John Gould | A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-Birds, [1849-] 1861

John Gould

A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-Birds. London: Taylor and Francis for the Author, [1849-] 1861

5 volumes, large folio (563 x 371mm.), list of subscribers, list of plates in each volume, 360 hand-coloured lithographed plates, many highlighted with varnish and metallic paints, by Gould, H.C. Richter and William Hart, contemporary red half morocco gilt, some spotting, small ink stain to cover

''The Trochilidae of Gould is his masterpiece, and must ever remain a feast of beauty and a source of wonder'' (Fine Bird Books, p.29).

Gould injected remarkable vivacity into his hummingbirds by using gold leaf over painted with transparent oil colours and varnish, evoking the iridescent effect of their plumage. The birds are shown in a boundless variety of positions, hovering near, swooping into and rested upon crops of exquisitely illustrated flowers.

Gould's own remarkable collection of 1500 mounted hummingbirds was exhibited in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, during the Great Exhibition of 1851. It attracted 75,000 visitors, including Queen Victoria, who recorded in her diary: ''It is impossible to imagine anything so lovely as these little Humming Birds, their variety, and the extraordinary brilliance of their colours''.

The work was issued in twenty-five parts, followed much later (1880-1887) by a mostly posthumous five-part supplement by Richard Bowdler-Sharpe, not present here.

For more information about Gould, please refer to Lot 88.

LITERATURE:

Anker 177; Fine Bird Books, p. 78; Nissen IVB 380; Sauer 16; Zimmer, p. 258