
Psychedelic Fishes from the World’s First Encyclopedia of Marine Creatures - aleyan
https://www.brainpickings.org/2020/08/15/louis-renard-poissons/
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plantel
Misleading title. They only have "psychedelic" color schenes, they are not
psychoactive psychedelic fish.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogenic_fish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogenic_fish)

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sradman
> When a modern ichthyologist examined the book a quarter millennium after its
> publication, he determined that only about one in ten of the species
> depicted was drawn from the imagination; the rest were identifiable down to
> the genus, many even to the species.

This is fascinating. I skimmed the 500 MB PDF download of the 1754 book [1]
and I can confirm that anyone familiar with the reef fish/animals of the Indo-
Pacific (these are from the Spice Islands [2] in the Indonesian archipelago)
can easily pick out individual species. I was surprised by the number of times
the same species, according to my non-ichthyologist eyes, was repeated (e.g.
Picasso Triggerfish and Rainbow Mantis Shrimp).

The artist was very good at capturing the shape and patterns of the animals
(maybe not so good at grouping them by species). The colors seem to be more
interpretive than realistic, probably because the fish were from local
markets. Rather than being "psychedelic", some of the most spectacular
colorings, such as the Clown Triggerfish [3], are depicted with bland colors.

[1]
[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/200575#page/7/mode/...](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/200575#page/7/mode/1up)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_Islands)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown_triggerfish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown_triggerfish)

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alex55
I was disappointed the article didn't talk more about the mermaid. For anyone
else like me interested in that, I found a high resolution version [1],
transcribed the old-fashioned French and wrote a translation:

> _240\. Monstre ſemblable à une Sirenne pris à la côte de l 'isle de Borné ou
> Boeren dans le Departement d'Amboïne. Il étoit long de 59. pouces gros à
> proportion comme une Anguille. Il a vecu à terre dans une Cuve pleine d'eau
> quatre jours et ſept heures. Il pousſoit de temps en temps des petits cris
> comme ceux d'une Souris. Il ne voulut point manger, quoy qu'on luy offrit
> des petits poisſons, des coquillages, des Crabes, Ecrevisſes, etc. On trouva
> dans sa Cuve apres qu'il fut mort quelques excrements ſemblables à des
> crottes de chat._

> _240\. Monster similar to a Siren_ [Mermaid] _caught on the coast of the
> island of Borné or Boeren_ [I can't find these places in a modern
> dictionary. Maybe Borneo?] _in the Department of Amboine. In length it was
> 59 inches and in size had the proportions of an eel. It survived on land_
> [i.e. after it was caught] _in a tank full of water for four days and seven
> hours. It made small cries like those of a mouse from time to time. It did
> not want to eat, whatever anyone offered it: small fish, shellfish_ [the
> French word refers only to molluscs] _, crabs, crayfish, etc. Several pieces
> of excrement similar a cat 's were found in its tank after it had died._

1\.
[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50095192#page/220/m...](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50095192#page/220/mode/1up)

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phobosanomaly
Is anyone familiar with color printing technology from 1678–1746? How were
those color images printed?

~~~
AndrewDucker
FTA "populated by 460 individual hand-colored copper engravings"

~~~
phobosanomaly
I don't quite understand what a hand-colored copper engraving is. Does that
mean that the entire image is composed of a bunch of separate perfectly
overlapping hand-etched plates? How would you break up an image like that and
line them up on separate copper plates by hand? The images seem too precise.

~~~
yial
I believe it would be just one plate, that the colors would be painted onto
individually.

[https://www.antiqueprints.com/Info/engraving.php](https://www.antiqueprints.com/Info/engraving.php)

~~~
phobosanomaly
I don't think it could work that way.

In printing with an engraved plate the ink is spread out over the engraving
and then the surface of the plate is wiped with a rag.

The printed image is a result of the ink that remained in the etched grooves
without being wiped off. I don't see any way you could mix colors on a single
plate without it becoming a blurry mess.

I'm thinking maybe the outlines were printed in a single color and then the
colors were hand-painted in the book itself, sort of like 'paint by numbers.'

[https://www.finerareprints.com/blog-and-tips-about-
antique-p...](https://www.finerareprints.com/blog-and-tips-about-antique-
prints/what-is-an-engraving)

I can't find anything about printing color with engravings pre-lithography
other than 'they painted in the color.'

