Quarto: 11 1/2" X 9 1/4" (sheet dimensions: plate marks are a bit less).

We are proud to be able to offer a fine original hand colored engraved  print by Pierre Cramer from his masterful work entitled De Uitlandsche Kapellen Voorkomende In De Drie Waereld-Deelen Asia, Africa En America... Par Pierre Cramer.

Pieter Cramer (1721-1776) was a Dutch merchant and entomologist who made his fortune in Spanish wool and linen, and indulged in his passion for collecting natural history specimens. He directed the scientific Zeeland Society, where he gave lectures on minerals and which financed part of the cost of Papillons Exotiques. He enjoyed seashells, fossils and petrified woods, but his prize collection was of exotic butterflies and moths. Cramer commissioned the Dutch artist Wartenaar Lambertz to immortalize his entomology collection, showing in many cases both the upper and lower views of each butterfly at life size. The project expanded to include other collections in the Netherlands, including those of Prince William V of Orange, Willem Baron Rengers and Joan Raye, the son of the former governor in Surinam. Finally, Lambertz had depicted more than 1,650 species of butterfly.

Preparations to begin publishing these drawings began only a few years before Cramer’s death, and he lived to see Volume I published. His will provided for the continuation of the project under the editorship of Caspar Stoll, who had originally encouraged Cramer to publish. Wartenaar Lambertz continued as the draughtsman of the copperplate engravings, and between 1775 and 1782 four volumes were published. The work was the first color book arranging exotic butterflies in accordance with the Linnean system of classification. Many of the species were named and displayed in print for the first time, and several species have been lost to time.

 Antique butterfly copper plate engravings have become exceedingly difficult to acquire in todays market and the superb artistry and beautiful original hand coloring makes these prints a wonderful addition to any collection.

We are delighted to be able to offer a wide variety of these fine prints in excellent condition at most competitive pricing. 

Thank you for looking and please be sure and look at our other auctions for other fine works by Audubon from the first as well as the 1860 editions of the Birds Of America. We also have other architectural, natural history plates as well as original maps, all guaranteed original.