From John Gould's The Birds of Europe
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Edward Lear (1812-1888) (artist and lithographer) |
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Male and female golden eagle lithograph study by Edward Lear from John Gould's second major work, The Birds of Europe. Lear’s characteristically expressive style, showing the birds with animated features and imbued with personality, is showcased in his portrayals of large, dramatic birds like eagles. The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) inhabits a range encompassing most of the open terrain of deserts, mountains and plains in the Northern Hemisphere (as well as parts of Europe and Asia).
Edward Lear, the youngest of 21 children of a family that fell on hard times, went to work for William Harvey as a draftsman for the Zoological Society in London at age 16. At 19, he began publishing a series of studies of parrots in the Society’s collection, Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots (London 1830-32), an ambitious project not only for such a young man, but in that it was first colorplate bird book to concentrate on a single bird family. To reproduce his work, Lear turned to the then-novel technique of lithography, recognizing the advantages of cutting out the “middleman” engraver and preserving his own artistic vision, and had his plates published by the pioneering lithographer Charles Hullmandel. Recognizing that Lear was both talented and onto something potentially profitable, the entrepreneurial John Gould launched A Century of Birds from the Himalayas (1830-32), a competing publication that overshadowed Lear’s. The continuation of Lear’s Parrots also faltered over Lear’s lack of business sense. Gould enlisted Lear to work on The Birds of Europe (1832-37) with his wife, Elizabeth Gould, followed in 1833 by a commission of 10 plates for Gould’s Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans (1833-35). Gould’s biographer, Isabella Tree says, “It was Lear’s example that provided the impetus for the Gould’s first publication, and it was Lear who later transformed Gould’s static and unimaginative style into the confident and innovative work that characterized his second and all subsequent publications.” She also notes that the difference between Mrs. Gould’s depictions and Lear’s are striking, the former’s stiff and awkward by comparison, and Lear made skillful use of the expressive qualities of lithography. Towards the end of his life, however, an embittered Lear remembered the entrepreneurial Gould as a harsh taskmaster who denied him credit for his contributions to the success of Gould’s publishing ventures, even signing his own name to Lear’s drawings. Lear also drew for other publications, notably Selby and Jardine’s Illustrations of British Ornithology and Jardine’s Naturalist’s Library. He also made an enduring contribution to children’s literature with his “nonsense” limericks, ABCs, stories and poems such as The Owl and the Pussycat, often illustrated with his own humorous drawings.
John Gould is considered the Audubon of Great Britain, for his prolific and exhaustive production of color plates of birds in the 19th century. The son of a gardener at Windsor Castle, Gould was a self-taught artist and naturalist. He was hired as Curator and Preserver of Birds at the Zoological Society of London in 1828. Shortly thereafter, he married Elizabeth Coxen Gould (1804-41), who became his collaborator and traveled and worked with him until her death. Gould acquired a collection of bird skins from the Himalayas, which he stuffed and mounted, and together the Goulds began their new career as ornithological illustrators, publishing their first collection of prints in A Century of Birds from the Himalayas (1830-32).
John Gould generally made the original sketches, and Elizabeth transferred them to lithographic stones and meticulously hand-colored them, though, in addition to Lear and Elizabeth, there were numerous other print artists involved in these works, such as Joseph Wolf (1820-99), William Hart, and Henry Constantine Richter (1821-1902), and numerous unnamed colorists. Over the next 50 years, Gould traveled to Asia, Australia and the East Indies to see and collect birds of the world. Gould developed a collection of 1500 mounted specimens, which were exhibited in the Royal Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park, London, in 1851 as part of the festivities surrounding the Great Exhibition.
Gould’s prolific output was 49 large folio volumes, in 15 sets, containing more than 3,000 plates, some of which were published posthumously under the supervision of his later collaborator Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847-1909). The bird prints were issued in small sets to subscribers only, and due to the labor-intensive nature of their production, only wealthy individuals and institutions could afford them. Gould also published numerous scientific papers, many describing new species, and his contributions to the study of ornithology were eventually recognized by being elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843.
Gould’s monographs of hummingbirds, toucans, and birds of Great Britain, New Guinea, and Australia are among his most popular works. His hummingbirds are particularly decorative, with the inclusion of exotic flowers of the birds’ habitats and the highlighting of the birds’ iridescent plumage with gold leaf under the hand color and heightened with gum Arabic. The striking esthetic qualities of toucans are likewise emphasized, each large bird with bright orange or green plumage, and a prominent colorful beak.
Charles Joseph Hullmandel was an English draftsman, lithographer and printer. He worked mainly in London, although he had trained in Paris as a painter and traveled extensively in Europe making topographical drawings. In 1817, on a visit to Munich, he was introduced to lithography by the pioneering lithographer Alois Senefelder. The following year he produced Twenty-four Views of Italy, a set of images he had drawn and lithographed. Dissatisfied with the way his work had been printed, Hullmandel set up his own lithographic press. The quality of work he published by himself and with other artists such as Giovanni Belzoni helped popularize the topographical lithograph among British artists.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, soft creases. Few stray marks in paper, probably as issued. Two small dots of adhesive residue lower right and left margin, can be matted out.
References:
Cantrell, Carol. "John Gould and the Book Illustrators." Australian Museum Online. http://www.amonline.net.au/research_library/johngould.htm (12 June 2003).
"Charles Joseph Hullmandel." The Grove Dictionary of Art. New York: Macmillan. 2000. Artnet.com. http://www.artnet.com/library/03/0393/T039379.asp (28 March 2002).
“Golden Eagle.” The Peregrine Fund. http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/eagles/goldeagl.html (7 April 2005).
Gould, John. John Gould's Hummingbirds. Secaucus, N.J.: Wellfleet, 1990.
Hyman, Susan, Edward Lear's Birds. New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc., 1980.
"John Gould." Australian National Botanic Gardens. http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/gould.john.html (12 June 2003).
Tree, Isabella. The Ruling Passion of John Gould. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. pp. 36-50.