Spider Webs with Hatching Spiderlings, Antique Bertuch Print, circa 1805

This copper engraving of spider webs, showing orb webs of different construction with their spiders and a golden nest of newly hatched spiderlings, comes from the Vienna edition of Friedrich Justin Bertuch's Bilderbuch, signed with the initials J. J. S. for J. J. Schmuzer. The fine geometry of the webs makes this one of the most graphic plates in the insect series.

The heading reads Insekten, Insecta and Insectes, plate XLVI, and the mark at lower right reads X.B.43. Four numbered figures show a web with its spider, two smaller orb webs, and a cluster of spiderlings pouring from their egg sac on threads. Colour is used sparingly, on the nest and the spiders, leaving the webs as crisp black lines on the paper.

The Vienna edition was published by Anton Pichler under the title Bilderbuch zum Nutzen und Vergnügen der Jugend, with German and French text, in volumes of fifty plates each, and its plates were newly engraved in Vienna, many of them by the brothers Jacob Xaver and J. J. Schmuzer. It follows the Weimar original of Friedrich Justin Bertuch, the great illustrated encyclopaedia for children issued by the Landes Industrie Comptoir from 1790 onwards, subject for subject, and it was sold with the plates coloured by hand. The small mark at the foot, giving the Vienna volume and plate number, is what distinguishes these sheets from the Weimar issue. As a copper engraving coloured by hand for a teaching book, it combines scientific ambition with a direct, appealing clarity. This sheet comes from Vienna volume X, which places it circa 1801 to 1807.

A plate like this suits a study, a library or a collection of early natural history, and it hangs well in a group with other Bertuch insect and microscope plates, where the variety of subjects and the consistent format of the series come into their own.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few foxing spots and faint pencil marks in the right margin and a small chip at the upper right corner; the delicate image itself is clean.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.