Histoire naturelle des colibris, 19th Century

A male "ruby topaz" specimen from New Guinea

Original title for this codex is "Histoire naturelle des colibris : suivie d'un supplément à l'Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches : ouvrage orné de planches dessinées et gravées par les meilleurs artistes : et dédié A.M. le Baron Cuvier".

Author was René Primevère Lesson (1794-1849), a French surgeon, naturalist, and ornithologist, who served as pharmacist and botanist on Duperrey's round-the-world voyage of La Coquille (1822–1825). During this trip, was the first naturalist to see live birds of paradise in the Moluccas and New Guinea. On returning to Paris, he spent seven years preparing the vertebrate zoological section of the official account of the expedition "Voyage au tour du monde sur La Coquille (1826–39)". Very prolific author, he also produced Manuel d'Ornithologie (1828), Traité d'Ornithologie (1831), Centurie Zoologique (1830–32) and Illustrations de Zoologie (1832–35), several monographs on hummingbirds, and one book on birds of paradise. Lesson received the Légion d'honneur in 1847 (Established by Napoleon Bonaparte, this is the highest decoration in France).

 I found a web page (link here) that offers a facsimil edition of Duperrey's round-the-world voyage of La Coquille.

For a high resolution, pdf version of this manuscript, contact me (facsimilium AT gmail DOT com).

Bizzarie di varie figure, or the 17th century modern cubism prelude

This compilation of amazing engravings called “Bizzarie di Varie Figure”, was published in 1624 in Livorno by Giovanni Battista Braccelli (1600–1650), an Italian engraver and painter of the Baroque period. The complete collection appears a prelude of modern cubism, the art movement pioneered by the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, but 400 years after. Some other engraves trend to Arcimboldo style, with human figures composed of boxes or raquets.

About Braccelli, there’s another famous compilation of engravings, the “Alfabeto figurato” which consists of alphabets constituted by acrobatic calligraphy of human forms. Added to this were some vedute of Rome and Roman artworks. He also published a collection of prints of conventional individuals engaged with playing musical instruments, entitled Figure Con Instrumenti Musicali.

A New System of Sword Exercise, 19th Century

Original title: "A new system of sword exercise, with a manual of the sword for officers, mounted and dismounted; forms to be observed on inspections, reviews, parades, etc". Was written by Matthew J. O'Rourke, Captain of US volunteers and also author of "sword exercise illustrated" and "A treatise on swords and swordsmanship, ancient and modern". I couldn't find too much information regarding Captain O'Rourke BIO on the internet... (appears on Official Army Register of the Volunteer Forces, U. S. Army list, link here).

Preface is significative enough: "... so long as the sword is the recognized weapon for officers, self respect and the requirements of the service demand that they should be thoroughly familiar with its uses". The book itself has two main parts, dismounted and mounted with different subsections. My favourite was first one, with following chapters: draw swords, salutes (halt and march), return swords, dress parade, inspections, etc. Illustrations are didactic enough (see feint for the leg drawing below). Other similar books were -with same or similar titles, but focused on infantry- commissioned also by Richard Francis Burton.


This is the second edition, signed by Matthew J. O'Rourke in New York, May, 1872; published 7 years later of the first edition, that means that was written during the American Civil war and published in 1865, the same year the war finished and one month later of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.