Guillemots. Detail of an engraving created in the 1800s for the “Oeuvres complètes de Buffon, augmentées par Cuvier”, published in 29 volumes from 1829 to 1832. This “Complete works” brought the previous century's influential writings by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), on natural history and science to new generations. The engraving in this image was created from a drawing by Madame C. Pillot, wife of Paris-based publisher of the “Complete Works”, F D Pillot.
Detail from an antique engraving. The whole image depicts an albatross with two guillemots. This detail is of the two guillemots. The engraving was created for the ‘Oeuvres complètes de Buffon, augmentées par Cuvier', published in 29 volumes from 1829 to 1832. This brought the previous century's influential writings by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, on natural history and science to new generations. A guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family. Many are black and white but some are brown and white. In British, the name guillemot refers to birds in two genera: Uria and Cepphus. In North America the Uria species are called murres and only the Cepphus species are called guillemots. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), was a French naturalist remembered for his comprehensive work on natural history. As keeper of the Jardin du Roi (royal botanical garden) in Paris he was charged with cataloguing the royal collections in natural history. He transformed the task into an undertaking to produce an account of the whole of nature, which became his great work, the influential 36-volume 'Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière …’, published between 1749 and 1788. In the case of ‘Oeuvres complètes', Buffon's work was augmented by Frédéric Cuvier (1773-1838), younger brother of the naturalist and zoologist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832).
Size: 7122px × 5698px
Location: Against plain background
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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