Mark Catesby

Plate from Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731-1743).

Mark Catesby (24 March 1682/83 - 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his book Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The book was the first publication to describe flora and fauna of North America. The book described 220 birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants.

Catesby studied natural history in London. Catesby collected seeds in Virginia from 1714 to 1719.

Gallery of Catesby's images

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  Lachnolaimus maximus, 1725
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  Anguinis viridis, 1743
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  Lophodytes cucullatus, 1748
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  Ventro Rubro, Melanerpes carolinus, 1749
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  Turdus minimus (now Catharus minimus) and dahoon holly (Ilex cassine), 1754
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  Rana Aquatica, The Water-Frog, 1754
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  Cance Chelis Rubis, The red-claw Crab; Titanokeratophyton &c. , 1754
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  Melanerpes erythrocephalus, 1754
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  Coccothraustes rubra (probably Cardinalis cardinalis) and Nux Juglans alba Virginiensis, 1754
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  Ardea herodias, 1771

Books

• Jackson, Christine E., (1985) Bird Etchings: the illustrators and their books, 1655-1855. Ithaca: Cornell University Press ISBN 0-8014-9684-5
• Walters, Michael (2003) A Concise History of Ornithology. London: Christopher Helm ISBN 1-873403-97-6
• Wiatt, Alex L. (1992) The Descendants of Stephen Field of King and Queen County, Virginia, 1721, Fredericksburg VA: BookCrafters

Myers, Amy R. W. & Pritchard, M. B. (1998) "Empire's nature. Mark Catesby's New World vision," Chapel Hill & London: University of North Carolina Press ISBN 0-8078-4762-3

Other websites

• Catesby Commemoration Trust Archived 2013-04-06 at the Wayback Machine

Works

• Mark Catesby (1731). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and (v1). Online scanned edition from Rare Book Room.
• Mark Catesby (1743). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and (v2). Online scanned edition from Rare Book Room.
• Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas Electronic edition: high quality images and user-friendly text from the American Studies Programs at the University of Virginia
• View works by Mark Catesby online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.