Item PZ 42.4 Watercolour and pencil illustration - Lymnodynastes dorsalis, The Common Sand-frog, by Arthur Bartholomew, Novr 16th 1861

Summary

Watercolour and pencil illustrations (D117), of an Eastern Banjo Frog, Limnodynastes dumerilii, by Arthur Bartholomew, 16 November 1861. This work was commissioned by Frederick McCoy, the first Director of The National Museum of Victoria, for Plate 42 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria; Figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victoria indigenous animals. McCoy originally referred to this species as Lymnodynastes dorsalis, The Common Sand-frog.

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 Unfortunately, almost 90 plates in the collection remain unpublished, and hundreds of illustrations were either not completed or not printed.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

Eastern Banjo Frog, Limnodynastes dumerilli, by Arthur Bartholomew by Arthur Bartholomew. Illustration, pencil, watercolour and ink on paper, 18cm x 14cm, for Plate 42 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria by Frederick McCoy.