Proteosaurus, an ichthyosaur

Title: Engraving of ‘Proteo-saurus’, an ichthyosaur from Lyme Regis

Creator: William Clift, James Basire

Description: The fossil on which this image is based, was the most complete example of an ichthyosaur ever found at the time of its discovery by Mary Anning (1799-1847) in 1818.  

The image was included in Everard Home’s paper ‘An account of the fossil skeleton of the Proteosaurus’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol.109 (1819), pp209-211.

The specimen, which was owned by Lt-Col Thomas James Birch, was sold in aid of Anning and her family in 1820. It was purchased by the Royal College of Surgeons for the sum of £100, but was destroyed in an air raid in May 1941.

Date: 1819

Format: Engraving

Archive reference: LDGSL/636

Image reference: 03-08

Recommended print size: Up to 100 x 90cm

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