For this work Lear drew portraits of mostly live specimens directly on stone, creating artistic masterpieces that established his reputation as a natural history painter. Lear issued only 175 copies and ran out of funds after completing 12 of the 14 parts, selling only 125 subscriptions, and selling the remaining 50 copies and the rights to the plates to John Gould. Concerning this work see the exceptionally informative Wikipedia article at this link. Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this liink.

Though not credited on the title page, Thomas Bell was superintendent of the plates and the intended author of this work. James de Carle Sowerby created the original paintings. Edward Lear drew the plates on stone.

Forty of the plates first appeared in Thomas Bell's A monograph of the testudinata, London: Samuel Highley, [1832-1836]. Only the first eight parts of that work were issued due to the publisher's bankruptcy, causing the introduction to end in mid-sentence. Henry Sotheran eventualy bought the unsold parts and remaining plates, and in 1872 reissued them with 20 additional, previously unpublished plates by Sowerby and Lear. Because Bell did not wish to write a text for the additional plates, John Edward Gray provided the additional text for the 1872 edition.

Digital facsimile of the incomplete first edition from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link. Digital facsimile of the 1872 edition from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.