PPaillou farmyard scene Burghley House-FSS

PPaillou North Prospect of London taken from the Bowling Green at Islington. John Bowles 1752-FSS

The Nuremberg Lizard, a supplement

Posted on 20/04/202120/04/2021 by Huw Evans 1 Comment

It may be a coincidence, but the last two major discoveries concerning the history of the London Fancy and the Lizard canary have been made by European enthusiasts: Hein van Grouw (Netherlands) and Didier Mervilde (Belgium) in the case of the 1850 London Fancy, and Michael Monthofer (Germany) in the case of the Nuremberg Lizard. […]... Read More

Nuremberg Lizard 1895 JNaden @ Tring-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard Musei Wormiani Historia (Wellcome)-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard music for Queen Caroline-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard Markgrafenschloss Ansbach wiki Martin Geisler

The Nuremberg Lizard, part 3

Posted on 12/04/2021 by Huw Evans 1 Comment

Up to now I’ve looked at Johann Daniel Meyer’s engraving of the Zweyerley Vorstellung des Canarienvogels (Presentation of a pair of canary birds) with a sceptical eye. In Part 3 I am going to look at the evidence that might support Michael Monthofer’s belief that the engraving represents a canary “which one can confidently call […]... Read More

saffron finch-dario sanchez (finchinfo.com)-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard light & dark spanglebacks-FSS

The Nuremberg Lizard, part 2

Posted on 05/04/202105/04/2021 by Huw Evans 1 Comment

Michael Monthofer’s discovery of Johann Daniel Meye’s engraving entitled Zweyerley Vorstellung des Canarienvogels (Presentation of a pair of canary birds) is a very exciting development. After careful study Michael came to the conclusion that the bird on the right represents a canary “den man getrost als Lizard oder zumindest als sehr lizard- ähnlich bezeichnen kann” […]... Read More

Nuremberg Lizard Jalapa officinarium-FSS

Nuremberg Lizard Nuremberg ca 1770 RareMapsandBooks

The Nuremberg Lizard, part 1

Posted on 29/03/2021 by Huw Evans 2 Comments

Never heard of Johann Daniel Meyer? Neither had I until Michael Monthofer got in touch with me (1). He had “found a print showing canary birds from 1748” and had written “a little article” about it (2). He offered to send me a copy; you can guess my answer. A PDF duly arrived and […]... Read More

Vincent & Colette at LCA Classic 1997-FSS

Vincent Coquet, the French connoisseur

Posted on 25/11/2020 by Huw Evans 6 Comments

“He’s a genuinely nice person, a caring friend, loyal, hospitable, generous, bird-wise his awards speak for themselves”. A tribute to Vincent Coquet by Joe Coakley... Read More

Hitch-hiker’s guide to the Lizard canary

Posted on 05/11/2020 by Huw Evans 5 Comments

I do not use Facebook, but the image at the head of this article reminded me that people from all over the world make good use of it.... Read More

A London Fancy canary circa 1850

Posted on 03/09/2020 by Huw Evans 7 Comments

Wonderful news. A specimen of a London Fancy canary dated to circa 1850 has come to light; the holy grail for canary historians. We can thank Hein van Grouw for the discovery; he seems to have made a speciality of investigating birds that became extinct. (1) Hein’s photograph of the bird was first published […]... Read More

fine spangled sort

The London Fancy and the Lizard canary . . . for those who are very curious