The Birds of Asia.

London, published by the author, 1850

First edition; 7 volumes, folio (54 x 35 cm); 530 hand-coloured lithographed plates by Gould, H.C. Richter, Joseph Wolf and W. Hart, printed by Hullmandel & Walton, T. Walter or Walter & Cohn; handful of plates in each volume with very light marginal spotting, some intermittent spotting to text, but generally a clean set; publisher’s dark green morocco gilt; some minor rubbing, a little more so to extremities.

Gould was fascinated with the rich, vibrant colours of Asian birds as well as their exotic foliage and setting. His backgrounds are intensely detailed, and though the work was issued across such a long period, the quality of the plates remained of the highest standard. The Birds of Asia was in production longer than any other work by Gould, taking thirty-four years for the appearance of its thirty-five parts, the final three after the author’s death. Bowdler Sharpe undertook the editing of these three parts. The subjects of the plates are among the most varied of Gould’s folios; trogons, kingfishers, sunbirds, woodpeckers, partridges, parrots, parakeets, pheasants, and many other genera are well represented. Two hundred sets were subscribed for, if not completed. It is the most comprehensive work on Asiatic species of its time, containing illustrations of many birds not previously described. The ambitious and monumental publication was a notable with esteemed subscribers such as Queen Victoria, the Emperor of Austria, and kings from Belgium, Hanover and Portugal.

Anker 178; Fine Bird Books, p. 78; Nissen IVB 368; Sauer 17; Zimmer, p. 258