Tawney Owl and Purple Heron from Illustrations of British Ornithology
Prideaux John Selby (1788-1867) is regarded as the British Audubon. Like Audubon’s Birds of America, his Illustrations of British Ornithology was designed to be a comprehensive guide to British birds in prints that were life-sized, hand-colored, and with the birds in their natural habitats. Selby did the original paintings and most of the engravings himself, and first published them between 1821 and 1834. The Bryn Mawr set is the second edition, produced in London by Henry Bohn between 1841 and 1846.

American Cowslip and Queen Flower from The Temple of Flora: or, Garden of Nature, Being Picturesque Botanical Plates of the New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus
Robert John Thornton (1768-1837), a medical doctor and amateur botanist, sponsored this giant illustrated work as a tribute to Linnaeus and to demonstrate British accomplishments in the sciences and printing arts. The book, which eventually bankrupted Thornton, featured oversized, hand-colored engravings by some of England’s best print-makers, matched with nature poetry by Erasmus Darwin and other contemporary writers.