The Birds of Asia

About the original publication:

GOULD, John (1804-1881, publisher)
'The Birds of Asia'
London: 1850-1883. Hand-coloured lithograph by J.Wolf and H.C.Richter, printed by Walter.

Sheet size: 14 5/8 x 21 1/4 inches.

The intended geographical range of "The Birds of Asia" was enormous, and very much in keeping with the seemingly limitless self-belief of the 19th-century's best known ornithologist. In his all-encompassing work John Gould includes species from all corners of the eastern world, as Richard Bowdler Sharpe noted the work covers "Species from Palestine to the eastward, and from the Moluccas to the west". Gould chose to record the bird life from an area which, with the exception of the tropical areas of the American continent, includes the widest, and most colourful variety of bird life to be found anywhere in the world.