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The Birds of Great Britain. Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873.
Details
GOULD, John (1804-1881)
The Birds of Great Britain. Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873.
John Gould’s own copy of 'the most sumptuous and costly of British bird books.' Gould was especially proud of this work, and it 'was seen - perhaps partly because its subject was British, as the culmination of [his] ... genius' (Isabella Tree, The Ruling Passion of John Gould, London: 1991, p.207). The text is longer than in any of his other works, and the plates are amongst the finest Gould produced. Joseph Wolf, who drew 57 of the plates, had accompanied Gould on an ornithological tour of Scandinavia in 1856, and was responsible for persuading Gould and H.C. Richter to adopt a livelier treatment of the illustrations.
Notwithstanding the irony that much of the artwork was prepared from freshly killed specimens, the preface and text shows Gould’s acute understanding of the human threat to wildlife well before such views were commonplace: ‘Unfortunately, however, of late years vast numbers of certain species have been destroyed, either wantonly, or for senseless purposes of decoration instigated by fashion; and to such an extent has this been carried out it has become necessary to enact laws for their protection’ (Preface, p.ix). The book was formerly in the possession of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten, the great-grandson of Gould, and each volume has an inscription from him on a blank endpaper to that effect dated 21 June 1983 (although Edelsten had been dispersing the author’s own set from about 1977). Fine Bird Books (1990) p.102; Nissen IVB 372; Sauer 23; Wood p.365; Zimmer p.261.
5 volumes, large folio (543 x 360mm). 367 fine hand-coloured lithographic plates, most heightened with gum-arabic, by Gould, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Hart, printed by Walter or Walter & Cohn, 2 wood-engraved illustrations, 5pp. subscribers’ list (some light spotting, occasionally to plates but mostly confined to text leaves, later ink plate numbering to upper corner of opposing text leaves). Contemporary green morocco by Tuckett, covers with wide gilt borders, gilt spines with double raised bands in 6 compartments, lettered in second and third, the others filled with elaborately-tooled foliate design, gilt edges and inner dentelles (rebacked preserving spine panels, extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: John Gould (1804-1881; according to a printed description signed by bookseller and collector David Evans, loosely inserted, which records its descent from Gould to:) – Geoffrey Gould Malin Edelsten (Gould’s great-grandson, 1903-1998; ink note on the front endpaper in each volume).
The Birds of Great Britain. Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873.
John Gould’s own copy of 'the most sumptuous and costly of British bird books.' Gould was especially proud of this work, and it 'was seen - perhaps partly because its subject was British, as the culmination of [his] ... genius' (Isabella Tree, The Ruling Passion of John Gould, London: 1991, p.207). The text is longer than in any of his other works, and the plates are amongst the finest Gould produced. Joseph Wolf, who drew 57 of the plates, had accompanied Gould on an ornithological tour of Scandinavia in 1856, and was responsible for persuading Gould and H.C. Richter to adopt a livelier treatment of the illustrations.
Notwithstanding the irony that much of the artwork was prepared from freshly killed specimens, the preface and text shows Gould’s acute understanding of the human threat to wildlife well before such views were commonplace: ‘Unfortunately, however, of late years vast numbers of certain species have been destroyed, either wantonly, or for senseless purposes of decoration instigated by fashion; and to such an extent has this been carried out it has become necessary to enact laws for their protection’ (Preface, p.ix). The book was formerly in the possession of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten, the great-grandson of Gould, and each volume has an inscription from him on a blank endpaper to that effect dated 21 June 1983 (although Edelsten had been dispersing the author’s own set from about 1977). Fine Bird Books (1990) p.102; Nissen IVB 372; Sauer 23; Wood p.365; Zimmer p.261.
5 volumes, large folio (543 x 360mm). 367 fine hand-coloured lithographic plates, most heightened with gum-arabic, by Gould, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Hart, printed by Walter or Walter & Cohn, 2 wood-engraved illustrations, 5pp. subscribers’ list (some light spotting, occasionally to plates but mostly confined to text leaves, later ink plate numbering to upper corner of opposing text leaves). Contemporary green morocco by Tuckett, covers with wide gilt borders, gilt spines with double raised bands in 6 compartments, lettered in second and third, the others filled with elaborately-tooled foliate design, gilt edges and inner dentelles (rebacked preserving spine panels, extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: John Gould (1804-1881; according to a printed description signed by bookseller and collector David Evans, loosely inserted, which records its descent from Gould to:) – Geoffrey Gould Malin Edelsten (Gould’s great-grandson, 1903-1998; ink note on the front endpaper in each volume).
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts