Mark Catesby
Mark Catesby (24 March 1682/83 - 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his book Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The book was the first publication to describe flora and fauna of North America. The book described 220 birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants.
Catesby studied natural history in London. Catesby collected seeds in Virginia from 1714 to 1719.
Gallery of Catesby's images
Lachnolaimus maximus, 1725
Anguinis viridis, 1743
Lophodytes cucullatus, 1748
Ventro Rubro, Melanerpes carolinus, 1749
Turdus minimus (now Catharus minimus) and dahoon holly (Ilex cassine), 1754
Rana Aquatica, The Water-Frog, 1754
Cance Chelis Rubis, The red-claw Crab; Titanokeratophyton &c. , 1754
Coccothraustes rubra (probably Cardinalis cardinalis) and Nux Juglans alba Virginiensis, 1754
Ardea herodias, 1771
Books
- Jackson, Christine E., (1985) Bird Etchings: the illustrators and their books, 1655-1855. Ithaca: Cornell University Press ISBN 0-8014-9684-5
- Walters, Michael (2003) A Concise History of Ornithology. London: Christopher Helm ISBN 1-873403-97-6
- Wiatt, Alex L. (1992) The Descendants of Stephen Field of King and Queen County, Virginia, 1721, Fredericksburg VA: BookCrafters
Myers, Amy R. W. & Pritchard, M. B. (1998) "Empire's nature. Mark Catesby's New World vision," Chapel Hill & London: University of North Carolina Press ISBN 0-8078-4762-3
Mark Catesby Media
Mark Catesby's birthplace in Castle Hedingham, Essex
Title page, volume two, second edition of Catesby's The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, London, 1754
The ivory-billed woodpecker, which was sadly later to become extinct in North America, although one was reportedly sighted in the wild in Arkansas in 2005. Here the bird is shown in association with the willow oak,Quercus phellos. Plate from Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1729–1747)
Other websites
- Catesby Commemoration Trust Archived 2013-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
Works
- Mark Catesby (1731). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and (v1). Online scanned edition from Rare Book Room.
- Mark Catesby (1743). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and (v2). Online scanned edition from Rare Book Room.
- Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas Electronic edition: high quality images and user-friendly text from the American Studies Programs at the University of Virginia
- View works by Mark Catesby online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.