COUCH, Jonathan. A History of the Fishes of the British Islands.

The Earliest Colour-Illustrated Work on British Fishes

COUCH, Jonathan. A History of the Fishes of the British Islands. London: George Bell & Sons. 1877–1878.

Four volumes, 8vo. Original publisher’s blue pebbled cloth, borders decorated in blind, gilt-stamped design of three fishes to upper boards, dark brown endpapers, top-edges untrimmed; vol. I: pp. vii, [1], 245, [1]; vol. II: pp. iv, 265, [1]; vol. III: pp. iv, 208; vol. IV: pp. iv, 439, [1]; with 252 hand-coloured, tissue-guarded copper-engraved plates by Benjamin Fawcett of Driffield, each volume with 8 pp. of advertisements tipped in to rear; minor loss to headcaps of vols. 1 and 4., discreetly reinforced with cloth, extremities bumped, spines lightly sunned; lightly toned with occasional foxing; else very good; 1883 ink ownership inscription of A. Phipson to title-page of Vol. 1.

An early reissue of this ‘major contribution to ichthyology … the earliest work on British fishes to be illustrated in colour’ (ODNB), with 252 hand-coloured engraved plates.

Originally published between 1860 and 1865, A History of the Fishes of the British Islands was the principal work of Jonathan Couch (1789–1870), physician and naturalist of Polperro, Cornwall. Couch practised medicine in the village for some sixty years, whilst pursuing extensive research into the natural history of the surrounding coast. Local fishermen frequently supplied him with uncommon marine specimens, allowing him to make detailed observations of the fishes of the western English Channel. The plates here were engraved from watercolours made by Couch from freshly caught specimens, and their remarkable fidelity was such that they subsequently enabled later ichthyologists to identify several species which Couch and his contemporaries had themselves misidentified.

Couch was a prolific contributor to the scientific journals of his day and maintained a wide correspondence with naturalists in Britain and Europe. He had corresponded with Thomas Bewick concerning Bewick’s proposed, but never completed, work on British fishes, and assisted William Yarrell’s History of British Fishes (1836) by lending him coloured illustrations and notes. Although Couch’s particular strength lay in the fauna of the western English Channel, his correspondence with leading naturalists enabled him to incorporate information on less familiar species; his knowledge of the northern fauna and freshwater fishes was less extensive. The text is nevertheless notable for its numerous original observations on the natural history of sea fishes and for the close attention paid to their habits and habitats.

Couch also devoted considerable attention to fishes of economic importance, particularly the pilchard and mackerel, both central to the Cornish fishing industry. His investigations into these species reflected not only his scientific interests but also his concern for the fishing community upon which the local economy depended. The resulting work combines detailed field observation with pioneering colour illustration, providing an important record of the British ichthyological fauna and a landmark in the illustrated natural history of British fishes.

Freeman, British Natural History Books 828.

SKU: 2125975