John Selby

Ptarmigan

23 x 18 inches

Etching in original hand colour published in P. J. Selby's "Illustrations of British Ornithology" in London in 1834.

P. J. Selby (1788-1867) was an exceptional ornithologist from Northumberland whose major work, Illustrations of British Ornithology, from which these prints are taken, was published in London between 1819 and 1834. The work is striking, not least for its size (comparable to the work of Audubon, for whom Lizars also worked); it has been described as containing "some of the best figures of British birds that have ever been published" and indeed "the finest copper engravings to be found in any ornithological work".