Science Art: Shovel-fish & spoonbill sturgeon by the Brothers Dalziel



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This is a pile of unusual fish from The illustrated natural history, vol. 3, by John George Wood, London, circa 1863. The Brothers Dalziel were the most celebrated (perhaps) engravers of Victorian England. There were eight of them, although George and Edward did most of the engraving. The family firm handled material from the scientific, like this one, to the religious, including prayer books, Bible illustrations and cartoons of Charles Darwin. They also handled Tenniel’s illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and did their own illustrations for the works of Charles Dickens and a raft of other authors.

In 1901, they published a retrospective of their career, called A Record of Fifty Years’ Work.

This image is yet another masterpiece found via Old Book Illustrations.