Reproduction of fine Elizabeth Gould lithograph, Adelaide Parrakeet

by John and Elizabeth Gould

Fine reproduction print from original Platycercus Adelaidiana lithograph.

683 individual contemporary-coloured ltihgraphs were published in London between 1840 and 1848 for The Birds of Australia and a Supplement between 1851 and 1869, by John Gould (1804-1881). Gould sketched the birds in their habitats, and wrote the accompanying letterpress descriptions - including over 300 newly-identified Australian bird species. For John Gould's grand 19th century publications, each printed lithograph was coloured by hand. The finest John Gould hand-coloured lithographs from The Birds of Australia are today valued at thousands of dollars. (Some are framed and hanging on the walls of Parliament House in Canberra.)

During more than 150 years since John Gould published the hand-coloured lithographs of the birds of Australia, many reproductions been published but none of the reproduced illustrations is hand-coloured. All the original hand-coloured lithographs for John Gould's major natural history works are around the same size - 52 to 54cm x 37cm (approx 21 x 14.5 inches). The finest of the reproduction editions since then are those by Hill House Publishers who were based in Melbourne and London. They photographically reproduced from John Gould's original hand-coloured lithographs, under 'exclusive licence' with the British Museum of Natural History. This reproduction print is from a Hill House publication of Gould's The Birds of Australia. Hand-written numbers have been reproduced at the top of each page, and page size is 54 x 37cm (21.25 x 14.5 inches).