Elephant Hawk Moth and Hawk Moth Caterpillars, Antique Bertuch Print, circa 1805

This hand colored copper engraving of hawk moths, with their caterpillars and pupae, comes from the Vienna edition of Friedrich Justin Bertuch's Bilderbuch, engraved by J. J. Schmuzer. The three moths are drawn with the swept back wings typical of the hawk moth family, and the third, in rose pink and olive, appears to be the elephant hawk moth.

The heading reads Insecten, Insecta and Insectes, plate XLI, and the mark at lower right reads X.B.23, with the signature J. J. Schmuzer at lower left. Each moth is shown with its caterpillar and pupa, the caterpillars in soft blue and in brown with the large eye spots that give the elephant hawk moth larva its name. The individual species of the first two figures are not named here because the accompanying text leaf is absent.

The Vienna edition was published by Anton Pichler under the title Bilderbuch zum Nutzen und Vergnügen der Jugend, with German and French text, in volumes of fifty plates each, and its plates were newly engraved in Vienna, many of them by the brothers Jacob Xaver and J. J. Schmuzer. It follows the Weimar original of Friedrich Justin Bertuch, the great illustrated encyclopaedia for children issued by the Landes Industrie Comptoir from 1790 onwards, subject for subject, and it was sold with the plates colored by hand. The small mark at the foot, giving the Vienna volume and plate number, is what distinguishes these sheets from the Weimar issue. As a copper engraving colored by hand for a teaching book, it combines scientific ambition with a direct, appealing clarity. This sheet comes from Vienna volume X, which places it circa 1801 to 1807.

A plate like this suits a study, a library or a collection of early natural history, and it hangs well in a group with other Bertuch insect and microscope plates, where the variety of subjects and the consistent format of the series come into their own.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, faint show-through of text from the reverse and a few small spots in the margins; the figures are clean and bright.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.