Murkwurdige Schlangen: Marvelous C. 1800 German Watercolor on Laid of Two Snakes penny covered bottle Wire inserted into the openings

Wire inserted into the openings of the oars runs through oarlocks on either side

and if it did not house part of Hawthorne's original copy of the novel

but will hang (a bit precariously) from the nails on his sides

others painted and/or carved

One tiny knick in the the paper along the right edge

Murkwurdige Schlangen: Marvelous C. 1800 German Watercolor on Laid of Two Snakes penny covered bottle Wire inserted into the openingsThis is not a hand colored engraving, it is an original, beautifully executed ink and watercolor drawing on watermarked laidone of four watercolors I purchased from a German seller, which appear all done by the same person, c. 1800. Photos do no justice to the real thing. I would guess they were the original drawings after which engravings were then made for a zoological volume. I find it, and all of them, extraordinarily beautiful, and their amazing