John Gould Acanthiza reguloides Buff-rumped Thornbill Australian bird print

by Gould, John

John Gould Australian Thornbills, feeding young in nest.

Landsdowne reproduction print from a hand-coloured lithograph by John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter for The Birds of Australia by John Gould, published in London between 1840 and 1848.

Known as 'the Bird Man', John Gould was a naturalist whose passion was the field of ornithology. He combined his business acumen with his fine eye for detail, and supervised fine lithographers, including his artist wife Elizabeth, to produce large hand-coloured bird lithographs of the world's birds - among the finest bird illustrations ever produced

Most have heard of John Gould, but few know that his wife Elizabeth was trained in lithography by the great bird artist, Edward Lear who was a scientific illustrator at the Zoological Museum where John Gould was a curator. Elizabeth Gould refined her husband's field sketches and completed over 600 lithographs for her husband's grand publications - until she died after the birth of their eighth child following their return to England from Australia. Edward Lear completed Elizabeth's unfinished lithographs.

This image is the same size as originally published, 21 x 14.5 inches (535 x 365mm). The paper is not as good quality as the original lithographs were, and the ink colour does not have the same longevity as early colour, so we would recommend the use of U/V protective glass to minimize fading.