This beautiful hand-colored white stork engraving is printed on original 18th century watermarked chain-linked laid paper. The sheet measures 13.5" x 9". There are small focal marks in the lower portion of the right margin and a short archivally repaired tear in the lower margin that extends to but does not cross the plate line, and does not involve the image. It is otherwise in very good to excellent condition.
Johann Leonhard Frisch (1666-1743) was a German scholar who was a headmaster at a school in Berlin, a singer, a minister, an interpreter for the German army, and an artist. His academic interest in natural history inspired him to form a Cabinet of Curiosities for which he created the illustrations. Frisch is credited by some with the discovery of the color 'Prussian Blue', and was responsible for the planting of mulberries on the ramparts of Berlin in a successful attempt to produce silk. Frisch's academic achievement 'Vorstellung der Vogel in Teutschland' took nearly 30 years to complete.