HOWITT, THOMAS. 1785-1846; ALEXANDER WILSON after. An album containing 71 watercolors of 81 birds after Alexander Wilson each with descriptive text in manuscript, 143 leaves, oblong 4to (232 x 363 mm), bound in modern half-Morocco.
Provenance: Thomas Howitt (his armorial bookplate, motto "Aquila Non Capit Muscas").
AMATEUR ALBUM OF ACCOMPLISHED ORNITHOLOGICAL WATERCOLORS AFTER ALEXANDER WILSON THE "FATHER OF AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. Wilson's monumental American Ornithology was the first comprehensive attempt to picture and categorically described the variety of species of American birds, and has been called "the first truly great American ornithology and also the first truly outstanding American color plate book of any type" (Bennett).
The amateur artist Thomas Howitt appears to be the Lancaster doctor, and the son of sporting and wildlife artist Samuel Howitt (1756–1822). The Met holds the elder Howitt's copy of his 1800 British Sportsmen, signed by Samuel "S. Howitt" on the flyleaf, with the bookplate of Thomas Howitt, bearing the motto "Aquila non capit muscas" ("The eagle does not catch flies"). According to MTW Payne and JE Payne's "Samuel Howitt's funny turn" (British Art Journal, Summer 2011), Samuel Howitt's son Thomas was embarking on a medical career in Lancaster in 1801, and had set up his practice there by 1809. (See also archives of Royal College of Surgeons of England GB 0114 MS0092, for the related papers of Thomas's son, the surgeon also called Thomas Howitt.) Thomas Howitt was cited by William Yarrell in his History of British Birds as contributing sightings of the Little Stint (Sandpiper) in the western part of Lancashire.
The text of the album, as well as the bright, accomplished watercolors, follows Wilson. The Coe Ornithological Collection at Yale possesses a related album of 136 unnumbered leaves, also with Howitt's bookplate and his signature, titled "American Ornithology," and described as "68 original watercolor drawings of American birds in natural color ... each accompanied by a leaf of descriptive matter," c.1826, which has been called "of fundamental importance in the history of American ornithology" (Ripley, "The Coe Collection of Ornithology," Yale University Library Gazette, 1952, p 68.
A rare collection of ornithological watercolors, vibrantly and attentively produced by a talented amateur with an artistic pedigree.
HOWITT, THOMAS. 1785-1846; ALEXANDER WILSON after. An album containing 71 watercolors of 81 birds after Alexander Wilson each with descriptive text in manuscript, 143 leaves, oblong 4to (232 x 363 mm), bound in modern half-Morocco.
Provenance: Thomas Howitt (his armorial bookplate, motto "Aquila Non Capit Muscas").
AMATEUR ALBUM OF ACCOMPLISHED ORNITHOLOGICAL WATERCOLORS AFTER ALEXANDER WILSON THE "FATHER OF AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. Wilson's monumental American Ornithology was the first comprehensive attempt to picture and categorically described the variety of species of American birds, and has been called "the first truly great American ornithology and also the first truly outstanding American color plate book of any type" (Bennett).
The amateur artist Thomas Howitt appears to be the Lancaster doctor, and the son of sporting and wildlife artist Samuel Howitt (1756–1822). The Met holds the elder Howitt's copy of his 1800 British Sportsmen, signed by Samuel "S. Howitt" on the flyleaf, with the bookplate of Thomas Howitt, bearing the motto "Aquila non capit muscas" ("The eagle does not catch flies"). According to MTW Payne and JE Payne's "Samuel Howitt's funny turn" (British Art Journal, Summer 2011), Samuel Howitt's son Thomas was embarking on a medical career in Lancaster in 1801, and had set up his practice there by 1809. (See also archives of Royal College of Surgeons of England GB 0114 MS0092, for the related papers of Thomas's son, the surgeon also called Thomas Howitt.) Thomas Howitt was cited by William Yarrell in his History of British Birds as contributing sightings of the Little Stint (Sandpiper) in the western part of Lancashire.
The text of the album, as well as the bright, accomplished watercolors, follows Wilson. The Coe Ornithological Collection at Yale possesses a related album of 136 unnumbered leaves, also with Howitt's bookplate and his signature, titled "American Ornithology," and described as "68 original watercolor drawings of American birds in natural color ... each accompanied by a leaf of descriptive matter," c.1826, which has been called "of fundamental importance in the history of American ornithology" (Ripley, "The Coe Collection of Ornithology," Yale University Library Gazette, 1952, p 68.
A rare collection of ornithological watercolors, vibrantly and attentively produced by a talented amateur with an artistic pedigree.
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