Hummingbird Prints

Q:         Back in the early 1940s, my in-laws received two prints of hummingbirds as a wedding gift. They left the prints to us and I would like to learn more about them. The words on the back of each print are in French, but I can translate some of the words. They include the names of the pictured birds (one is a bearded hummingbird and the other has a forked tail) and the name of the publisher, Arthus-Bertrand. What can you tell us about the prints?

A:         Arthus-Bertrand, which is still in business in Paris, was founded by Claude Arthus-Bertrand in 1803. Today it sells all sorts of jewelry, medals and decorations. Back in the early 1830s, however, Arthus-Bertrand published a book titled “The Natural History of Hummingbirds,” by Rene Primevere Lesson, a French ornithologist and naturalist. The book included engraved prints of hummingbirds. The book’s prints are identified on the bottom of each page, not on the back like your prints. So it is likely your prints are later copies of the prints in the book.