(Band 1): Erstes Hundert
This is a German natural history volume of bird plates, Erstes Hundert (first hundred), by Johann Matthäus Bechstein, published in 1795 and held by Heidelberg University Library. Its hand-coloured copperplate illustrations show songbirds and related species, labelled with numbered figures and German and Latin names, aimed at naturalists and collectors. The pictures are precise, flat and evenly lit, with birds posed on bare branches against plain paper, a clear model for scientific diagram layouts, field guide plates and tidy labelled specimen arrangements.
