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| BIOGRAPHY OF J. & H. GOULD & RICHTER |
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John Gould was without a doubt the most renowned ornithologist and recorder of birds in nineteenth century Britain. Born a gardener's son and raised on the royal estate at Windsor, he became interested in taxidermy and established his own business in London in 1825. The artistic ability which Gould displayed in mounting specimens was instrumental to his skill in planning and designing the lithographs of his great books, but it was only one aspect of his involvement in their production. For most of his works, Gould chose the species, established each pose and composition, acted as publisher, and found enough subscribers to cover the production costs. He worked as his own publisher for a period of fifty years, during which time he produced over forty separately-issued folio volumes including three thousand plates.
Of these, the most well-known prints are from his unparalleled monograph on hummingbirds. Gould became fascinated with these tiny birds - "flying jewels" - from the American continent, amassing a collection of mounted specimens of approximately three hundred species. The lithographs for the hummingbirds were produced by Henry Constantine Richter, the son of a noted painter and engraver. Richter was able to translate Gould's annotated rough sketches into competent and skillfully composed lithographs, making his prints the most familiar and best-loved of all Gould's plates. The birds are drawn to scale and anatomically correct to the smallest detail, and the iridescence of the hummingbirds' plumage is captured by Gould's special technique of applying oil color and varnish over gold leaf.
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