Friedrich Christian Günther (1726–1774), physician in Jena, Germany, described the bird eggs and nests of his own collection and that of Casimir Christoph Schmidel (1718–1791). The descriptions are accompanied by 101 coloured etchings by Adam Ludwig Wirsing (1753–1797), publisher, engraver and art dealer, partly based on sketches of Günther. The amazingly lifelike plates are characterised by finely crafted details and rich colours. They can be regarded the best illustrations ever made about eggs. Wirsing’s magnificent copperplate engravings adorn several German natural history works of the age.
