A wonderful example of natural history illustration by the prize-winning Italian student, Federico Capestro.
It is, in fact, more ambitious than a series of watercolours. Here Capestro has created a systematic classification of the natural world, drawing on Linneaus who divides animals into six classes, then to Georges Cuvier (1869) argued that there should be nineteen classes. Capestro states that many of Cucier's classes are very similar and that twelve better represents the animal kingdom. He also notes the primary disctintion between vertebrates and invertebrates.
Scienzi naturali. A delightful calligraphic ornithological manuscript. The text and illustrations appear to be taken from Louis Figuier's Vita e costumi degli animal: gli uccelli, which was published in Milan in the same year that this manuscript was executed. The work includes tanagers, hawfinches, tits, waxwings, hoopoes, parrots and parakeets, hummingbirds, magpies, pheasants and fowls, birds of paradise, blackbirds, goldfinches, swallows, canaries, skylarks and warblers, and crows. Each bird has its origin noted: America, Brazil, Argentina, Africa, Europe, Australia, New Guinea, and Asia.
Storia degli animal. The text, devoted to mammals and birds, appears to be drawn from the zoological chapters in Friedrich Schöoler's Il libro della natura, lezioni elemntari ... volume secondo (Torino, 1865). The wonderfully executed pencil drawings, on the other hand, seem to be taken mainly from Louis Figuier's Vita e costumi degli animali. Scientific classification of the animal kingdom divided into classes and orders, including mammals (divivded into two hands, four feet, talons, nails, and flippers), fish, crustaceans, birds, reptiles, spiders, and insects. There are 39 illustrations of mammals, 106 of birds, and a final striking picture of a boa constrictor. The mammals include a baboon, bats, dogs, lions, tigers, cats, an armadillo, a hippopotamus, horses, a zebra, a giraffe, deer, and a bison.
Idografia. The final volume concerns Earth's river systems. The first part is organised by continent, with the rivers of each being listed in order of length: the Volga for Europe; the Mississippi for North America; the Amazon for South America; the Nile in Africa; the Yangtze (Jan-Tse-Kiang) in Asia and the mighty Murray River in Oceania. Furthermore, their sources, the countries they traverse, and their outlet. The second part is devoted to lakes. This is followed on by mountains, and concludes with a beautiful group of watercolours.
