Mark Catesby's Natural History: An Introduction

Mark Catesby's Natural History: An Introduction is a delightful picture book. It contains a collection of beautiful images of etchings by early eighteenth century naturalist and explorer Mark Catesby from his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was first published in 1731 (a century before John James Audubon's Birds of America) and which was described by a knowledgeable contemporary as "the most magnificent Work I know of, since the Art of Printing has been discover'd." It was the first fully illustrated natural history of North America.

During his travels in North America, Catesby had to endure encounters with hurricanes, disease, rattlesnakes, poisonous trees, and an Indian ambush. It was also during this period that he made some notable observations. He is, for example, credited with the first known written comments in English about the effects of habitat destruction on the survival of a species.

Mark Catesby's Natural History: An Introduction provides a window, not only into the flora and fauna of the early eighteenth century, but into the fascinating mind of an observer who meticulously recorded what he saw long before the advent and advantages of a modern-day camera. 50 carefully arranged examples of Catesby's illustrations (which he personally etched and colored) are paired with relevant extracts from the text of The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, as well as appropriate commentary.

Examples of the illustrations in Mark Catesby's Natural History: An Introduction include the very first colored illustrations of the now-extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker, the Carolina Parakeet and the Passenger Pigeon. It also includes the first known and still existing pen and ink drawing by Catesby depicting the American Lotus. Notable are the Bald Eagle as well as the Bobolink, which led Catesby to develop the very first scientifically credible theory of bird migration.

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