Portrait by C. Pfann.

Heuglin, [Martin] Theodor von

About this Item

[Halle], Kaiserlichen Leopoldino-Carolinischen Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher, [1860]1861. Single lithographed leaf. (29.2 x 22.3 cm). = A fine portrait of the explorer and ornithologist Martin Theodor von Heuglin (1824-1876). "In 1850 he went to Egypt where he learnt Arabic, and visited the Red Sea and Sinai. In 1852 he accompanied Dr. Christian Reitz, Austrian consul at Khartoum, on a journey to Ethiopia, and after Reitz's death was appointed his successor in the consulate. While he held this post he travelled in Ethiopia and Kordofan, making a valuable collection of natural history specimens. In 1857 he journeyed through the coast lands of the African side of the Red Sea, and along the Somali coast. In 1860 he was chosen as leader of an expedition to search for Eduard Vogel, his companions including Werner Munzinger, Gottlob Kinzelbach, and Hermann Steudner. In June 1861 the party landed at Massawa, having instructions to go direct to Khartoum and then to Ouaddai, where Vogel was thought to be detained. Heuglin, accompanied by Hermann Steudner, made a wide detour through Abyssinia and the Galla country, and in consequence the leadership of the expedition was taken from him. He and Steudner reached Khartoum in 1862 and there joined the party organized by Alexandrine Tinné and her mother Henriette Tinne-van Capellen, who then had just returned from a White Nile journey to Gondokoro. With both women and on their own account they explored a great part of the Bahr-el-Ghazal . Heuglin returned to Europe in February 1864. In 1870 and 1871 he made a valuable series of explorations in Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya; but 1875 found him again in north-east Africa, in the country of the Beni, Amer and northern Abyssinia. He was preparing for an exploration of the island of Socotra, when he died in Stuttgart. It is principally by his zoological, and more especially his ornithological, labours that Heuglin has taken rank as an independent authority" (Wikipedia). This portrait, signed by the Artist C. Pfann and dated 1860, was published in the February 1861 issue of the Leopoldina, amtliches Organ of the academy. Von Heuglin's autograph - in facsimile - is printed below the portrait. There are several later (copied) versions, usually reversed, with Heuglin looking to the right (his left). Some fraying; outer margins a bit toned; left margin uneven, a bit chipped. Otherwise a very good copy of von Heuglin's best-known portrait.

Seller Inventory # 72807

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Portrait by C. Pfann.
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)