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Gould's Exotic Birds
John Gould (1804-1881) was inspired by Edward Lear's book of parrot drawings and John James Audubon's 'Birds of America' to publish over the curse of fifty years nearly three thousand hand-coloured lithographs of birds from six continents. This fascinating and beautiful selection of exotic bird illustrations from the collection of Gould's books in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is accompanied by additional prints by Lear and Audubon. The text describes Gould's passion for collecting bird skins, his business acumen and his organisation of the skilled team of artists and craftsmen who, from 1830 to 1881, produced the highly successful Gould books.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published October 26, 1987
About the author
Maureen Lambourne
11 booksMaureen Lambourne is the great-great-granddaughter of John Gould. She studied at Reading University and worked in the Ceramic and Prints & Drawing Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum. She has been a lecturer and has published several articles and books about John Gould.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 4, 2019
Nothing puts me in a fury more than someone taking the credit for another artist's work. Like the majority of the public viewing the gorgeous hand-colored lithographs in John Gould's bird books, I assumed that John Gould was the artist who drew them. That was not the case. Elizabeth Coxen Gould produced the substantial body of drawings and plates while John had a tendency to claim credit for his wife's work.
John Gould was a brilliant and obsessed bird enthusiast and writer but he was no lithograph artist. He married Elizabeth and quickly realized that his talented artist wife was more than a devoted “help-mate.” Finally the ambitious gardener's son could find his desired wealth and clout with the elite Victorian society. He was talented in taxidermy (he became well-known for his stuffed giraffe) but the avian drawings were what put him on the map. Poor overworked Elizabeth, bore him 8 children, as well as produced 650 hand-colored, lithographic plates for his books. Her drawings are just lovely and I just wish she could have gotten due credit for them.
John also used the great illustrator Edward Lear, who was one of the greatest ornithological artists of his era, his association with John and Elizabeth Gould began in the early 1830's, when he assisted “Mrs. Gould in all her drawings of foregrounds” for the Gould’s first book, “A Century of Birds from the Himalayas.” Like Elizabeth, John treated Edward Lear quite poorly and he appropriated Edward Lear's lithographs. He also failed to credit those who collected birds for him. I enjoyed looking at these magnificent drawings but let's give the real artists due credit for them!
John Gould is called the “Father of Bird Study” in Australia and it is without question that he was a great bird researcher. However, I do think it is time to stop giving him sole credit and give his wife, Elizabeth Coxen Gould, her place in history. Her husband John Gould's identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Elizabeth's art work is included the 50 birds depicted in Charles Darwin's ornithology section of The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle in 1840.
Recommended to bird lovers everywhere. Five stars.
John Gould was a brilliant and obsessed bird enthusiast and writer but he was no lithograph artist. He married Elizabeth and quickly realized that his talented artist wife was more than a devoted “help-mate.” Finally the ambitious gardener's son could find his desired wealth and clout with the elite Victorian society. He was talented in taxidermy (he became well-known for his stuffed giraffe) but the avian drawings were what put him on the map. Poor overworked Elizabeth, bore him 8 children, as well as produced 650 hand-colored, lithographic plates for his books. Her drawings are just lovely and I just wish she could have gotten due credit for them.
John also used the great illustrator Edward Lear, who was one of the greatest ornithological artists of his era, his association with John and Elizabeth Gould began in the early 1830's, when he assisted “Mrs. Gould in all her drawings of foregrounds” for the Gould’s first book, “A Century of Birds from the Himalayas.” Like Elizabeth, John treated Edward Lear quite poorly and he appropriated Edward Lear's lithographs. He also failed to credit those who collected birds for him. I enjoyed looking at these magnificent drawings but let's give the real artists due credit for them!
John Gould is called the “Father of Bird Study” in Australia and it is without question that he was a great bird researcher. However, I do think it is time to stop giving him sole credit and give his wife, Elizabeth Coxen Gould, her place in history. Her husband John Gould's identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Elizabeth's art work is included the 50 birds depicted in Charles Darwin's ornithology section of The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle in 1840.
Recommended to bird lovers everywhere. Five stars.
May 25, 2025
Throughout my bookselling career, I had always been aware of John Gould as an ornithologist and illustrator of species of birds, particularly humming birds so it was no surprise to read the comment that he was 'the greatest figure in bird illustration after Audubon.' Indeed he had a strong interest in hummingbirds and at one time he accumulated a collection of 320 species, which he exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. However, I did not realise that he was also a taxidermist of great repute.
In this latter profession he did work for many famous personages such as preserving a stuffed grey African parrot for Charles II's mistress the Duchess of Richmond and preserving two deer and an ostrich for George IV in 1826. But his most bizarre accomplishment must have been when he was paid £148 10s for preserving a giraffe, together with a crane and two lemurs in 1826!
And as Curator and Preserver at the Zoological Society Museum in Bruton Street, London, from 1827 to 1838 he looked after stuffed specimens and an aviary which housed live birds while the sit at Regent's Park was being prepared. While at the Zoological Society he met and admired the work of Edward Lear, particularly the latter's 'Illustration of the Family of Psittacidae or Parrots' (1830-32). This lithographic production inspired him to produce his first book 'A Century of Birds from the Himalayan Mountains'. His artistic wife Elizabeth produced the final illustrations but they were taken from drawings by John himself.
Other books followed and while Gould was not always directly responsible for the illustrations himself, they were all completed from his drawings and he did supervise their production extremely closely. And that would have been the case with the gorgeous illustrations reproduced in this book as other artists include Elizabeth Gould, W Hart, George Edwards, Edward Lear, HC Richter and there is even an image of the Ruby-Throated Humming Bird by the great JJ Audubon, all of which make this a fascinating book to view in addition to reading the excellent introduction by Maureen Lambourne.
In this latter profession he did work for many famous personages such as preserving a stuffed grey African parrot for Charles II's mistress the Duchess of Richmond and preserving two deer and an ostrich for George IV in 1826. But his most bizarre accomplishment must have been when he was paid £148 10s for preserving a giraffe, together with a crane and two lemurs in 1826!
And as Curator and Preserver at the Zoological Society Museum in Bruton Street, London, from 1827 to 1838 he looked after stuffed specimens and an aviary which housed live birds while the sit at Regent's Park was being prepared. While at the Zoological Society he met and admired the work of Edward Lear, particularly the latter's 'Illustration of the Family of Psittacidae or Parrots' (1830-32). This lithographic production inspired him to produce his first book 'A Century of Birds from the Himalayan Mountains'. His artistic wife Elizabeth produced the final illustrations but they were taken from drawings by John himself.
Other books followed and while Gould was not always directly responsible for the illustrations himself, they were all completed from his drawings and he did supervise their production extremely closely. And that would have been the case with the gorgeous illustrations reproduced in this book as other artists include Elizabeth Gould, W Hart, George Edwards, Edward Lear, HC Richter and there is even an image of the Ruby-Throated Humming Bird by the great JJ Audubon, all of which make this a fascinating book to view in addition to reading the excellent introduction by Maureen Lambourne.
April 18, 2021
A beautiful book. The illustrations are, of course, wonderful, and the written introduction about the life of John Gould, Edward Lear et al is perfectly well-written and faultless. I just found this V&A book rather slight as even the slowest reader, poring over the bird pictures in detail, would still finish it in barely an hour. This could easily be 2x, 3x or even 4x the length and would be even better for it. I do feel more than a little sorry for the 1500 stuffed hummingbirds though :-/ 4.5/5
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews