Berlin, privately published. 1782-1795. Folio (24.0 x 41.5 cm). Well-preserved hand-painted engraving of a shark.

A fine, original, unfolded shark plate from Bloch's folio edition of foreign and exotic fishes. The folio exotic fish engravings are arguably the most spectacular produced by Bloch, surpassing his magnum opus, which is on German fish. Bloch, a German Doctor and Naturalist, is considered to be one the most important ichthyologist of the 18th-century and his collection of roughly 1500 specimens are preserved in Humboldt University's Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. All of the prints are beautifully coloured, with a fine glazing that cannot be reproduced in modern prints. Bloch's plates often have one or two folds (if they are from the octavo edition of Bloch's work, which is usually the case), but this plate is not folded. This print in excellent condition with minor discoloration and fraying around the extreme edges of the sheet. No creases, dents or tears present. Dean I, p. 139; Nissen Schöne Fischbücher, 22.