John Gould Filander, Dorcopsis Bruni. Brown Forest Wallaby c1863

by Gould, John

John Gould mammal antique print - now Dorcopsis muelleri.

The brown forest wallaby, now Dorcopsis muelleri, endemic to the lowlands of the West Papua New Guinea and nearby Indonesian islands, was originally called Filander or Philander (friend of man). It was the first Kangaroo ever recorded, discovered in New Guinea in 1711.

Original hand-coloured lithograph by Henry Constantine Richter (1821-1902) after John Gould (1804-1881), for Mammals of Australia published in London between 1845 and 1863 by John Gould. There were only 175 individually hand-coloured lithographs of each of the 182 different studies of Australian mammals by John Gould. Gould devoted the last 50 years of his life to illustrating the birds of the world. Gould wrote that "It was not until I arrived in the country, and found myself surrounded by objects as strange as if I had been transported to another planet, that I conceived the idea of devoting a portion of my attention to the mammalian class of its extraordinary fauna."

In fine condition, with descriptive text. 53cm x 37cm (approx. 21 x 14.5 inches).