Beginning in 1712, Mark Catesby, an English-born artist-naturalist embarked on two scientific expeditions to the southern colonies of British North America that would ultimately result in the first major work on New World botanical and animal life, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Too poor to hire engravers, Catesby personally translated his watercolors into 220 plates of birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish, insects, and mammals. Volume I was published in 1731, Volume II in 1743, and the Appendix in 1748. In addition to the plates, Catesby included descriptions of plants and animals, soils, climate, agriculture, and Indians. All descriptions were in English and French.
The elegant folio pages gave the Old World the first glimpse of the New. During his voyage to Cuba, Catesby noted that birds migrate. This discovery challenged the prevailing view that birds hibernate in caves or under ponds in the winter. He also mentioned the trends in animal size and species diversity as he went farther south.
Carolus Linnaeus used many of Catesby's drawing and actual specimens and much of his text for the 10thedition of Systema Naturae (1758) which lays the foundation of today's system of biological taxonomy. Lewis and Clark consulted the catalogue on their cross-country expedition in 1804-1806, and John James Audubon, born 31 years after Catesby died, used it as a model.
The National Agricultural Library has original bound volumes of Catesby's Natural History.
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Catesby Images |
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The National Agricultural Library Special Collections 10301 Baltimore Avenue Beltsville, MD 20705 301-504-5876 speccoll@nal.usda.gov November 14, 2001 |