It was later assembled into a 24-volume set after being serialised between 17. He is considered the father of Australian bird study.Ĭomplete sets of The Naturalist's Miscellany, and even individual volumes, fetch thousands of pounds today.įrederick Polydore Nodder and his son, Richard, partnered with George Shaw, the zoologist of the British Museum and a fellow of the Royal Society, to produce The Naturalist's Miscellany. Gould published books on birds from Britain, Europe, Australia and Papua New Guinea, and also chronicled the mammals of Australia that would soon be lost through human colonization and hunting. Attenborough has a prized collection of all of Lear's colour plates, acquired over several decades after he became aware of his work for Gould in 1954. One of Lear's biggest fans is naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough: 'Lear’s bird plates, to my eyes at least, rank among the finest of their kind'.

Ironically, Lear's own A Book of Nonsense is now extremely rare, with one of only eleven complete copies selling for £59,000 in May 2017. He worked for Gould for the next seven years, contributing to the lavish productions which would make Gould a rich man. Lear's paintings were intermingled with the work of Gould's wife Elizabeth and other, often less accomplished, artists. For many, they are the world’s finest ornithological illustrations. He created 80 bird portraits for John Gould, beginning in 1832 when he was just 20 years old. It was a bold and innovative idea, although a young artist called Edward Lear had actually used it first for his own illustrations of parrots.Įdward Lear had an eye for landscapes and an ear for rhyme, but it was as an ornothological artist that he first displayed his prolific talent. Its results were superior to both copper and wood engraving, and allowed for hundreds of prints each capturing the artist's original delicacy and detail. Gould copied Audubon's subscription model but opted for the new lithography process. Gould worked as a taxidermist for the newly founded Zoological Society of London, and in 1830 saw an opportunity for some private enterprise when he was preparing to exhibit a formidable collection of bird skins which had been sent from the Himalayas. It became a sensation and was purchased by royalty, statesmen and the leading libraries of Europe and North America.Įdward Lear contributed 80 paintings to the lavish books that made Gould a rich man. The ‘double elephant folio’, which needed two people to turn its pages, took its name from the double elephant paper (67.8 × 101.6 cm) on which it was printed.

People of means were prepared to pay large sums to satisfy their interest in the natural world in a sense to 'own' it.Īudubon released prints every couple of months to subscribers on a pay-as-you-go model. He raised the money himself, leaving his family behind for years at a time and attracting subscribers while lecturing on frontier life in Britain and America.

The book's production cost Audubon a hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, the equivalent of over two million dollars today. The result was 584 spectacular paintings. On countless expeditions, from Florida to Newfoundland, he shot birds with his flintlock gun and hung them on a complex system of wires to render them realistically. He would use his gift for drawing and affinity for birds to document the species of North America in life-size prints, and thereby restore his dignity and fortune. The book's production cost Aubudon a hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, the equivalent of over two million dollars today.Īudubon's 'Great Idea' came in 1820 when he was 35 years old and just out of debtors’ prison in Kentucky.

Artist bird sketch