Canadian mole. Detail from engraving created in 1700s for French naturalist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), from a drawing by French wildlife artist, Jacques Henri E. De Sève (). The engraving appeared in Buffon’s influential work on natural history, the 36-volume 'Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière …’, published between 1749 and 1788. This illustration, later coloured by hand, comes from the rare 1780 French edition of the ‘Histoire’.
Hand-coloured antique engraving from a drawing by the French wildlife artist and illustrator, Jacques Henri E. De Sève. It depicts a Canadian mole or taupe and was created for the influential 36-volume 'Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière …’, published by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, between 1749 and 1788. The page from which this detail is taken, later tinted skilfully by hand, comes from the rare 1780 French edition of the 'Histoire'. Mole is the common name for several species of predominantly burrowing insectivores, of which six species occur in Canada. They live underground and surface only occasionally. Their cylindrical bodies and powerful front claws are ideal for digging. Mole hills are places where the mole has pushed up earth above the surface. The adult mole can measure anywhere from 12 to 20 cm ( to 9 inches) in length and have dark grey or brown velvety fur. They do not hibernate but remain active day or night all year long. Jacques Henri E. De Sève () is one of the most influential natural history artists of all time. He created hundreds of animal images, many of which now seem fantastical, but an interesting feature is his inclusion of wildlife habitats; he did not merely depict animals, but rather placed them in an appropriate environment. His work was widely copied in engravings by others for later editions of Buffon's books. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), was a French naturalist remembered for his comprehensive work on natural history. He was appointed keeper of the Jardin du Roi (royal botanical garden) in Paris and charged with cataloguing the royal collections in natural history. He produced an account of the whole of nature, which became the 'Histoire’.
Size: 8863px × 5909px
Location: In natural habitat
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1700s, 1780, 18th, active, america, animal, antique, appearance, artist, body, brown, buffon, burrowing, canada, canadian, century, claws, color, colored, colour, coloured, comte, cylindrical, , dark, day, daylight, de, drawing, edition, engraving, etching, fantastical, french, fur, georges, grey, ground, habitat, hand, henri, hibernate, histoire, history, illustration, insectivore, jacques, leclerc, legs, long, louis, mammal, mole, natural, naturalist, naturelle, night, north, nose, odd, peculiar, plump, pointed, pointy, powerful, published, seve, short, snout, standing, taupe, tufted, unusual, weird, whiskered, whiskers, wild, wildlife
