London, the author, ca. 1835. Folio (37.4 x 27.4 cm). Well preserved hand-painted engraving of a bird in its natural surroundings.

This is a lovely hand-coloured plate from arguably the finest (see, e.g., Hale) and most complete atlas of portraits of British avifauna ever published, Henry Meyer's Illustrations of British Birds (London, Longman, 1835-1850). Drawn by the author - the Dutch-born British ornithologist Henri Leonard Meyer (1797-1865) - and finely coloured by his wife, Mary Anne, or one of their daughters. The house sparrow occurs mainly in and around human settlements, and, therefore, became a culturally prominent bird. Europeans took it with them to all over the world. This print is in very good condition. Some very weak, marginal creasing and toning, as can be expected. Otherwise in near mint condition. Anker, p. 58; Hale, W. G. (2007) The Meyer's Illustrations of British Birds; Hale, W. G. (2012) The Meyer's Coloured Illustrations of British Birds and their Eggs and the Finishing of the Folio 1842-1847; C. E. Jackson, Bird illustrators, pp. 59-62; Nissen IVB, 628; Wood, p. 462.