John Gould Phascolomys Wombat (Wombat Wombat) lithograph c1863.

by Gould, John

Antique print of Australian Wombat by John Gould c1863.

Original hand-coloured lithograph of Gould Wombat, by Henry Constantine Richter from a drawing by John Gould, for Mammals of Australia published in London between 1845 and 1863 by John Gould (1804-1881). There were only 175 individually hand-coloured lithographs of each of the 182 different studies of Australian Mammals by John Gould (1804-1881). 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."

Gould sketched both mammals and birds in their habitats. He was greatly assisted by his wife Elizabeth Gould (1804-1841), who had been taught lithography by Edward Lear who, since the age of 16, was an artist at the Zoological Gardens in London where John Goul was head keeper and preserver of fauna. Elizabeth Gould remained in Tasmania with their oldest son and refined her husband's sketches for lithographs that were made after their return to England so that these wonderful illustrations could be shared with the world.

In fine condition, this superb lithograph is full size as issued with descriptive text. 37 x 53cm (14.5 x 21 inches)... too large for good quality scan.