John Gould Lithographs

John Gould was an English ornithologist whose large, lavishly illustrated volumes on birds command ever-mounting prices among collectors.

The lithograph printing process is based on the antipathy of grease to water. The stone was made wet, and the oily ink applied. This only adhered to the area of the greasy crayon, recoiling from the dampened section. The paper was then placed upon the stone, run through a special printing press and the ink design was transferred in reverse to the paper.

Over a period of fifty years, John Gould produced 14 titles in 49 volumes published in Imperial Folio format. Each bird or mammal was illustrated by a large, hand coloured lithograph - an amazing total of 2999 individual plates. In addition there were several smaller books, each lavishly illustrated.

John travelled to Australia in 1838 and spent 19 months during which time John collected many specimens new to science and prepared many drawings and watercolours for The Birds of Australia 1840-48, and The Mammals of Australia 1845-63.

Colonial Hill Antique Furniture Buy and Sell Australian Colonial Furniture of the Highest Quality, they also have a select number of John Gould Lithographs available for sale. View their online catalogue today.