1300 Real and Fanciful Animals - Matthäus (the Younger) Merian - Dover Pictorial Archive

1300 Real and Fanciful Animals by Matthäus (the Younger) Merian presents a substantial archive of animal engravings drawn from early modern sources. Issued as a paperback in the Dover Pictorial Archive series, it reproduces plates from an extremely rare eighteenth-century edition.

Key details

• Author: Matthäus (the Younger) Merian
• Series: Dover Pictorial Archive
• Subtitle: From Seventeenth-Century Engravings
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 128
• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc
• Publication date: 28 March 2003
• ISBN: 9780486402376

Synopsis

First published by the painter Matthäus Merian (1621–1687), this copyright-free collection brings together a large selection of meticulously reproduced engravings depicting both scientific specimens and legendary creatures. The images are organised into six divisions: quadrupeds, snakes, mollusks and crustaceans, fish, birds, and insects.

Across approximately 1,300 illustrations, realistic studies sit alongside imaginative portrayals of mythical beasts including unicorns, dragons, basilisks, harpies, and griffins, with many plates accompanied by identifying Latin captions. Reprinted from 123 plates in the R. & G. Wetstenios, Amsterdam, 1718 edition, it suits commercial artists, illustrators, craftspeople, and anyone interested in antique imagery and earlier visual ideas.

Rackhams Reference : D3GRVZBD3E