The Scottish publisher and printer, William Mackenzie, was accomplished in all fields. Some of his finest prints were commissioned by the prestigious Royal Agricultural Society of England (such as these original examples) and depicted prize winning cattle and horses. These valuable prints represent the most important historical record on the best breeds from the late nineteenth century. The exacting art of color printing from lithographic stones originated in Europe during the middle 1830s. These color prints revolutionized methods of artistic printing, with images ranging from animal studies to botanical and fashion plates and poster sized advertisements. Chromolithography was particularly beneficial to natural history artists in that the medium was most capable of capturing the myriad of fine shades and tones found within animal and plant life.