This exquisitely detailed engraving comes from one of the most beautiful shell books ever made:
The Author: Louis-Charles Kiener (1799 - 1882) was a French malacologist, and curator of the natural history collections of Baron J. P. B. Delessert in Lyon.
The Volumes: Full title of this work is Spécies Général et Iconographie des Coquilles Vivantes, comprenant la collection du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris, la collection Lamarck, celle du Prince Masséna et les découvertes récentes des Voyageurs (General Species and Iconography of Living Shells, including the collection of the Natural History Museum of Paris, the Lamarck collection, that of Prince Masséna and the recent discoveries of the Voyagers). Produced in Paris between 1834 & 1879, in 11 volumes (bound in 12).
Kiener made use of the famous Delessert collection and that of the Natural History Museum of Paris, together the largest and most varied fund of conchological material on the continent. "He soon put it to good use; and in 1834 he published the first part of his 'Spécies .' This exquisitely illustrated iconography, started before the Sowerby and Reeve began to issue theirs, appeared at intervals up to 1879, when eleven volumes had been completed.
Included in the photos is a scan of title page for reference (not included...)
The Technique: Hand coloured stipple steel engraving.
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 metal with a sharp steel point, faithfully following the original watercolor painting which the plate is to reproduce. Usually the metal was copper, but using much harder steel allows finer detail.
It's a process which could take many months for one plate. Once complete, ink is rubbed into the incised & stipples, while the rest of the plate is wiped clean, leaving only the engraved depressions 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.
The Animal:
Text Page(s): I don't possess the text page for this one.
Condition: This one appears to be in good condition with little toning & no offsetting that I can see. The detail remains sharp & beautiful as the day it was printed. Quite glorious to my eye.
These prints are very old & may have typical minor imperfections expected with age & the handmade paper & technique, 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.