Animals Drawn from Nature and Engraved in Aqua-tinta

Animals Drawn from Nature and Engraved in Aqua-tinta is a book written and illustrated by Charles Catton the younger and published in London in 1788. It is a very early example of a work including hand-coloured aquatints. The thirty-six animals described, all mammals except for the crocodile, were from both the New World and the Old World. At the time Catton had not travelled abroad so he drew native British animals as well exotics kept in captivity in Britain.

Catton was by profession an artist who was taught his skills by his father, also called Charles Catton, who is known in the history of art as Charles Catton the elder.

The elder Catton (1728–1798) was apprenticed to a coach builder at a time when it was fashionable to have heraldic coats of arms painted on the sides of the coaches. He became skilled in the artistic part of his trade and was well known for his ability at painting animals supporting coats of arms in a naturalistic way rather than heraldically. As well as becoming coach painter to George III he became an accomplished portraitist and a founder member of the Royal Academy.

Charles Catton the younger (1756–1819) was apprenticed to his father, working closely to his style, and was trained at the Royal Academy schools. He exhibited regularly at the Academy (1775–1800) – landscapes, animals and topographical watercolours – and was an occasional scene painter at Covent Garden Theatre (1781–1794). He toured Great Britain making paintings and sketches, many of which were later engraved by others but he was a skilled engraver himself. He did not leave Britain until he emigrated to the United States in 1804.

Shortly after "Animals" was published he conributed some illustrations for John White's 1790 Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales.

Animals was first published in 1788 in London by I. and J. Taylor and then again in 1825 in New Haven by H. Howe, a local bookseller and publisher. Thirty-six animals are described, each having a whole-page illustration and a page of text – 74 pages in all. The first edition is upright folio (2°), 16.8 by 10.8 inches (426 by 275 mm) and the prints are 12 by 8 in (300 by 200 mm). The text and most of the illustrations are orientated sideways so the pages are in landscape format. The binding is calfskin with gilt embellishments and the spine is in seven panels with a morocco leather title label in the second panel. The endpapers are with spot and veined marbling.

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