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Add MS 5264
- Record Id:
- 032-003878915
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-003878915
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100121456871.0x000001
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 5264
- Title:
-
Drawings of birds by George Edwards and others
- Scope & Content:
-
Watercolours of birds from North America, Argentina, Mexico and India among other places. All drawings are executed on paper or parchment and pasted onto the folios of the manuscript. The majority are by George Edwards and are dated between 1732 and 1743. Most drawings bear inscriptions in pencil providing cross-references to specific plates in Edwards' publication, A Natural History of Uncommon Birds (London, 1743-51).
Summary description of contents:
17, 22. Watercolours signed 'P.W. fe.' (Pieter Withoos).
23. Item transferred to the Prints & Drawings Department of the British Museum on 10 March 1928: a study for a grey partridge by Jacopo de' Barbari (SL,5264.23).
19, 42, 71, 85, 113, 137. Watercolours of birds and butterflies by Edwards.The scales from the wings of real butterflies were incorporated into the cut out paper shapes of the wings and coated with glue. The wings were then pasted onto the sheet of paper where the bird was executed in watercolours.
45. Watercolour of a ground dove perched on a cashew nut by Mark Catesby.
46-48, 53, 54, 61. Drawings of birds from Madras [Fort Saint George, India], with cross-references to John Ray's Synopsis Methodica Avium & Piscium (London, 1713). Other drawings from the same series are in Add MS 5265 and 5263.
73. Watercolour of a crossbill , including two real bird feathers pinned onto the sheet of paper.
74-76. Watercolours of birds annoatted by thomas Browne.
83. Watercolour of a crossbill signed 'PH 1629' (Pieter Holsteyn I).
87. Watercolour signed 'H.B.' (Likely the monogram of Dutch artists Herman or Anton Henstenburg).
88. An etching of a bird.
89. Watercolour signed 'P.W. fe'. (Pieter Withoos).
121. Watercolour of a dead bird with a description by Sir Hans Sloane on the recto and another by Thomas Browne on the verso.
126. Watercolour of a bird by Mark Catesby.
133. Watercolour of a bearded reedling signed 'PH 1629' (Pieter Holsteyn I).
134. Watercolour of a dead bird inscribed in Hans Sloane's hand on the front and by Sir Thomas Browne on the verso.
139. Watercolour by Edwards with the wings of a real dragonfly pasted onto paper and nature prints: these are bay leaves which were inked with green colour and printed on paper.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
Sloane Collection - Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-003878915", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 5264: Drawings of birds by George Edwards and others" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-003878915
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-003878915
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
- 1 volume (143 items)
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- English
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1600
- End Date:
- 1799
- Date Range:
- 17th century - 18th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Dimensions: 530 x 385 mm.
Material: paper, parchment, paper laid down on canvas.
Medium: pencil, ink, watercolour, gouache, red chalk, etching, insect wings and scales, bird feathers.
Binding: British Museum binding.
Foliation: 143 numbered items. 138 unnumbered folios.
- Custodial History:
- The manuscripts of Sir Hans Sloane were purchased at his death from his executors by the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum in 1753.
- Former External References:
- XLIV.A
- Source of Acquisition:
- The Sloane Manuscripts were held by the British Museum Department of Manuscripts until 1973 after which they were transferred to the British Library.
- Finding Aids:
- Catalogue of Additional Manuscripts, vol. 21 (1832), available in the Manuscripts Reading Room, where the volume is described as: 'A similar Volume (144 in number.) Large Folio'.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Names:
- Catesby, Mark, FRS; naturalist, 1682-1749
Edwards, George, Naturalist, ornithologist author and artist., 1694-1773
Holsteyn, Pieter (I), draughtsman, printmaker and painter, 1585-1662
Sloane, Hans, Baronet, physician and collector, 1660-1753,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000123196729,
see also http://viaf.org/viaf/77959
Withoos, Pieter, painter and draughtsman, 1655-1692