Plate LVI from The Ornithology of Francis Willughby, London 1678
Naturalist: Francis Willughby (1635–1672) of Middleton, Warwickshire, Fellow of the Royal Society
Edited and completed by: John Ray (1627–1705), who finished the work after Willughby's death at 36
Published: London, printed by A. C. for John Martyn, printer to the Royal Society, at the Bell in St Paul's Church-Yard, 1678
Technique: copperplate engraving on laid paper, with visible chain lines
Plate mark: 7.5 x 12.25 in (19 x 31 cm)
Sheet: 9 x 14 in (23 x 36 cm)
Six waders named in engraved script. The showpiece is Avis pugnax mas, A Ruffe, at the centre right, drawn in full breeding dress with its extraordinary neck ruff and ear tufts raised. Below it lies Avis pugnax faemina, The Reeve, the plain-plumaged female. Around them stand Callidrys nigra, The Knot, Rotknussel an Avis pugnax faem., Cinclus Bellonij and Matkneltzell.
The ruff is one of the strangest birds in Europe. For a few weeks each spring the males grow that collar of feathers, in colours that differ from bird to bird, and display together on a lek while the females walk through and choose. Putting the male and female on one plate, and naming the female the Reeve, records a working knowledge of the species that goes well beyond a cabinet specimen. The ruff no longer breeds in Britain in any numbers, having been netted and eaten into scarcity, so the plate documents a bird the book's first readers could still find in their local fens.
The Ornithology is the first true textbook of ornithology. Willughby and Ray threw out the folklore, the griffins and the barnacle geese hatched from shells, and built their arrangement on what the birds are actually like: bill shape, foot structure, size and habit. They divided them into land birds and water birds and worked down from there, and Linnaeus adopted the framework a century later when he wrote the Systema Naturae. Willughby died at 36 with the work unfinished, and Ray, his friend and travelling companion, gathered the notes, wrote the text and saw both the Latin edition of 1676 and this English edition of 1678 through the press. A complete copy is currently offered in the London trade at around £3,950.
Condition: very good. A strong, clean impression with the fine engraved line sharp throughout, on a bright, white sheet with untrimmed margins and only minimal toning. The sheet carries a large period crowned watermark, clearly visible when it is held to the light. The reverse is blank, so the sheet frames cleanly. Please see the photos.
This is an original 17th-century copperplate engraving, not a reproduction.
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