JOHN GOULD. THE BIRDS OF ASIA: A PAIR OF HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHS. PUCRASIA DARWINI & LOBIOPHASIS CASTANEICAUDATUS

Two hand-colored lithographs by Joseph Wolf and H.C.Richter, and John Gould and W. Hart, [London: by the Author, 1850-1883]. Framed. lot includes: Pucrasia darwini [Darwin's Pucras Pheasant] — Lobiophasis castaneicaudatus [Chesnut-tailed Lobed Pheasant] each sheet approximately: 375 by 546 mm 14 3/4 by 21 1/2 in

Pucrasia darwini [Darwin's Pucras Pheasant]: 1" tear to upper blank margin.
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A pair of fine images from John Gould's magnificent folio work The Birds of Asia The intended geographical range of The Birds of Asia was enormous, and very much in keeping with the seemingly limitless self-belief of the 19th-century's best known ornithologist. In his all-encompasing work John Gould includes species from all corners of the eastern world, as Richrad Bowdler Sharpe noted the work covers "Species from Palestine to the eastward, and from the Moluccas to the west." Gould chose to record the bird life from an area which, with the exception of the tropical areas of the American continent, includes the widest, and most colourful variety of bird life to be found anywhere in the world.