ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is the first monograph on Elizabeth Gould and it’s long overdue! The text is informative and well written, but the glory of the book is in its finely reproduced, full-colour plates. The birds are organised geographically - Europe, South and Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia - and include some previously unpublished artworks. A lavish volume which pays tribute to her great skill and talent, and finally brings her out of her husband’s shadow. Lindy
ANDREA HART is the Special Collections Manager at the Natural History Museum, London, England. She has authored numerous books and articles on the museum's library collections. ANN DATTA studied zoology and librarianship and for many years was the zoology librarian at the Natural History Museum, London, England. She has published many articles on key natural history figures and collections - in particular on the life and works of John Gould.
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is the first monograph on Elizabeth Gould and it’s long overdue! The text is informative and well written, but the glory of the book is in its finely reproduced, full-colour plates. The birds are organised geographically - Europe, South and Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia - and include some previously unpublished artworks. A lavish volume which pays tribute to her great skill and talent, and finally brings her out of her husband’s shadow. Lindy
In BIRDS OF THE WORLD we find lithographs whose knowingly slapdash linework, paired with bright pigments and quick washes, makes prints such as her candy-cloudy Senegalese woodland kingfisher feel like daydreams as much as records. As Her Majesty’s navies and naturalists patrolled the world, Gould limned its limits, whetting the visual imagination of an ever-reaching empire.