Gould, John | A monumental achievement

Property from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, sold to benefit the care of the Museum's 22 million specimens and objects

Gould, John

The Birds of Asia. London: the Author, 1850-1883

7 volumes, folio (541 x 359mm). 530 hand-colored lithographed plates by Gould, H.C. Richter, Joseph Wolf and W. Hart, printed by Hullmandel & Walton, T. Walter or Walter & Cohn; handful of plates in each volume with very light marginal spotting, some intermittent spotting to text, but generally a clean set. Publisher's dark green morocco gilt; some minor rubbing, a little more so to extremities.

Gould was fascinated with the rich, vibrant colors of Asian birds as well as their exotic foliage and setting. His backgrounds are intensely detailed, and though the work was issued across such a long period, the quality of the plates remained of the highest standard. The ambitious and monumental publication was a notable success, with esteemed subscribers such as Queen Victoria, the Emperor of Austria, and kings from Belgium, Hanover and Portugal.

Covering "Species from Palestine to the westward, and from the Moluccas to the east" (Sharpe), the work took 34 years to complete. The final three parts were published posthumously by Sharpe in 1881.

REFERENCE:

Anker 178; Fine Bird Books, p. 78; Nissen IVB 368; Sauer 17; Zimmer, p. 258

PROVENANCE:

Cecil George Savile Foljambe (bookplate) — Library of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (bookplate recording 22 November 1910 purchase)