Birds of New Guinea by John Gould,
John Gould (1804-1881) was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, the son of John Gould, a gardener, and his wife Elizabeth Clatworthy. Gould’s training was as a taxidermist rather than an artist, and in 1828 he was appointed animal preserver at the museum of the Zoological Society of London.
In 1838-1840, Gould and his family went to the then relatively unknown continent of Australia, with the purpose of collecting and studying specimens. During his time there he discovered hundreds of new bird species and subspecies. As a result of the findings the fascinating works Birds of Australia and Mammals of Australia were published. Subsequently he was considered as the father of bird study in Australia.
Gould himself did not execute finished drawings for any of his works, only providing rough pencil or watercolour sketches with notes for his artists to work from. The artists he employed included his wife Elizabeth, Edward Lear, Joseph Wolf, Henry Richter and Joseph Hart.
£220
In stock
Authentic facsimile prints based the the original that was presented to the British Museum, published by Hill House 1991. Mounted in cream and framed in faux bamboo. ‘Eclectus Riedeli – Riedel’s Parrot’.
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First published in France, these prints are based on the drawings of the famed caricaturist J. J. Grandville. Born Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard, Gradville; he fought on the barricades during the revolution of 1830 which dethroned Charles X, the last Bourban king. It was during this period that his cartoons appeared in two of the most famous satirical journals of the time; Le Charivari and Le Caricature, but in 1835 these publications were suppressed by the government of Louis-Philippe. This event extinguished his income and means of political expression and forced him to start making a living by book illustration. The ‘Public and Private Life of Animals’ allowed him to criticise society and its effect on individuals through one of the oldest narrative types; the animal fable. His caricaturist’s skills combined the human and animal characteristics giving him a vehicle of expression as to what was not permissible in ‘Society’ but was perfectly acceptable when the material was presented as humorous or satirical.£220 each