Gallery of prints for sale

Wednesday 17 March 2021

Unidentified illustrator’s woodcut for Ambroise Paré’s, “Succarath”, c1575

Unidentified illustrator for Ambroise Paré (aka Ambrosio Paræo) (1510–1590)—author and father of modern surgery

Succarath” (aka “Patagonian Ground Sloth”), c1575, published by Pierre Rigaud in the 1664 edtion of Ambroise Paré’s (1510–1590), “Les Oeuvres d'Ambroise Paré.”

Initially the composition of this woodcut was published in reverse in 1558–1578 in Antwerp for Christophle Plantin’s printing of the descriptive travels to Brazil by the Franciscan monk, André Thevet (1502–1590), “Les singularitez de la France Antarctique, autrement nommée Amerique”. In this publication, Thevet describes the extinct animal portrayed in the woodcut as having “lived by rivers, put its young on its back when threaten and had a terrible cry” (see https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~6438~9870009:-Succarath-or-su-).  The recut print, in the same direction as this impression, was published later in Paris in 1575 by Gabriel Buon as an illustration to Ambroise Paré’s “Les Oeuvres d'Ambroise Paré” (see https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_01709/page/n87/mode/2up). The print was then republished for Paré’s “Les Oeuvres…” in Lyon in 1614, 1641 and 1652, by Pierre Rigaud and again in 1664 by Jean Gregoire, see the description of this print offered by the Historical Medical Society: https://www.cppdigitallibrary.org/items/show/3023?advanced%255B%255D%255Belement_id%255D=49&advanced%255B%255D%255Btype%255D=is+exactly&advanced%255B%255D%255Bterms%255D=Portraits&sort_field=random&sort_dir=a.

Woodcut with letterpress text (recto and verso) on laid paper (papier mouchetè) trimmed around the image and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 10.9 x 18.7 cm.

Letterpress text printed recto: (above the image) “Pourt[r]aict du Succarath”; (right) “C/ D”.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression but the sheet is in a poor condition with stains and restored tears, trimmed around the image and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this marvellously bizarre woodcut showing the now extinct Succarath (aka Patagonian Ground Sloth) releasing a dreadful cry while shielding its babies from harm with its tail, for AU$228 (currently US$176.38/EUR148.03/GBP126.74 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this curiously fascinating interpretation of a Patagonian Succarath, based on the description of it by a Franciscan monk (André Thevet), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold