Gould, John

A significant English naturalist who comissioned many wildlife illustrations including numerous illustrations of birds, and some animal art. For most of his time as a naturalist, the illustrations for his books were done by his wife, Elizabeth.

Born in South-West England, Gould initially worked as a gardener alongside his father. He then learned the skill of taxidermy, which resulted in him becoming, in 1827, the first Curator and Preserver at the Museum of the Zoological Society of London. This important position brought him into contact with many leading naturalists, and Gould was often the frst person to examine new collections of wildlife comming into England.

In 1930 a new collection of birds arrived in London from the Himalayas. Many of these birds were unkown in the West at the time, and Goulds' produced the book "A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains" (1830–1832), the illustrations of which were lithographed by Gould's wife. Gould producer four more illustrated volumes of birds over the next few years, and made a profitable business doing so.

The bird and animal species Darwin brought back from his famous voyage on the Beagle were taken to Gould for identification. Gould's realisation that a collection of birds thought to be from different groups, by Darwin, were in fact all types of finches, was significant in the development of the theory of Evolution. Gould's work on Darwin's findings was published from 1838 to 1942, Edited by Charles Darwin, as part of Darwin's research.

By this time, Gould had travelled to Australia to be the first to document the wildlife there. The research done on this expedition resulted in the publication of" The Birds of Australia" (1840–1848). Click here for online images from this work (from the National Library of Australia).

Gould had a life-long interest in humming-birds, even though for most of his life he had not seen a live one. His ambition to see a live humming-bird was finally realised in Philadelphia, 1857.

Click here for the Wikipedia page on Gould (which includes a portrait of him).

The wildlife art below is known under the name "John Gould", although the illustrations were not by him.

A Monograph of the Ramphastidae or Family of Toucans, 1834, a fine illustration the toucan and tropical vegetation. Feels very tropical! (click the image to buy it).

 

"Humming-bird", one of Gould's favourite subjects.

"Pheasant Scintillans"

Two more finely rendered bird illustrations of character and beauty.
(click an image to buy it).

 

 

More art by Gould.

click here to go back to the wildlife art by artist, index.