St. George Jackson Mivart was a well-known nineteenth-century English biologist. He served as Vice-President of the Zoological Society twice (1869 and 1882)and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his work On the Appendicular skeleton of the Primates. This work on animals in the canine family is filled with woodcuts and 45 hand-colored plates drawn from nature by J.G. Keulemans. Mivart examines the anatomy of canids from the Mexican lap dog to the common wolf, and just about every variety in between.
This book recently received conservation treatment through the Adopt a Book Program. Before conservation, the book and plates were so fragile that they could not be scanned without risking further deterioration. Thanks to conservator Jim Downey and donor Robin Wenneker, the book is now available to all in our reading room. I'll be updating the Adopt a Book record to reflect the conservation work in a day or two, but in the meantime, I couldn't wait to share this sampling of the book's beautiful plates.
Mivart, St. George Jackson, 1827-1900. Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes : a monograph of the Canidæ by St. George Mivart ; with woodcuts, and 45 coloured plates drawn from nature by J.G. Keulemans and hand-coloured. London : R.H. Porter : Dulau, 1890. MERLIN catalog record
