The "Beetle" Map

"Verschiedene Reisen des Auctoris", Seligmann, Johann Michael

This fascinating map was originally drawn by George Edwards (1694-1773), an artist, naturalist, and ornithologist who is most famous for his beautiful bird engravings published between 1743 and 1751 in his four-volume A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards' publication was immediately popular, and was subsequently republished in several editions, including this German edition published between 1749-76 with plates re-engraved by Johann Michael Seligmann. The map shows Edwards' journeys between 1716-1730 to study his beloved birds and other natural creatures, including Holland in 1716 and again in 1730, Norway in 1718, and France from 1719-21. The map is embellished with several findings of natural history from his other travels abroad. At top is the large beak of an Egyptian Ibis. Below are two life-size drawings of stag beetles from Borneo in the East Indies. And at bottom is the Least Humming Bird from Jamaica with its egg, also drawn life-size. Edwards' interest in natural history was boundless, and this wonderful map, with its curious combination of cartography and the natural world, is a rare and very attractive curiosity.

References: cf. Shirley (BI to 1750) Edwards 1.

Condition: A

A fine impression with original color.