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The natural history of Oxford-shire : being an essay toward the natural history of England

Plot, Robert, 1640-1696, Burghers, Michael, 1647 or 1648-1727, engraver, Bull, Lewis, former owner. DSI, Paget, John Moore, 1792-1866. former owner. DSI, Wetmore, Alexander, 1886-1978, former owner. DSI · 1677 · Printed at the Theater in Oxford, And are to be had there and in London at Mr. S. Millers, at the Star neat the West-end of St. Pauls Church-yard · 12 pictures

Robert Plot's 1677 The Natural History of Oxford-shire, printed at the Theatre in Oxford and sold in London, is an early county natural history written for scholars and gentry collecting curiosities. Its engraved plates, by Michael Burghers, show fossils, shells, fish, birds, and antiquarian objects laid out in tidy grids with ornate cartouche captions. A designer might borrow the orderly specimen-grid layout, the engraved botanical-style hatching, and the baroque scroll frames.

Natural history

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