This beautiful engraving of Hirundo Agrestis (Barn Swallow) is from Nederlandsche Vogelen by Cornelius Nozeman. Published in Amsterdam in 1770.Nozeman was a Dutch ornithologist who provided the inspiration for this fine work on ornithology and one of the greatest of all time. This work was the first comprehensive account of the avifauna of Holland.It was a unique collaborative effort of two Dutch masters and a project of huge scope and ambition, taking over 60 years to complete. The renowned engraver & artist, Jan Christian Sepp drew the illustrations & Nozeman wrote the text for the first two volumes.These super-sized, hand-coloured copper plate engravings were superbly composed and meticulously engraved and hand-coloured.It is the full original folio sheet size. The quality of the hand-colouring is superb, with an exquisite style and beauty utterly characteristic of this great team of artists, engravers and printers.Size: measures approximately 14.5in x 20.5in (34cm x 49cm)

Excellent. The copper engraving is on strong, soft white, chain lined paper in almost pristine condition, with little evidence of the passage of some 250 years.