Caption
Illustration of Gir Indian Lion (Panthera leo). Plate 24 from Volume 1 Trans. Zool. Soc. London, 1835, 'Some Account of the maneless Lion of Guzerat' with contemporary hand colouring as issued. The plate illustrates the first scientific confirmation, with a specimen, of the maneless Indian lion. It was communicated to the Zoological Society of London by Captain Walter Smee 1833. This plate was engraved by Zeitler from a painting by Edward Lear (1812-1888) who went on to be more famous for his 'literary nonsense' poems. He was however a talented painter employed early in his career by the Zoological Society. In the accompanying article, Captain Smee writes of the lion 'there exists a race in which the king of beasts is destitute of the flowing mane which constitutes the most remarkable of his regal ornaments'.
Availability
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