John Gould – England’s Audubon
John Gould (1804 - 1881) was one of the most important and productive ornithological illustrators of the 19th century, and the only one to rival John James Audubon in ambition and quality. The 19th century was a time of intense fascination with discoveries in natural history, especially regarding knowledge of the wildlife of exotic lands. Gould combined his passion for natural history with outstanding scientific, artistic, and entrepreneurial talents, and embarked on a series of projects that would eventually make him the leading publisher of ornithological illustrations in Victorian England. Sometimes called “England’s Audubon,” Gould’s career spanned five decades producing over 3,300 color plates of birds and other animals.
Thanks to major gifts by Mr. and Mrs. John L. Greer, Mr. and Mrs. Joel E. Rynning, and a number of other donors arranged by Arader Galleries of New York, the McClung Museum has a major Gould collection numbering over 2,000 in single plates and 25 bound volumes. To showcase John Gould and his artists, we have chosen 71 hand-colored lithographs from nine of his works: A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains, 1831-1832; The Birds of Europe, 1832-1837; Family of Toucans, 1852-1854; Family of Trogons, 1858-1875; The Birds of Australia, 1840-1869; Family of Hummingbirds, 1849-1861; The Birds of Asia, 1850-1883; The Birds of Great Britain, 1862-1873; Birds of New Guinea and the Adjacent Papuan Islands..., 1875-1888.