E Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld – Opossum Shown to the Spanish King.

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  SKU: 103049

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• ARTIST: Arnoldus Montanus

• PUBLISHER: Published in Amsterdam by Jacob van Meurs

• MEDIUM: Engraving and Letterpress

  DATE: 1671

• EDITION SIZE: Paper size 12 1/8 x 8 1/16" ( 31 x 20.4 cm)

• DESCRIPTION: This leaf from Montanus’ E Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld recounts the discovery of the opossum, described as a strange quadruped seen amidst the great forests of Paria. Its forepart resembled a fox, the hindquarters an ape, with human-like feet, owl-like ears, and most remarkable of all, a pouch beneath the belly in which it carried its young. The offspring did not emerge until able to cry or suckle. The navigator Vicente Yanez Pinzon is said to have captured such a creature with three young, the mother surviving a sea voyage to Spain where she was exhibited alive at Granada before the king. This early description introduced European readers to the marsupial’s unique form and maternal pouch, a striking example of the unfamiliar and wondrous animals encountered in the New World.

• ADDITIONAL INFO: This piece is in a 9 x 14 inch archival mylar for handling.

• CONDITION: Good condition overall. Scatter foxing along the right margin.

• REFERENCE:

• CATEGORIES: 18th-19th Century Subjects , Natural History - Animals & Insects , Small Mammals and Rodents