HOUGHTON, William.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

British Fresh-Water Fishes. First edition of the classic book on the subject, beautifully illustrated with colour species plates printed by Benjamin Fawcett, a skilled practitioner of woodblock colour printing. The text includes landscape scenes of a freshwater location where each fish can be found, as well as details of size, colour, and, for edible fish, taste.An amateur naturalist, Reverend William Houghton (1828-1895) based his study on fish specimens at the British Museum. British Fresh-Water Fishes was "a landmark work not least because it was the last blast of the British amateur naturalist before the professional scientific community tightened its grip and all but eliminated their kind. The work was a long time in preparation and Houghton corresponded widely - basing some of his work on paintings supplied by Jonathan Couch... He was an extremely thorough man and British Fresh-Water Fishes eliminates many of the errors that had been repeated in earlier works" (Fishing Museum Online).Fawcett collaborated with Houghton on four works. The largest format-wise of Fawcett's publications, British Fresh-Water Fishes won him a gold medal at the London Fisheries' Exhibition.

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