1769 Buffon French Engraving, Le Chat des Chartreux & Le Chat d’Angora

An original 18th century French engraving from the 1769 edition of Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière, published in Paris by the Imprimerie Royale.

Titled Le Chat des Chartreux & Le Chat d’Angora, this wonderfully detailed plate depicts the Chartreux cat above and the long haired Angora cat below, two distinct feline types documented in Buffon’s celebrated natural history. The engraving is from Tome VI and is signed Bréant Sculp.

Each engraving in this collection was individually removed from the same 1769 volume and is an authentic period print, not a later reproduction. Over 250 years old, the paper shows the expected signs of age, including toning, occasional spotting and variations along the edges.

France, 1769
Original copperplate engraving on laid paper