John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes - photo 1
John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes - photo 2
John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes - photo 3
John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes - photo 4
John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes - photo 5
John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes - photo 6

John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes

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£ 76 200
Auction dateClassic
28.11.2023 14:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
Sotheby´s
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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Archive
ID 1076561
Lot 38 | John Gould | A monograph of the trochilidae, or… humming-birds [with supplement]. London, 1849–1887, 6 volumes
John Gould

A monograph of the trochilidae, or family of humming-birds [with] supplement… completed after the author’s death by R. Bowdler Sharpe. London: Printed by Taylor & Francis and published by the author; Henry Sotheran & Co., 1849-61; 1880-87

FIRST EDITION, 6 volumes, folio (560 x 370mm.), 418 FINE HAND-COLOURED LITHOGRAPHED PLATES, many heightened with gold leaf and metallic paints, contemporary green morocco gilt

A FINE COPY, clean, fresh, and bright internally, with VIVID IRIDESCENT COLOURS, of Sitwell calls an “incomparable catalogue and compendium of beauties” that is Gould’s “masterpiece, and must ever remain a feast of beauty and a source of wonder.”

Hummingbirds were the favourite avian subject of British ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881), who admits in the preface here to daydreaming about the species and being carried away “to their native forests in the distant country of America” in his dreams at night. A trained taxidermist who server as the official “bird-stuffer” of the Zoological Society, Gould accumulated a personal collection of 1,500 mounted specimens of hummingbirds which he displayed at the 1851 Great Exhibition at the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park. There, they were viewed by more than 80,000 visitors, including Queen Victoria, who was enchanted, and wrote 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.”

These same specimens provided models for the larger-than-life-size images in the present work, their magnificence captured in vivid colours, and their “brilliant natural iridescence… portrayed by the application of gold leaf.” Sitwell notes that “a new technical process, which was the result of long experiment, had to be invented in order to portray their metallic plumage”.

Gould had begun work on the supplement describing the hummingbirds that had been discovered since his monograph first appeared in the 1870s, and had completed most of the drawing for the plates before his death in 1881. Gould’s fellow ornithologist and long-time collaborator Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847-1909) of the British Museum zoology department stepped in to complete the work. He wrote the text, and brought in William Matthew Hart (1830-1908), who had been doing hand colouring for Gould since 1851, to complete the plates.
Address of auction Sotheby´s
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United Kingdom
Preview
28.11.2023
Phone +44 (0) 20 7293 5000
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