Natural History Prints of Turtles
Leopold Joseph Fitzinger, Vienna: c. 1860s
Leopold Joseph Fitzinger, Vienna: c. 1860s
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A pair of natural history studies of turtles, the first illustrating the North American Tail Turtle beside a small grassy pond. The other juxtaposes the Three Horn Cross Turtle and Pennsylvanian Cover Turtle in similar compositions.
Leopold Fitzinger was a vertebrate biologist whose contributions to the field were honored by academies in Vienna, Naples and Philadelphia and by numerous scholarly societies. He arrived at the Natural History Museum of Vienna as an unpaid trainee at the age of 15 charged with organizing the reptile and fish collections at at time when the institution was reshaping itself from a royal "collector's cabinet" to a scientific research institution. At 19 he accepted a position as secretary to the Lower Austrian legislature, while continuing to attend to the collection. His most significant scientific contributions were a series of books classifying reptiles, turtles and amphibians, published between 1826 and 1861, as well as a catalog of mammals, reptiles, and fishes native to the Archduchy of Austria based on numerous field trips (1832). Fitzinger obtained a permanent curatorial position at the museum in 1844, and was placed in charge of the reptile and mammal collections. Condition: Very good condition overall with usual light toning, minor edge wear, and unnoticeable foxing. Reference: "A History of the Herpetological Collection." Natural History Museum Vienna. http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/NHM/1Zoo/first_zoological_department/web/herpetol/hshp_02e.html (25 September 2002). |