a massive book of freaky beasties

January 16, 2008 6:34 PM

Massive, gorgeous book of illustrated biological species and specimens, possibly Victorian-era, found at Z Gallerie a year or so ago -- help!

I'm not even 100 percent sure it was at Z Gallerie. It really was massive, maybe two feet tall. Or maybe my brain is expanding it because I remember it so fondly. It cost around $100 or $150, which is why I didn't buy it at the time, but I keep thinking about it. The vintage prints (or plates?) of bizarre, colorfully rendered wildlife would be amazing to frame...

And if you can think of a similar book or resource with equally frameworthy old-school illustrations of plants and animals, I'm interested in that too. Thanks!

posted by changeling to media & arts (8 comments total)

The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities by Albertus Seba?
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:41 PM on January 16, 2008

Albertus Seba?
posted by vacapinta at 6:41 PM on January 16, 2008

Ernst Haeckel? John James Audubon?
posted by box at 6:51 PM on January 16, 2008

Cabinet of Natural Curiosities would have been my first guess too. Taschen has a lot of other similar, beautiful books too. For larger prints, Deyrolle is awesome, (but not engish).
posted by logic vs love at 6:59 PM on January 16, 2008

I LOVE you people. That's it, thanks!
posted by changeling at 7:07 PM on January 16, 2008

Please note, The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is heavy and unwieldy. It is, however, even more awesome that you remember. And it comes in a slipcase.

As for its contents being "frameworthy" ... many of the images with a horizontal aspect are printed across two pages, making them not particularly frameable, if you were for some reason thinking of disassembling the book.
posted by mumkin at 7:22 PM on January 16, 2008

In the same vein, there is Haeckel's Kuntsformen Der Natur available in full high res pdf and individual plates glory.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:49 PM on January 16, 2008 [4 favorites]

Also, here's the Biologia Centrali-Americana.
posted by jessenoonan at 8:31 PM on January 16, 2008