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Eleazar Albin (
''A Natural History of Birds'' has coloured engravings by Albin and his daughter Elizabeth Albin. In that book Albin writes "As for the paintings, they are all done from life, with all the exactness I could either with my own hand, or my daughters, whom I have taught to draw and paint after the life".
In his work on birds he describes the wood-crow ( northern bald ibis) from a stuffed specimen, being probably the last description of this bird made while the species was still extant in Europe.Last records of Northern Bald Ibis in Europe
/ref>
A natural history of English insects
Illustrated with a hundred copper plates, curiously engraven from the life: and (for those who desire it) exactly coloured by the author'' (London, William Innys, 1720). * *E. Albin.
A natural history of spiders, and other curious insects
' (London, Tilly, 1736). *E. Albin.
A Natural History of English Songbirds
' (1737). With coloured plates. *R. North & E. Albin.
The History of Esculent Fish
(1794).
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
', Oxford University Press.
Digitized works by Eleazar Albin in the Biodiversity Heritage Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albin, Eleazar English naturalists 1680 births 1742 deaths English watercolourists English illustrators English non-fiction writers British bird artists English male non-fiction writers
Eleazar Albin (fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
1690 – c. 1742)Michael A. Salmon, Peter Marren, Basil Harley. ''The Aurelian Legacy'' (University of California Press, 2000) pp. 109-110. was an English naturalist and watercolourist illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
who wrote and illustrated a number of books including ''A Natural History of English Insects'' (1720), ''A Natural History of Birds'' (1731–38) and ''A Natural History of Spiders and other Curious Insects'' (1736). He has been described as one of the "great entomological book illustrators of the 18th century".
Biography
Nothing is known of Albin's early life, though he may have been German-born; he claimed to have been inJamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...
in 1701. In 1708 he is known to have been married and living in Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cou ...
, London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. According to autobiographical details in ''A Natural History of English Insects'', Albin taught watercolour painting before being instructed in natural history by silk weaver and naturalist Joseph Dandridge.
''A Natural History of Birds'' has coloured engravings by Albin and his daughter Elizabeth Albin. In that book Albin writes "As for the paintings, they are all done from life, with all the exactness I could either with my own hand, or my daughters, whom I have taught to draw and paint after the life".
In his work on birds he describes the wood-crow ( northern bald ibis) from a stuffed specimen, being probably the last description of this bird made while the species was still extant in Europe./ref>
Works
*E. Albin.A natural history of English insects
Illustrated with a hundred copper plates, curiously engraven from the life: and (for those who desire it) exactly coloured by the author'' (London, William Innys, 1720). * *E. Albin.
A natural history of spiders, and other curious insects
' (London, Tilly, 1736). *E. Albin.
A Natural History of English Songbirds
' (1737). With coloured plates. *R. North & E. Albin.
The History of Esculent Fish
(1794).
References
Sources
* Osborne, Peter (2004): "Albin, Eleazar (d. 1742?)",Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
', Oxford University Press.
External links
Digitized works by Eleazar Albin in the Biodiversity Heritage Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albin, Eleazar English naturalists 1680 births 1742 deaths English watercolourists English illustrators English non-fiction writers British bird artists English male non-fiction writers