Original Prints by John Gould

John Gould (1804-1881), probably the most famous British Ornithologist and a contemporary of America’s own John James Audubon had truly earned the nickname “the Bird man” with his prolific publication of as many as 2999 paintings of Birds! He was referred to as the "British Audubon" by Isabella Tree who published his biography entitled "The Ruling Passion of John Gould" (Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1991). In fact, during his stay in England, Audubon met with John Gould, and it may be likely that John Gould was influenced by Audubon's life-like paintings of birds. A taxidermist initially by profession, John Gould traveled around the world, collected bird skins from different countries and published the “Birds of Great Britain, The Birds of Asia, The Birds of Australia, The Birds of New Guinea, A Monograph of the Trochilidae or Family of Humming-Birds, The Birds of Europe, A Monograph of Ramphastidae or Family of Toucans, A Monograph of the Trogonidae or family of Trogons, and A Century of Birds hitherto unfigured from the Himalaya Mountains”. His Birds were printed as hand-colored stone lithographs, with most of the initial compositional sketches made by John Gould himself with subsequent detailed drawings, fill-in, and hand-coloring work done by some of the most talented artists that he employed. These artists included his wife Elizabeth, William Hart, Edward Lear (well known both for his talent as a painter and for his catchy limericks), and Henry Richter among others. During the mid-19th Century, it was only the very affluent part of the society that could afford to subscribe and buy the bound volumes containing these very colorful lithographs. These hand-colored stone lithographs (about ~ 22" x 15" in size) from the mid-19th Century have been appreciating in value rather dramatically because of the incredible beauty of the birds, the workmanship of the artists, and most importantly the generally increasing scarcity of prints available to purchase.

(Copyright, December 2004, by the owner of antiqueaudubon.com)

If interested in purchasing an original John Gould print(s), please contact us for details.