Beschreibung:

GOULD, John (1804-1881) & Nicholas Aylward VIGORS (1787-1840). A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains. London: [for the Author, 1831]-1832.
GOULD, John (1804-1881) & Nicholas Aylward VIGORS (1787-1840). A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains. London: [for the Author, 1831]-1832. 2° (520 x 360mm). Subscriber's list, 80 hand-colored lithographic plates by Elizabeth Gould after sketches by John Gould, printed by Charles Hullmandel. (Scant pale spotting, plates 42 and 76 and a few other leaves with short marginal tears, some repaired, two text leaves with small marginal tears with loss, text leaf accompanying plate 55 creased, neatly penciled numbers in plate margin.) Modern green half morocco gilt, spine in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands gilt, top edge gilt (some very light rubbing to extremities). GOULD'S FIRST WORK , first issue with the backgrounds uncolored ("You will probably recollect that in my first work ... neither the plants or Backgrounds were colored; In order to render the Series of my Publications complete ... I have had those parts colored in the few copies I have left...." Gould to Lord Derby, letter dated 5 Feb. 1844). By 1825 Gould had moved to London to pursue his career as a taxidermist. In 1827, shortly after the foundation of the Zoological Society of London, he was appointed Curator of Birds and Preserver at the Society's museum in Bruton Street. The present work came about as a result of this appointment: while working on a collection of bird specimens from the Himalayas Gould realized that they formed the first collection of any size from the area to reach Europe and that there would be a ready market for a large format work which included accurate descriptive text and plates. He persuaded his friend and mentor, N.A. Vigors, Secretary of the Zoological Society, to provide the text. For the plates he appears to have taken the contemporary or near-contemporary large format French works as his models. Working from her husband's sketches, Elizabeth Gould produced the plates using the relatively new technique of lithography. The work was enough of a financial success to persuade Gould to remain in a field which he was to dominate for the next fifty years. Anker 168; Ayer/Zimmer p. 251; Fine Bird Books p. 77; Nissen IVB 374; Sauer 1; Wood p. 364.