Paris, Denné le jeune, Perlet, [1801-] 1806. A matching pair of sheets. Very large folio (each 51.4 x 37.5 cm). Colour-printed by Langlois and Rousset, finished by hand.

Two fine, copper-engraved plates, in superior condition, of one of the world's most spectacularly feathered birds, the emerald bird-of-paradise. These original plates are the work of one of the period’s foremost bird illustrators, the French artist Jacques Barraband (1767-1809). Barraband's works are esteemed especially for their realism. Although his illustrations were based on mounted specimens, they were considered the most accurate made during the early 1800s. His birds are never stiff, nor are they artistic rather than accurate, as in, for example, the work of Audubon. The emerald bird-of-paradise lives in the tropical rain forests of the Aru archipelago, and the adjacent Indonesian province of West Papua. Originally published in a work by the French explorer and ornithologist François Levaillant (1753-1824), Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de Paradis et des Rolliers, suivie de Celle des Toucans et des Barbus. Levaillant's book is known to be prone to foxing, but these two plates form a rare exception, with both plates excellent, completely clean. Anker, 304; Nissen IVB, 559; Ronsil, p. 298; Sitwell, p. 118; Zimmer, p. 393.