Background:

These beautiful hand-colored prints are from the French natural history reference Galerie D'Histoire Naturelle (Gallery of Natural History).  Many of the prints are based on illustrations by Edward Traviés.  One of the unique aspects of these prints is that each mammal is featured in a natural setting, though the coloring is only to the subject itself.  This style is very reminiscent of prints from Jardine's Naturalists' Library.