Giclee reprint of an original lithograph from Volume VI of Marc Elieser Bloch’s Ichtyologie, ou Histoire naturelle générale et particulière des poissons. This twelve-volume work published in Berlin between 1785 and 1797 stands as one of the most visually stunning and scientifically significant achievements in the history of ichthyology. Written by Bloch, a prominent German-Jewish physician and naturalist, this ambitious encyclopedia systematically cataloged and described hundreds of fish species from around the globe using Carl Linnaeus’s modern binomial nomenclature. The series is internationally renowned for its 432 exquisite, hand-colored copperplate engravings, which were executed by skilled artists like Andreas-Ludwig Krüger. To capture the iridescent, lifelike sheen of living fish scales, the illustrators pioneeringly applied actual gold, silver, and bronze leaf to some of the prints, elevating the publication from a rigorous scientific text to an absolute pinnacle of late 18th-century European natural history illustration.

This historical print illustrates the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The engraving features several historical names used during the 18th century, including the archaic scientific binomial Squalus carcharias, along with its traditional names in German (Der Menschenfresser / "The Maneater"), French (La Lamie), and English (The White Shark). To aid early researchers, the plate includes separate detailed diagrams of a single triangular tooth, a cross-section outline of the snout, and a fully serrated, multi-rowed jaw structure.