Mark Catesby's Natural History of America: The Watercolors from the Royal Library Windsor CastleThe Natural History, the life work of the English naturalist and artist Mark Catesby (1682 1749), the most important precursor of Audubon, was twenty years in the making, from 1729 to 1749. It was the first comprehensive study of the flora and fauna of the eastern seaboard of North America, and its beautifully finished, often striking images remained an indispensable reference source throughout the century of its publication. Published here for the