Trichoglossus Chlorolepidotes (Scaly-breasted Lorikeets) by John Gould and Henry Richter Earl of Derby’s Parrakeet Birds of Australia 1840s ex-British Museum Print

Description

This is one of 4 originals shortly going for international auction..

The Birds of Australia was a book written by John Gould and published in seven volumes between 1840 and 1848, with a supplement published between 1851 and 1869.[1] It was the first comprehensive survey of the birds of Australia and included descriptions of 681 species, 328 of which were new to Western science and were first described by Gould.[2]

Gould and his wife Elizabeth née Coxen travelled to Australia from England in 1838 to prepare the book. They spent a little under two years collecting specimens for the book. John travelled widely and made extensive collections of Australian birds and other fauna. Elizabeth, who had illustrated several of his earlier works, made hundreds of drawings from specimens for publication in The Birds of Australia[3]