Paris, C. L. F. Panckoucke, 1826. Elephant folio (ca. 71 x 53 cm). A fine, detailed engraving. Verso blank.

An exceptionally fine, life-sized illustration of a falcon ( Milvus aetolius, le milan étolien) and an owl ( Bubo ascalaphus, le hibou d'Égypte) from North Africa. Described the French naturalist Marie Jules César Lelorgne de Savigny (1777-1851), and finely and vibrantly drawn and engraved by one of the foremost natural history illustrators, Jacques Barraband (1767-1809), who also illustrated Levaillant's famous Histoire naturelle des perroquets (1801-1805) and Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de Paradis (1807), and Daudin's Histoire naturelle des rainettes, grenouilles et crapauds (1802). This is a plate from a grand atlas, which in turn forms a part of a much larger - zoological, botanical, archaeological, etc. - series on the scientific results of the French Napoleonic campaign in Egypt. The author, the French zoologist Marie Jules César Lelorgne de Savigny (1777-1851), was leader of the French scientific expedition to Egypt, which was part of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's military campaign. Savigny wrote the parts on mammals and several other groups of animals too. The bird plates show most specimens in life-size form. Uncut. With an original publisher's blindstamp in the outer margin. No other markings. Light creasing to the edges; otherwise very good, clean. Nissen ZBI, 4608; Wood, p. 552; Zimmer, p. 549.