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John Gould was an English ornithologist renowned
for his large and lavishly illustrated volumes of birds that
command and ever mounting price among collectors. He was born on
September 14, 1805 in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England and died
February 3, 1881, London, England.
Gould learned taxidermy at Windsor Castle, where
his father was Foreman of Gardeners. In 1827 he became
taxidermist to the Zoological Society of London. |
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The arrival, in
1830, of a collection of exotic bird skins from the Himalayas
enabled him to produce the first of many folio volumes,
'A Century of Birds from the Himalaya
Mountains', 1831-1832.
His wife, the former Elizabeth Coxon, whose artistic talents
were to enhance many of his works until her death in 1841,
transferred Gould's sketches to the lithographer's stone.
The five-volume
'Birds of Europe' 1832-37 and
'Monograph of the Ramphastidae
(Toucans)', 1834 were so successful that the
Goulds were able to spend two years from 1838 to 1840 in
Australia, where they made a large collection of birds and
mammals. The collection resulted in Gould's most famous work,
'The Birds of Australia',
produced in seven volumes for only 250 subscribers. The volumes
were produced from 1840 to 1848 and the supplements came a
little later from 1851 to 1869. He then produced
'Mammals of Australia'
in three volumes starting in 1843 and finishing in 1863. He was
elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843.
Gould's lifetime work comprised more than 40
volumes, with more than 3000 coloured plates. His many
scientific papers, mostly devoted to descriptions of new
species, established his professional reputation, but he is best
known today for his folios of magnificent bird plates.
The Gould League established in 1909, still
encourages an interest in natural history and conservation among
young people today and many of us would have joined the League
at primary school.
In pricing John Gould's birds it is essential
that the following principles be understood. Firstly, there are
250 of each of the 681 hand coloured lithographic images. It
therefore follows that no plate is more rare than another. The
principles that control price are demand and condition. Some
prints are more ardently desired than other and therefore become
more expensive. Over the years some plates may have become time
stained or foxed (affected by mildew), and these would have a
reduced value.
It is our opinion that the pricing of Gould's
prints is impossible to compare, given that the condition of
each individual plate and its availability rarely coincides with
another of the same image. |
