Whitethroat on a Green Stem, Hand Colored Bird Engraving by Morris, 1896

This is an original wood engraved bird plate, colored by hand, captioned "WHITETHROAT." A single bird perches on an upright green stem, facing right, with its body level and its long dark tail stretched straight out to the left. It has a gray head, a white throat, a soft rose pink breast and belly, an olive gray back and dark brown wing feathers edged with warm rufous buff. Its pinkish feet grip the stem. A single pointed green leaf hangs above the bird, and a bare forked twig branches off to the lower left.

The caption "WHITETHROAT." is engraved in capitals in the lower margin. There is no number or other lettering above the picture, and no engraver's credit can be read within it. The Whitethroat is Curruca communis.

A History of British Birds was written by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), rector of Nunburnholme in Yorkshire. The wood blocks for the plates of the work were engraved by Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield in Yorkshire. This plate comes from the fourth edition, issued in six volumes by John C. Nimmo of London, and belongs to the third volume, whose title page is dated 1896 and states that the plates are colored by hand. Each plate combines an engraved black key block with a printed gray tint, finished by hand in watercolor.

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