Behold the fowls of the air by Jemima Blackburn (née Wedderburn) (1823-1909) Click on image to enlarge it. 1886. “Photographed from the originals and printed in planotype.” From Bible Beasts and Birds (Hathi Trust online version of a copy in the Getty Research Institute). At the bottom of the picture the artist has inscribed the title above and added on a later page two scriptural texts and passage from Paradise Lost:
"But ask now the Beasts, and they shall teach thee ; And the Fowls of the
Air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the Earth, and it shall teach thee : And the Fishes of the Sea shall declare unto thee. Job XII. 7, 8.
Behold the Fowls of the Air: For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; Yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Matthew vi. 26.
Curs'd is the ground for thy sake, thou in sorrow
Shalt eate thereof all the days of thy Life;
Thornes also and Thistles it shall bring thee forth
Unhid, and thou shalt eate th' Herb of th' Field,
In the sweat of thy Face shalt thou eate Bread,
Till thou return unto the ground, for thou
Out of the ground wast taken, know thy Birth,
For dust thou art, and shalt to dust retume."
Paradise Lost, Ed. 1667, bk. ix. 11. 201-208.
You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Hathi Trust and the Getty Research Institute and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. — George P. Landow.
Bibliography
Blackburn, Jemima. Bible Beasts and Birds: A New Edition of Illustrations of Scripture by an Animal Painter. London: Kegan Paul, 1886. Hathi Trust online version of a copy in the Getty Institute. Web. 11 January 2021.
Last modified 11 January 2021