Parus, Major (sparrow)

Cornelius Nozeman (1712-86) Illustrated plate from Nederlandsche Vogelen Amsterdam: Jan Christian Sepp, 1770-1827 Hand-colored copperplate engraving Sheet size: 20.5" x 14.5" Nederlandsche Vogelen was the first comprehensive account of the avifauna of Holland. The plates depict all species known in the Netherlands at the time of publication. The plates frequently feature eggs and nests; a few are dedicated entirely to these subjects. The text was written by Cornelius Nozeman, a pastor who owned a cabinet of natural history specimens, and on his death, the work was taken over by Dr. Martinus Houttuyn (1720-1798). When he too died, the enterprise was continued probably by the publishers with the assistance of C.J. Temminck, to whom many of the specimens featured in the last two parts of the work belonged. Anker's definitive catalogue of bird books praises the Nozeman publication for depicting the birds "in their natural surroundings and as far as possible in their natural attitudes." Another major critic, Sacheverell Sitwell, calls this "an ornament to the ago of Rococo."