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Print 2018-269,42
Blue Jay, Yellow-Bird or Goldfinch, and Baltimore Bird
Print 2018-269,42

Blue Jay, Yellow-Bird or Goldfinch, and Baltimore Bird

Dateca. 1808
After work by 1766-1813
Engraver
OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
MediumLine engraving and etching with period color
DimensionsOH: 14" x OW: 9 3/8"
Credit LineGift of Barnett Shepherd
Object number2018-269,42
DescriptionEach bird with corresponding number 1-4
Lower margin reads: "1. Cowuscristatus, Blue Jay. ~ 2. Fringilla Tristis, Yellow-Bird or Goldfinch. ~/ 3. Oriolis Baltimorus, Baltimore Bird.~/ 1 / Drawn from Nature by A. Wilson./ Engrav'd by A. Lawson"Label TextScottish ornithologist and artist Alexander Wilson was dubbed the "Father of American Ornithology" is best known for his nine volume "American Ornithology" which was published between 1808 and 1814. He spent several years researching for the book, the first of its kind since Mark Catesby's Natural History (1743). The book included a total of 268 species of birds represented in 76 engravings, mostly completed by Alexander Lawson. This plate representing a blue jay, "Yellow Bird or Goldfinch" and a "Baltimore Bird" (oriole) was the first plate one of volume one.

ProvenanceBefore 1999, Rick Gafgen (Lambertville, NJ); 1999, purchased by Barnett Shepherd (Staten Island, NY); 2018-present, given to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).