Scientific Illustration

biomedicalephemera:

Artistic interpretations of sea life, birds, and reptiles

Between the beginning of the Scientific Revolution (which began in the mid-17th century) and the early-19th Century movement towards dry and clinical accuracy in both anatomical and zoological illustrations, there was a period of extravagance, showiness, and artistic expression in the sciences.

Instead of being solely geared towards other scientists, the artists sought to entice the general public and show off their vast collections, in many of their works. This can be seen in the medical illustrations of Frederick Ruysch, as well as here, in the zoological illustrations of Albertus Seba.

[h/t to Biodiversity Library’s blog for tipping me off to the interesting connections between two collections already in my archive]

Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri accurata descripto, tome II & III. Albetus Seba, 1735.

rhamphotheca:

HEY KIDS!!! Let’s color our very own motherfucking Jackson’s Chameleon!

(via: National Geographic)

A naturalist’s sojourn in Jamaica by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

London :Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans,1851..
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24081192

rhamphotheca:

Aigialosaurus is an extinct genus of mosasauroid within the family Aigialosauridae. Its fossils have been found in Europe. It contains two species, Aigialosaurus dalmaticus and Aigialosaurus bucchichi. Aigialosaurs were some of the oldest and most primitive ancestors of mosasaur and were closely related to monitor lizards.

(via: Wikipedia)              

(images: T - FunkMonk; B - Gorjanovic-Kramberger, 1892)

Tsaltsalya, El Adda. by Library & Archives @ Royal Ontario Museum on Flickr.

Author: Bruce, James, 1730-1794.
Title: Select Specimens of Natural History, Collected in Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in Egypt, Arabia, Abyssinia, and Nubia.
Imprint: Edinburgh : Printed by J. Ruthven, for G. G. J. and J. Robinson …, 1790.
Physical Description: 1 print : engraving ; plate mark 220 x 280 mm on leaf 23 x 30 cm.
Page: Interleaved p. 188-189.
Call Number: DT377 .B887 1790 V.5 Rare Book

Note: Title from illustration.

stephanieayres:

Cercosaura argulus sketches

stephanieayres:

Cercosaura argulus

A treasury of endemic fauna of Mauritius and Rodrigues by The Ernst Mayr Library on Flickr.

n213_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame vogelen :.
Amsterdam :J.C. Sepp,1772-1781..
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6678979

Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame vogelen by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

Amsterdam :J.C. Sepp,1772-1781..
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6678978