Gould - The Birds of Europe

GOULD, John (1804-1881).
The Birds of Europe.
London: by the author, [1832]-1837.

5 volumes. Folio (21 4/8 x 14 inches). 448 hand-colored lithographs by Edward Lear, and by Elizabeth Gould after sketches by John Gould (some occasionally heavy spotting). Contemporary full green morocco gilt, all edges gilt by Hering of 9 Newman Street (extremities a little scuffed).

First edition of Gould's first multi-volume ornithological work, as opposed to monograph. Gould undertook this work partly in an effort to redress the imbalance between the study of local and foreign ornithology. In his preface he stated his mission: "the Birds of Europe, in which we are, or ought to be, most interested, have not received that degree of attention which they naturally demand. The present work has been undertaken to supply that deficiency." Gould portrayed birds native to Europe in a manner that had only been thought appropriate for the colorful species of distant places, using specimens in museums and zoos in Holland, Germany and Switzerland. In this way he managed to draw much popular interest back to native birds, which were suddenly considered equally beautiful to exotic species. Though the majority of the plates for "The Birds of Europe" were drawn and lithographed by Elizabeth Gould, John Gould employed the masterly talents of Edward Lear for the first time, and his influence can be seen in many of the plates: "There is no doubt that Edward Lear was the first person to understand the art of lithography, and to use it to its fullest potential. It was a legacy that granted the fabled works of Gould their success, and took them into the forefront of nineteenth-century illustration" (Tree). A total of sixty-eight images bear Lear's name: "they are certainly among the most remarkable bird drawings ever made, it is evident that Lear endowed them with some measure of his own whimsy and intelligence, his energetic curiosity, his self-conscious clumsiness and his unselfconscious charm." (Hyman).

Provenance: with the engraved armorial bookplate of Algernon Peckover on the front paste-down of volume one; inscribed by William Peckover on the verso of the front free endpaper. William and Algernon Peckover were founder members of the Wisbech Museum in Cambridgeshire, England, and sons of the famous financier Jonathan Peckover.

Comparables: Sotheby's, 2007 - $145,000; Christie's, 2017 - $125,000.