Wien, Gerlach & Schenk, 1896. Two series in one [Complete]. Loose-leaved. One illustrated title page (mounted), one page of text, and 29 stunning chromolithographed plates (57.3 x 44.1 cm) showing animals in a fabulous Art Nouveau style. Preserved in contemporary large folio portfolio (57.8 x 44.7 cm) with full colour printed title - featuring an impressive dragon - mounted.

A very rare work with the finest and most stunning plates of Art Nouveau book design. The plates in this portfolio depict dragons, reptiles, shells and other sea life (first series), as well as birds (second series). It is hard to underestimate the beauty and importance of this work by the famous Art Nouveau painter and art professor Anton Johann Nepomuk Seder (1850-1916). Each plate is a true highlight of artistic design and absolutely breathtaking. Seder's work had many followers in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements and afterwards; genuine individual plates are still highly in demand. Consequently, complete portfolios in good condition, such as this one, are extremely rare. The quality of these chromolithographs is absolutely first class, the frequent use of gold and many different colours gives these plates a great depth which is not even possible with the most advanced printing techniques of today. Slight wear to portfolio. Lower margin of the first bird plate expertly repaired; a few plates slightly - evenly - toned; one with some browning in one outer margin; a number added in the left margin of the title page, but otherwise clean, unmarked, in an excellent state, and in all an exceptionally well-preserved ensemble. Evers, Ornamentale Vorlagenwerke, 2160; Schneider-Henn, Ornament und Dekoration, 200.