Set Of Six Marcus Bloch Fish Engravings

Superb set of six original 18th Century fish engravings by Marcus Bloch. Presented in bespoke hand-painted and lacquered bobbin frames with hessian mounts and AR70 Artglass for optimal clarity. These natural history fish studies are from the finest ichthyology colour plate set ever produced - a monumental and beautiful work that continued to be a primary reference for naturalists into the 19th century and is still admired today for its sumptuous illustrations. The plates reproduce the bright natural colouring of the fish, some of which were heightened with gold, silver or bronze to imitate the metallic sheen of scales and which gives some plates a slight irridescence. Marcus Elieser Bloch was born in Anspach, Germany, and began his career as a doctor in Berlin. Later in life, at the age of 56, he turned to the study of fish. Following the practice of other naturalists during the Enlightenment, he collected specimens locally and through correspondence, and involved himself with a network of scholarly contacts in Central Europe. His first scientific work of importance - a treatise on worms - won him a prize from the Academy of Copenhagen. This was followed by his pioneering major work on fish, Icthyologie, or histoire naturelle, generale et particuliere, in which he described over 200 species for the first time accompanied by hand-coloured copperplate engravings.