Underwing and Tiger Moths with Caterpillars, Antique Bertuch Print, circa 1805

This hand colored copper engraving shows brightly marked night flying moths, apparently underwings and a tiger moth, with caterpillars and pupae, from the Vienna edition of Friedrich Justin Bertuch's Bilderbuch, engraved by J. J. Schmuzer. The large moth at the top has somber patterned forewings that open to reveal dark hindwings banded in pink, the classic warning flash of the underwings.

The heading reads Insecten, Insecta and Insectes, plate XXXIX, and the mark at lower right reads X.B.17 below the signature J. J. Schmuzer. Below the large moth are an orange and black hindwinged moth, a moth with yellow striped forewings and salmon pink hindwings spotted in black, and a fourth with crimson hindwings, together with a hairy caterpillar on moss, a spiny larva and two pupae. The species are identified here by appearance only, as the text leaf is not present.

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, a few small spots and a small nick at the right edge; the moths and caterpillars are clean and brightly colored.

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