These two beautifully painted fish lithographs are originally published around 1912. The painting of titled "Pursued Flying Fish" is a work by the British artist and illustrator Henry Charles Seppings Wright (1850–1937), & "Sticklebacks and Their Nests" is signed by E.H. Fitchew (Edward H. Fitchew) (1851–1934).
These are superbly accomplished paintings full of colorful action, landscape painting, masterful artistry. The text at the bottom is a German translation of the original English captions.
The Volumes:
Marvels of the Universe is an early 20th-century, two-volume illustrated collection detailing natural wonders, including the heavens, earth, plants, animals, and the sea. Featuring contributions from leading specialists, it was introduced by Lord Avebury, a prominent 19th-century polymath. This classic work is noted for its extensive photographs and coloured plates
The Artists:
Henry Charles Seppings Wright was known for his detailed illustrations in magazines such as the Illustrated London News . This work appeared, among other places, in the collection Marvels of the Universe.
Edward H. Fitchew was a 19th-century British illustrator, editor, and artist known for his detailed graphite drawings and topographical sketches. Associated with La Belle Sauvage Works, he illustrated historical scenes and produced works for publications like Charles Dickens' "American Notes". His work often featured landscapes, cityscapes, and maritime scenes
The Plates & Technique:
These prints were likely stone lithographs, but also could have been early offset lithos. The originals were hand-painted watercolors.
In Stone Chromo-Lithographs, the image for each color was drawn by hand on heavy slabs of limestone in a water-repellant wax or 'grease'. During printing, water is sponged over the drawn image, which is absorbed into the stone.
When the stone is inked with a roller, it sticks only to the water-repellent drawing, & leaves the bare wet stone clean. The print is then transferred to the paper laid atop the stone & run by hand through a press.
The process is very involved, especially the colored prints, where multiple stones for each color had to line up perfectly with each successive imprint to register perfectly on the page.
Stone lithography allowed for fluid drawing & subtle toning, which were much more difficult to achieve in copperplate engravings, & bypassed the need for an engraver & the tedious inking process of metal plates. Stone lithography is entirely different than present-day offset lithographs, apart from the use of water to resist ink.
Condition:
Excellent condition for a print this old. Typical minor antiquarian character. Fold as issued.
These prints are very old & may have minor imperfections expected with age, such as some typical age-toning of the paper, spots, text-offsetting, artifacts from having been bound into a book & handled, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.
Text Page(s): This one comes without original text pages which were likely published in their own volumes. Included in the photos is a scan of a title page, which is for reference & not part of the listing.
Size: 9-1/2"x 12" approximately.
Combined Shipping:
Yes! Multiple prints can be combine into one Priority Mail flat-rate envelope or package. Larger prints may need to be shipped in tube. eBay should auto-combine your items if you put all of your selections into your shopping cart & check out all together as one order. If you purchase them individually, eBay charges shipping on each, which I then will refund after. If you're assessed multiple shipping charges for one combined package, I will endeavor to refund any overage asap.
Thanks for Visiting!
Please note: The information I've included in this listing is based on my best research & observations as an enthusiast of these works, not a professional historian of antiquarian books & prints. I do like to offer some background information readily available to me but make no claims representations of total accuracy. Any corrections or further information you might offer would certainly appreciated! The scans in the images are my best efforts to accurately show the item. Antique prints & old paper are notoriously tricky to scan accurately. In my experience, scanners tend to be thrown off by the off-whites & gradations in age-toned paper. If the scanner produces a scan that's too dark or too brown, etc, I'll often try to reasonably color-correct to represent the print as accurately as possible. I'm not a professional in color-correcting images yet I try my best to show the print as close to the original as possible. I also find that different monitors show colors differently, & eBay's system can sometimes throw off the colors a bit in the uploaded JPEG images as they appear on their site. Thank you!