Elizabeth and John GOULD

John Gould (1804 - 1881) was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset (England) and Worked initially, at 13 years old, as gardener with his father very as a practitioner the taxidermy like pastime. At 21 years old, he creates his own company in London.

The cabinets of natural history were very popular at this time because of many specimen arrived to London coming from innumerable forwardings throughout the world. These animals arrived generally dead but well preserved and John Gould received very early several orders of rich person collectors of stuffed birds and animals as well as museums.

Thereafter, he became Curator and "preservative" at the Zoological Society Museum of London (for wages of 100 pounds per year) while preserving his private activity of taxidermist. Little time after (1830-1833), he published his first book, "A century of birds from the Himalaya Mountains" enriched by 80 lithographies, the first of more 300.. Married in 1829 with Elizabeth Coxen, he then decides to found with her their own edition company because they detected the formidable possibility of diffusion of the works due to the revolutionary modernization of the printing machines allied with the interest going up of the public for natural history.

John Gould was more than an editor and a businessman who counted on other artists to carry out the lithographies, providing them preliminary specimens, drafts and precise instructions. The drawings were finished on a lithographic stone and the large lithographies (approx. 22 x 14 in.) colored by hand by his employees. Gould tested with skill new pigments which produced colors which preserved their richness and their glare until our days. The very best alive prints of Gould show birds in their natural habitat, eating, with their babies, or in groups, often with a landscape in funds. The lithographies of his first book were the work of his wife, Elizabeth, helped by a young artist and self-educated ornithologist, Edward Lear. More than 3 100 lithographies were published.

In 1838, John and Elizabeth went to Australia where they spent the two following years to collect specimens and accumulate drawings. He brought back more than 800 specimens of birds and discovered from there 300 new unknown species of which guess which ? The sumptuous work "The Birds of Australia", published in booklets of 1840 to 1848 was the most ambitious realization of Gould with its seven volumes and 600 lithographies in color.

Charles Darwin, who had travelled five years (until October 2, 1836), had brought back of this travel the majority of the observations and materials suitable for the development of his future theory. His publication in 1839 will be accompanied by that of zoological documents entrusted by Darwin to John Gould for the birds. Since 1937, progress of the investigation on the results of travels (that of Gould in particular) accelerated the installation of the ideas of Darwin.

Elizabeth Gould, faithful partner and collaborator, died in 1841, at the age of 37, after having given rise  to their eighth child. After her dead, the lithographies of Australian birds were supplemented by Henry Constantine Richter (1821 - 1902).

John Gould was the most prolific and the most extraordinary editor of books about birds of the nineteenth century. The experts agree to saying that his works were never exceeded. The subscribers of the publications of Gould counted 107 libraries and clubs, 12 monarchs, 11 royal highnesses, 16 dukes, 6 marquis, 35 counts, 31 deputies, 61 barronets and a bishop.

A John Gould foundation was created in order to raise funds and to publish books and images about birds. It tries to protect all the indigenious types of birds in Australia.

A stamp whith his effigy was edited by the Australian Post Office.

According to Michel Brisebois, bibliothécaire des livres rares, Service of research and information of the Canadian National Library, several documents of the Museum of Victoria (Australia), of the Charles Darwin International Institute and of the Cornell University (USA).

    Buy ? click                                           John Gould, "The bird man"                                 Buy ? click

Welcome       Photos         John Gould       Antipoisons      Vidéos         Stamps               Pictures                           Links                Classifieds

 Recommend this site to your friends! Thank's