Mark Catesby

Mark Catesby was an English self-taught artist and explorer who created one of the first folios examining the flora and fauna of America. Born in 1682, Catesby traveled to the new world on a legendary discovery expedition a century before John James Audubon first published his work. His exploration of the southern British colonies resulted in the publication of his illustrated folio, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Catesby also contributed to the research of renowned taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus (1707—1778), who included over 70 of Catesby’s bird illustrations in his landmark work, Systema Naturae.