A prodigiously talented pair of English twins, the Detmold brothers shared an intense passion for drawing and observing animals. As young children, they began sketching at the Zoological Gardens in London, displayed their work at the Royal Academy by the time they were 13, and published their first book of illustrations soon after. The British art world recognized their unique gift immediately and saw them as a single creative soul residing in two bodies. Their exquisite etchings, watercolors, and pen and ink drawings, rendered in the Japanese style, are remarkable for their fine detail and vivid coloration.

This glorious collection of illustrations ranges from the Detmolds' 1899 debut, Pictures from Birdland, to a 1925 edition of the exotic Arabian Nights. Other selections include curious creatures great and small from Aesop's Fables and Fabre's Book of Insects. You'll encounter a meticulously rendered menagerie that includes a slithering python and fierce tiger from The Jungle Book, a vain jackdaw with beautiful plumage, a glistening lizard and butterfly in a garden, a lace-winged praying mantis, and so much more. Collectors of fine art and beautiful books, as well as animal lovers, will treasure this distinctive art from the Golden Age of book illustration.