Gould - A Monograph of the Odontophorinae (Partridges)

GOULD, John (1804-1881).
A Monograph of the Odontophorinae, or Partridges of America.
London: Richard and John E. Taylor for the Author, [1844]-1850.

First edition, the first of Gould's monographs on gamebirds, and originally issued in three parts by subscription in 1844, 1846, and 1850.

Folio (21 4/8 x 14 2/8 inches). 32 hand-colored lithographed plates by Gould and Henry Constantine Richter, heightened with gum arabic (one or two spots and pale stains, a bit toned at the edges). Contemporary half black morocco, black cloth boards, gilt.

First edition. Inspired by the "Callipepla Californica" (or, California Quail) presented to the Zoological Society of London by Captain Frederick William Beechey (author of "Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Bering Strait", 1831) in 1830. Initially employed as a taxidermist [he was known as the 'bird-stuffer'] by the Zoological Society, Gould's fascination with birds began in the "late 1820s [when] a collection of birds from the Himalayan mountains arrived at the Society's museum and Gould conceived the idea of publishing a volume of imperial folio sized hand-coloured lithographs of the eighty species, with figures of a hundred birds (A Century of Birds Hitherto Unfigured from the Himalaya Mountains, 1830-32). Gould's friend and mentor N. A. Vigors supplied the text. Elizabeth Gould made the drawings and transferred them to the large lithographic stones. Having failed to find a publisher, Gould undertook to publish the work himself; it appeared in twenty monthly parts, four plates to a part, and was completed ahead of schedule.

"With this volume Gould initiated a format of publishing that he was to continue for the next fifty years, although for future works he was to write his own text. Eventually fifty imperial folio volumes were published on the birds of the world, except Africa, and on the mammals of Australia-he always had a number of works in progress at the same time. Several smaller volumes, the majority not illustrated, were published, and he also presented more than 300 scientific papers. "His hand-coloured lithographic plates, more than 3300 in total, are called 'Gould plates'. Although he did not paint the final illustrations, this description is largely correct: he was the collector (especially in Australia) or purchaser of the specimens, the taxonomist, the publisher, the agent, and the distributor of the parts or volumes. He never claimed he was the artist for these plates, but repeatedly wrote of the 'rough sketches' he made from which, with reference to the specimens, his artists painted the finished drawings. The design and natural arrangement of the birds on the plates was due to the genius of John Gould, and a Gould plate has a distinctive beauty and quality. His wife was his first artist. She was followed by Edward Lear, Henry Constantine Richter, William Matthew Hart, and Joseph Wolf" (Gordon C. Sauer for DNB). Anker 176; "Fine Bird Books", (1990) p. 102; Nissen 376; Sauer 13; Wood p. 365; Zimmer p. 257.

Comparables: Christie's, 1999 - $30,581; Bonham's, 2004 - 26,290 GBP.