George Edwards was known as "The Father of British Ornithology" and one of the most prominent ornithologists of his day and is considered to have almost single-handedly popularized the art of bird and animal illustration. He worked as Librarian to the Royal College of Physicians, where he was later elected a Fellow, and was honored with the Gold Medal of the Royal Society.   

Edwards etched his own plates and then either hand colored the plates personally or directly supervised other illustrators in their hand coloring. The result is a collection of works of superb skill and breathtaking color that remains ever popular and is now increasingly rare

Please note that these pieces are from the first edition of Edwards original work published in London with his etched signature in the plates. These are not the more common reprints from the reworked and re-etched plates produced by Seligmann in the German/French editions which were copied from Edwards original work.