Gould, John.

First edition, 5 volumes, folio (535 x 355mm.), 448 hand-coloured lithographed plates, the majority drawn and lithographed by Elizabeth Gould from sketches and designs by the author, the remainder drawn and lithographed by Edward Lear, list of subscribers, list of plates, nineteenth-century blue morocco gilt, [Anker 169; Fine Bird Books, p.77; Nissen IVB 371; Sauer 2; Wood, p.364; Zimmer, p.251], volume one title detached and slightly frayed, occasional slight offsetting of text onto plates (e.g. volume 4 Snow Finch), volume 5 Black Cormorant slightly toned with isolated damp spot, volume 5 last plate with 4cm marginal tear, spines and one cover uniformly slightly faded

Gould's Bird's of Europe is notable for the contribution of Edward Lear, who produced 67 of the plates. As Isabella Tree notes "in volume Lear's contribution may not have been prolific, but its impact was revelatory. Lear's participation transformed the work of Mrs Gould, which in the Himalayan Birds was little more than a continuation of eighteenth-century productions, into dynamic and expressive works of art. Like an ornithological Michaelangelo he propelled her limited sense of perspective into the third dimension" (Isabella Tree, The Ruling Passion of John Gould (London, 1991), p.43).

For further illustrations see frontispiece and page 91.