Malimbic Bee-Eater - Shaw & Nodder - 1799

George Shaw & Frederick Polydore Nodder, The Naturalist’s Miscellany, London, 1799
Hand-coloured copperplate engraving on laid paper with Latin and English descriptive leaves

This vivid plate portrays the striking Malimbic Bee-Eater, a rare African species distinguished by its deep slate plumage and brilliant crimson throat. Published in 1799, it belongs to the later volumes of The Naturalist’s Miscellany, engraved and coloured under Frederick Polydore Nodder’s direction. Shaw drew upon recent zoological observations from the French Annales du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, referencing Daudin’s Hist. Nat. (No. 12) for one of the earliest printed European accounts of this species.

The English text identifies the bird’s habitat as “the interior parts of Africa,” distinguishing it from the European Merops apiaster (common Bee-Eater). Nodder’s engraving masterfully conveys the velvety black plumage contrasted with the blood-red gorget, capturing the exotic fascination of African fauna at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Condition

Fine impression with excellent plate mark and original hand-colour.

• Paper bright and evenly toned; ample margins with visible chain-lines.

• Deckled inner edge and stitching holes confirm removal from a bound subscriber volume.

• No staining, tears, or repairs; the pigments retain strong density, particularly the red throat patch and dark plumage.

• Latin and English text leaves clean and complete with only minimal age toning.

Overall grade: Fine to Near Fine (8.5 / 10) — an exemplary, well-preserved late-series plate.

Rarity

Issued toward the close of The Naturalist’s Miscellany, this 1799 plate was printed in a reduced run—likely under 300 impressions—as subscriptions declined after 1798. African ornithological subjects are notably scarce within the series, with fewer surviving examples complete with both descriptive leaves. Its striking composition and deep colour contrast place it among the more collectible of Shaw & Nodder’s avian studies.

The text at the bottom of the Malimbic Bee-Eater plate, one which we have attached in our image section, reads as follows when expanded and standardised from the copperplate inscription:

“London. Published as the Act directs, April 1 st 1799, by F. P. Nodder.”
“F. P. Nodder del. et sculp.”

• “Published as the Act directs” is the legal copyright declaration required by the 1735 Engravers’ Act.

• Date – April 1 1799, this date confirms first publication of this specific plate in The Naturalist’s Miscellany for that month’s issue.

• “F. P. Nodder del. et sculp.” = Latin delineavit et sculpsit, meaning “drawn and engraved by Frederick Polydore Nodder.”
  

• The plate belongs to the later-father period of the Miscellany—around Volume 11–12 (1799)—when Shaw and Nodder were introducing African and Asian species based on Daudin’s Annales du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle.

Collectors value this detail highly because it anchors the print’s exact publication date and verifies that it is an authentic 18th-century impression from the original Nodder copperplate, not a later re-strike or reproduction.

Numbers on the pages:

Final Note:

The Malimbic Bee-Eater reflects a moment when European naturalists were expanding taxonomy beyond the familiar continents, incorporating discoveries from Africa into Enlightenment zoology. The collaboration between Shaw and Nodder here achieves both scientific clarity and dramatic visual appeal. A compelling example of late-Georgian natural-history engraving, harmonising precision with painterly depth.

Size: approx. 13.97 × 22.23 cm (image and text leaves close to A5 format)