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About antique prints of mammals
From aardvarks to zebras, via bears, elephants, lions and monkeys, antique illustrations of animals are perennial favourites. I have a large selection of antique mammal prints.
I confess freely to you, I could never look long upon a monkey, without very mortifying reflections
William Congreve 1695
Mammals are endothermic, warm blooded vertebrates, breathing by means of lungs. The young are born alive, and are nourished for some time by the milk , from the mother’s mammary glands. The word Mammalia is the scientific name given by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, derived from the Latin mamma (“teat, pap”).
The basic body type is a four legged land animal. They use their limbs to walk, climb, swim, or fly. Mammals include the largest animals on the planet. Some mammals are adapted for life at sea, in the air, in the trees, or on two legs.
Animals were kept in the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London since 1210 for the entertainment of the court. Under James I blood baiting of animals was very popular. After a number of incidents of animals escaping, The Constable of the Tower, The Duke of Wellington, ordered the animals to be transferred to the London Zoo in 1832. Among the animals, the Llamas, and the Nyl-ghaus are illustrated.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) Poet Naturalist and Historian. An History of the Earth and Animated Nature was first published in 1774. The information was almost all the work of other naturalists, however it was also the most up to date information on the Natural World. It proved to be so popular that in the Victorian era it was published in 20 editions. There are many illustrations above. The Musk and the Hyppopotamos from the 1790 edition, and the Howler Monkeys and the Hogs from the 1848 edition.