1833 H.R. Schinz (b1777) - GREEK TORTOISE - Hand colour stone lithograph, Amphibians

Testudines graeca.

Heinrich Rudolf Schinz (1777-1861) (editor)

Karl Joseph Brodtmann (1787-1862) (lithographer) 

Hand coloured Stone lithograph ‘Crayon Manier” from Naturgeschichte und Abildungen der Reptilien

[Natural History and Illustrations of Reptiles] 

Schaffhausen: 1833 

Hand-colored lithographs 

32 x 23.6 cm [c. 13 x 9 inches]

Extremely rare.

Schinz’s work on Amphibians and Reptiles combine scientific accuracy and a sophisticated aesthetic sense in terms of the arrangements of animals on each page. The plates are lithographed by Karl Joseph Brodtmann, one of the most accomplished Swiss lithographers of the day.

The Greek tortoise, also known commonly as the spur-thighed tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. Testudo graeca is one of five species of Mediterranean tortoises. The other four species are Hermann's tortoise, the Egyptian tortoise, the marginated tortoise, and the Russian tortoise.