One of the more striking Osteology images from the Buffon Quadrupeds is this engraving of the skull & feet of the Hippopotamus.

These are from a remarkable & very rare grouping of engravings I've collected & listed here from Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon's famous early Natural History tour-de-force.

They are all in exceptionally pristine condition, all hand-colored, and they appear to be all from one volume. All are printed on pristine laid paper with limited marginalia, likely a first edition from the first original plates.

Beginning with a group of Antlers & Horns & now moving on to select skeletons of Quadrupeds.

This view was generally included in a set of engravings of the animal, but almost all of this collection selected for just the antlers & skeletons, which in many ways were some of the most striking of all the various views of the subject animal. Very rare to have a focused collection of these, they would make an amazing tableau or composition of framed works shown together.

If, like me, you find these highly detailed, almost surreal compositions with images of animal structural anatomy arresting, gorgeous, highly artistic, amazing & fascinating, & you were interested in a grouping of the best of them, all apparently from one volume in virtually perfect condition, watch this space...

Prices for these, in any condition, without hand-coloring, seem to have become extremely pricey, if they can be found at all. Apparently they have become scarce. Not surprising for such important, quintessential Natural History engravings. One may still find some examples from later editions (plates were re-cut as they wore out, clumsy copies of copies much degraded, the smaller octavo versions seem to still float around here & there, but the original, big crisp quartos full of the initial exuberance & excellence of the project, not so much...

The Artist: Jacques E. De Seve (French, fl. 1742 - 1788). Jacques E. De Seve, also listed as Jacques Eustache de Seve, was the principal artist commissioned by Georges-Louis Leclerec, Comte de Buffon to illustrate 'Histoire Naturelle, Generale Et Particuliere, avec la Description du Cabinet du Roi' from 1749 to 1760. He also produced illustrations for 'Encyclopedie Methodique', from 1774 to 1832.

J. E. De Seve was more artist than naturalist, He was not content to simply portray his animals in a dry and factual manner. Rather, he insisted on providing full backgrounds, including classical landscapes. One writer comments, The illustrations to Buffon's original edition are exquisitely engraved and exude aristocratic elegance and charm.

The Author:  Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste. His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including two prominent French scientists Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. Buffon published thirty-six quarto volumes of his Histoire Naturelle during his lifetime, with additional volumes based on his notes and further research being published in the two decades following his death.

The Publication: Comte de Buffon's "Histoire Naturelle, Generale Et Particuliere, avec la Description du Cabinet du Roi" (Natural History, General and Specific with the Description of the King's Cabinet). 

This is an encyclopaedic collection of 36 large (quarto) volumes written between 1749–1804, initially by the Comte de Buffon, and continued in eight more volumes after his death by his colleagues, led by Bernard Germain de Lacépède. The books cover what was known of the "natural sciences" at the time, including what would now be called material science, physics, chemistry and technology as well as the natural history of animals.

The Technique: This is a Copperplate Engraving, the original, labor-intensive technique used in the very finest botanical & natural history plates, from Pierre-Joseph Redouté's Les Roses to William Curtis's Flora Londinensis.

The printing method, called 'Intaglio', is similar to the way etchings are made, but requires consummate craft of a master metalworker who engraves every line & shading into the copper with a sharp steel point, faithfully following the original watercolor painting which the plate is to reproduce. 

It's a process which could take many months for one plate. Once complete, ink is rubbed into the incised lines, while the rest of the plate is wiped clean, leaving only the engraved lines inked.

The plate is then run through a hand-cranked press, together with the sheet of paper to be printed, between rollers under high pressure. The paper is forced into the engraved lines to pick up the ink in each fine groove, transferring ink to paper, resulting in a reproduced image of unparalleled precision & clarity.

Needless to say, every part of these prints was made by hand: Hand drawn & engraved on hand-mined, smelted & rolled copper, printed onto handmade cotton rag paper, inked & colored with hand-ground pigments.

Text Page: I don't possess the text page(s) for this set.

Condition: This one appears to be in near pristine condition with virtually no toning or offsetting that I can see. The colors & detail remain sharp & beautiful as the day they were printed. They are glorious to my eye.

These prints are very old & may have minor imperfections expected with age, artifacts from having been bound into volumes, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.

Shipping: This one will go in a flat-rate envelope with stiffeners. Additional prints can be combined at no extra shipping cost.