Les Pigeons

Les Pigeons
by Pauline Knip
Adopted for Conservation by
Susan Ellen Wolf
Ana Dalao Wood
on November 16, 2016
Colombi-Gallines Plate 1 from Les pigeons

Les pigeons , t. 1

By Pauline Knip. Paris: Chez Mme. Knip; Bellizard, Dufour et Cie libraires, [1838-1843?].

Pauline de Courcelles Knip (1781-1851) was a bird artist in Paris who had studied under the famed French artist Jacques Barraband.  She appropriated ornithologist Coenraad Temminck’s work on the pigeon family as text for her remarkable illustrations of pigeons.  These 147 folio plates are the richest and most delicate illustrations of this group of birds ever produced.  Printed in colors and finished by hand, the 87 engraved plates in volume 1 were first published in parts in 1809-1811 and then, reissued in 1838 (as in this copy) when the second volume began appearing.

Condition and Treatment: 

This piece is a mid-19th century, half-bound leather and marbled paper volume. The front cover is detached and there is some loss to the spine at the head and tail. The first two tabbed pages have torn tabs. Conservators will clean and reline the spine, repair the case, and re-attach the front cover. The torn tabs will be repaired using Japanese paper adhered with reversible wheat starch paste.

Discover more about this book in our Catalog.

Adoption Type: Preserve for the Future