Artists and Artisans in Natural History. Cooperative Practices of Draughtsmen, Engravers, Printers and Naturalists in the Eighteenth Century

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This project analyses the careers and modes of working of artists and artisans who were involved in the production of eighteenth-century natural history illustrations. It takes as a starting point the assumption that these persons' technical skills were crucial factors in determining the illustration's potential. They were perhaps even more important than the art of observation or the underlying theory. These artists and artisans, therefore, were highly influential in shaping a central part of classic natural history. Nevertheless, they have rarely been made the focus of studies in the history of science. This project contributes to closing this gap. It centres on the circle of draughtsmen, engravers, printers and, possibly, illuminators around the Nuremberg-based physician and naturalist Christoph Jacob Trew (1695-1769), who was the author and the initiator of many illustrated natural historical books. Trew's rich correspondence has survived and provides a magnificant body of sources for the project. Based on this correspondence, which will be complemented as necessary, the project reconstructs the training, the specialisation and the social structure of this group of natural history artists and artisans. Which were the skills and competencies as well as the silent conventions that they acquired during their training (if they were trained at all)? Which were the additional skills and bodies of knowledge that were needed for illustrations in natural history, and how did the artists and artisans learn them? How did they use all this expertise in the eventual production of the illustrations? It is highly relevant in this context to reconstruct family traditions and genealogies of scientific artists and artisans, as families often were important sites of training. Building on this analysis, the project then turns to the cooperative practices of artists and artisans, both with naturalists and with each other. How was the production of natural history illustrations organised? It required a complex division of labour, but, at the same time, crucially depended on close collaboration. How were partners chosen, how was the workflow moulded? How much scope was left for each of the partners and how was it made use of? The project eventually will lead to a monograph that tries to provide answers to these questions in view of the Nuremberg example.