Credit: © The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.9968
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    ‘The Mongooz’ [Lemur]

    Date
    1754
    Creator
    George Edwards (1694 - 1773, British) , Ornithologist
    Object type
    Library reference
    38029
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 286mm
    width (print): 220mm
    Subject
    Biology
       > Zoology
    Content object
    nature
       > animal
    Description
    Zoological study of a Lemur from Madagascar. The animal is shown on a patch of greenery, its tail looped around a basket of apples and pears, as if in the act of selecting one.

    Plate 216 from chapter 6 of Gleanings of natural history, exhibiting figures of quadrupeds, birds, insects, plants, &c..., by George Edwards, volume 1 (London, for the author, 1758). Described by Edwards in his accompanying text: “These animals are brought from Madagascar, and many of the smaller islands between that and the East Indies; they seem to be one remove from the direct Monkey...I saw this animal, A.D. 1752, alive, at the house of the obliging Mrs.Kennon, midwife to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, who invited me to take a drawing of it; and informed me that it fed on fruits, herbs and almost any thing...I have seen others of the genus; one said to be brought from the East-Indies...I saw also, at St. Bartholomew Fair, London, A..D. 1753, three or four of these animals...”

    The plate is inscribed: “G.Edwards Delin. et sculp: Published January the first. 1754. The Mongooz.”
    Associated place
    <The World>
       > Africa
          > Madagascar
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