Gould, John.

First edition, 5 volumes, folio (544 x 365mm.), 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, contemporary half morocco gilt, [Anker 169; Fine Bird Books, p.77; Nissen IVB 371; Sauer 2; Wood, p.364; Zimmer, p.251], bookplate of Free Public Library, Worcester, Mass., from the fund of John Green, 1898, Worcester Public Library ticket at rear, occasional slight spotting or foxing, bindings rubbed, joints slightly worn, vols 4 and 5 hinge cracked

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

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 Michelangelo he propelled her limited sense of perspective into the third dimension" (Isabella Tree, The Ruling Passion of John Gould (London, 1991), p.43).