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Vivid colour plate of fish of the East Indies

Capturing Nature

Poissons, Ecrevisses et Crabes de Diverses Couleurs et Figures Extraordinaires

Louis Renard

1754


Louis Renard (c1678-1746) was an enterprising Dutchman who compiled this collection of etched illustrations of fish, crustaceans and insects of the East Indies. The book, whose title translates as Fish, Crayfish and Crabs of Many Colours with Extraordinary Features, was published in Amsterdam.

A product of Dutch colonisation, these plates were based on drawings commissioned by colonial governors of the Moluccas (Maluku Islands) and the provinces of Ambon and Banda.

The colours are spectacularly gaudy, but many of the fish are identifiable species.

Others seem to be fanciful inventions, and the volume even contains an illustration of a mermaid, although this is certified as authentic by the editor.