1. Carolina Parrot 2. Canada Flycatcher 3. Hooded F. 4. Green, black-capt F. 26 , from American Ornithology; or, The Natural History of the Birds of the United States. (Philadelphia: 1808-1814), [Philadelphia: 1810-1814], 330 x 255mm., "Drawn from nature by A.Wilson Engraved by A.Lawson", plate-maker's stamp on verso: "j.b. KEIM PHILa", mounted and framed. Provenance : Benjamin D. Greene (1793-1862, gift to:); Boston Society of Natural History (gifted in 1863). A VERY RARE SURVIVAL FROM "THE FIRST TRULY GREAT AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY AND ALSO THE FIRST TRULY OUTSTANDING AMERICAN COLOUR PLATE BOOK OF ANY TYPE" (Bennett). The plate includes one of the more important images in Wilson's pioneering work. The Carolina Parrot (now named the Carolina Parrakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis ) was the only member of the parrot family native to the the United States and is now extinct. The engraving is based on Wilson's painting of an individual that he captured and tamed during his 1810 journey. "A big flock of green and yellow Carolina parrots swept past him. They were good-sized birds, about fourteen inches long when fully grown, with a wingspread of nearly two feet. They were unafraid of men, had a quizzical air, marvelous powers of flight, and a lame and crppled gait on the ground. Their heads and necks were bright scarlet, their bodies brilliant yellow, and they travelled in flocks that flew at low levels with great speed, seeming to graze the trunks of trees" (Cantwell. Alexander Wilson Naturalist and Pioneer 1961, p.197). It is interesting to note that there were two states of the prints from this particular plate: the earlier gives G.Murray as engraver, while this the later state printed from the present plate gives Lawson as the engraver, the plate showing the 'ghost' of Murray's name under Lawson's. Benjamin Daniel Greene was the first president of the Boston Society of Natural History, and the the plate passed to the Society shortly after his death in 1862. Asa Gray published a biography of Greene's life in the American Journal of Science series 2, vol.35, pp.449-450 in 1863. Cf. Anker 533; cf. Fine Bird Books p.155; cf. Nissen IVB 992; cf. Sabin 104597; cf. Wood 630; cf. Zimmer pp.679-680.
ALEXANDER WILSON (1766-1813) A.LAWSON (engraver). An original copper printing plate, titled 1. Carolina Parrot 2. Canada Flycatcher 3. Hooded F. 4. Green, black-capt F. 26 , from American Ornithology; or, The Natural History of the Birds of the United States. (Philadelphia: 1808-1814), [Philadelphia: 1810-1814], 330 x 255mm., "Drawn from nature by A.Wilson Engraved by A.Lawson", plate-maker's stamp on verso: "j.b. KEIM PHILa", mounted and framed. Provenance : Benjamin D. Greene (1793-1862, gift to:); Boston Society of Natural History (gifted in 1863). A VERY RARE SURVIVAL FROM "THE FIRST TRULY GREAT AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY AND ALSO THE FIRST TRULY OUTSTANDING AMERICAN COLOUR PLATE BOOK OF ANY TYPE" (Bennett). The plate includes one of the more important images in Wilson's pioneering work. The Carolina Parrot (now named the Carolina Parrakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis ) was the only member of the parrot family native to the the United States and is now extinct. The engraving is based on Wilson's painting of an individual that he captured and tamed during his 1810 journey. "A big flock of green and yellow Carolina parrots swept past him. They were good-sized birds, about fourteen inches long when fully grown, with a wingspread of nearly two feet. They were unafraid of men, had a quizzical air, marvelous powers of flight, and a lame and crppled gait on the ground. Their heads and necks were bright scarlet, their bodies brilliant yellow, and they travelled in flocks that flew at low levels with great speed, seeming to graze the trunks of trees" (Cantwell. Alexander Wilson Naturalist and Pioneer 1961, p.197). It is interesting to note that there were two states of the prints from this particular plate: the earlier gives G.Murray as engraver, while this the later state printed from the present plate gives Lawson as the engraver, the plate showing the 'ghost' of Murray's name under Lawson's. Benjamin Daniel Greene was the first president of the Boston Society of Natural History, and the the plate passed to the Society shortly after his death in 1862. Asa Gray published a biography of Greene's life in the American Journal of Science series 2, vol.35, pp.449-450 in 1863. Cf. Anker 533; cf. Fine Bird Books p.155; cf. Nissen IVB 992; cf. Sabin 104597; cf. Wood 630; cf. Zimmer pp.679-680.
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