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Ornithology from a Private European Collection
GOULD, John (1804-1881)
The Birds of Great Britain. Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873.
细节
GOULD, John (1804-1881)
The Birds of Great Britain. Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873.
Jeanson’s extremely fine, clean and handsomely-bound set 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). Fine Bird Books (1990) p.102; Nissen IVB 372; Sauer 23; Wood p.365; Zimmer p.261.
5 volumes, large folio (543 x 370mm). 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 (one or two plates only faintly offsetting onto adjacent guards, but otherwise a fine, clean copy). Near-contemporary red morocco by Zaehnsdorf and uniform with The Birds of New Guinea (see lot 95), covers with wide gilt border composed of a fleur-de-lys and leaf roll used twice, two fillet tramlines and a dotted roll used twice, sandwiching a large ornate foliate roll terminating with foliate cornerpieces, gilt spines with double raised bands in 6 compartments, lettered in second and fourth, the others filled with elaborately-tooled foliate centrepieces, marbled endpapers, gilt edges and inner dentelles (extremities only just faintly rubbed, otherwise in exceptionally fine condition). Provenance: Marcel Jeanson (bookplates; sold Sotheby’s Monaco 16 June 1988, lot 36).
The Birds of Great Britain. Taylor and Francis for the author, 1862-1873.
Jeanson’s extremely fine, clean and handsomely-bound set 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). Fine Bird Books (1990) p.102; Nissen IVB 372; Sauer 23; Wood p.365; Zimmer p.261.
5 volumes, large folio (543 x 370mm). 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 (one or two plates only faintly offsetting onto adjacent guards, but otherwise a fine, clean copy). Near-contemporary red morocco by Zaehnsdorf and uniform with The Birds of New Guinea (see lot 95), covers with wide gilt border composed of a fleur-de-lys and leaf roll used twice, two fillet tramlines and a dotted roll used twice, sandwiching a large ornate foliate roll terminating with foliate cornerpieces, gilt spines with double raised bands in 6 compartments, lettered in second and fourth, the others filled with elaborately-tooled foliate centrepieces, marbled endpapers, gilt edges and inner dentelles (extremities only just faintly rubbed, otherwise in exceptionally fine condition). Provenance: Marcel Jeanson (bookplates; sold Sotheby’s Monaco 16 June 1988, lot 36).
荣誉呈献
Mark Wiltshire
Specialist