About this collection

Antique Natural History presents the natural history collection of Bartele Gallery, a dealer in antique prints and maps in the Netherlands. Bartele Gallery is the seller of every print on this site.

Natural history illustration was how the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries recorded the living world. Before photography, naturalists worked with artists and engravers to publish plates of birds, plants, animals and insects, often coloured by hand. The prints offered here come from those books and periodicals.

Every print is a period original. The date given is the date the plate was printed, taken from the book or edition it comes from. Where a date is uncertain we say so.