AF-NB-0253.T.jpg

The lithograph depicts a stranded whale at top, and a rendering of its skeleton below. Human figures next to each whale establish scale. A chart at bottom lists measurements. At either side are smaller pictures depicting the skeleton on display, and the exterior of the building that housed it repsectively.

The address at bottom:

The Greenland Whale (or Balaena Musculus) was found dead on the coast of Belgium, floating at the distance of 12 miles from Ostend, on November 3, 1827 and was cast on the sands on the Eastside of the Harbour

Underneath th this text, a chart reports the dimensions of the whale. Following that is another note stating that a baron and a group of professors in Paris have calculated that the whale must have lived from 900 to 1000 years.


whales
1832-01-02
PERMANENT COLLECTION
Hart Nautical
Scharf, G.; Hullmandel, C.
gum; ink; paper
12 3/4 in x 17 3/4 in
Britain: London