Bidspirit auction | Hughes & Ehret's Natural History

Hughes & Ehret's Natural History of Barbados - Volume with 1 Map and 30 Engravings - This volume with 30 engravings and 1 map is Georg Ehret & Griffith Hughes's work The Natural History of Barbados . This first edition work was printed in London in 1750. The volume is bound in contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt. The work features a double-page map by Thoomas Jefferys and 30 engraved plates by Bickham and Goerg Ehret. This is considered a large paper example. Each plate features a crest with a dedication to a nobleman and natural flora or fauna of the island of Barbados. The engravings are mostly after original drawings by Georg Dionysius Ehret, who was arguably one of the greatest botanical artists of the 18th century. Hunt praises the work as ”This book is one to place beside Catesby's Natural History ” and it is often seen as a companion to Sloane's Jamaica . ”Hughes had an advantage over Catesby in that the majority of the Barbados plates were drawn by Ehret, while just three of Catesby's are from that gifted artist's hand. Probably several of the unsigned Barbados plates are also by Ehret, as he may have signed only those that he felt were good.” (ibid) Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770) was a German botanist and entomologist. He was noted as a brilliant botanical artist, was unrivalled in his ability to ”achieve realism, majesty, ineffable colour, all in one breathtaking look.” (Hunt) Born in Heidelberg in 1710, he originally worked as a gardener and practiced drawing in his spare time. Ehret moved to London in the late 1730s, where he painted the recently introduced exotics at the Chelsea Physic Garden and established himself as a teacher of flower-painting and botany. Griffith Hughes (1707-1758) was a reverend, naturalist, and author. He was the first to describe the grapefruit (or Forbidden Fruit) which appeared in this work. The Natural History of Barbados was the first publication of scientific research conducted on location. Provenance: Charles Lyttleton FRS FSA (1714-1768), Bishop of Carlisle and President of the Society of Antiquaries (original subscriber, armorial bookplate, 4-line annotation in lower margin on p.313); Christian Heuer (bookplate) Paper Size: ~ 10” by 16 1/2”