Three specimens of marine life

Marine zoological studies of three specimens. Figures 1-2 [centre] upper and lower views of a starfish, “most common upon our English coast�. Figure 3 [below] sea horse from Italy, “taken from the Royal Society�. Figure 4 [top] view of a sea-turtle, possibly the Hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricate, “the first of the finny Race; drawn from Mr. Salter’s Collection at the Coffee-House at Chelsea.�

Plate 4 from the book A philosophical account of the works of nature, by Richard Bradley (London, 1721). The figures are represented as being on three pieces of paper pinned to the darkened background of the plate. Inscribed “Plate IV. T.Cole sculp.“

Richard Bradley (1688-1732) English botanist and writer, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712. Figure 3 on this plate is a specimen from the Royal Society’s Repository.