Item PZ 1.1 Watercolour illustration and notes - Pseudechys porphyriacus, The Black Snake, by Arthur Bartholomew

Summary

Watercolour and pencil illustration, and descriptive notes of a Red-bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphyriacus, from Studley Park, Melbourne, by Arthur Bartholomew. This work was commissioned by Frederick McCoy, the first Director of The National Museum of Victoria, for Plate 1 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria; Figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victoria indigenous animals. McCoy referred to this species as Pseudechys porphyriacus, The Black Snake.

Bartholomew's illustration forms part of the much larger Prodromus Collection. Many of the original illustrations and prints in the collection informed the production of The Prodromus, the first major publication of the National Museum of Victoria. Between 1878 and 1890, McCoy published his zoology 'Prodromus' as 20 parts in two volumes, with each part comprising 20 Plates. Unfortunately, almost 90 plates in the collection remain unpublished, and hundreds of illustrations were either not completed or not printed.

Description of Content

Red-bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphyriacus, by Arthur Bartholomew. Illustrations, D215 & D216, pencil, watercolour and wax on paper, 17cm x 26cm, for Plate 1 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria by Frederick McCoy.