Edward Lear, A Malacca Parakeet, Palaeornis Malaccensis, an illustration for Prideaux J. Selby’s Natural History of Parrots, Edinburgh,W. H. Lizars; 1836.
Signed and inscribed ‘E. Lear fct.’ (vertically from branch), inscribed ‘Plate 3d’ (upper left), and ‘Palaeornis Malaccensis/Plate’ (lower centre), indistinctly inscribed along lower framing edge. Watercolour and pencil. 18.5 x 11cm (7 5/16 x 4 5/16in).
Provenance: with Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd., London. Private collection, UK.
The modern term for the Malacca Parakeet is the Long-tailed Parakeet (Psittacula longicauda). The breed was discovered by the Dutch physician and naturalist Pieter Boddaert (1730-1795).
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