Elizabeth Gould lithograph of Australian Button Quail. Swift-Flying Hemipode Hemipodius Velox c1848.

$550.00

Gould Hemipodius Velox, Swift-Flying Hemipodius Button-Quail antique print.

J. & E. Gould del and lith. Original hand-coloured lithograph by Elizabeth Gould, published in London between 1840 and 1848 by 'The Bird Man', John Gould (1804-1881). John Gould was a brilliant ornithologist who devoted his life to the study of birds, Gould had a fine eye for detail and knew his limitations as an artist so employed the finest lithographers of the day and closely monitored their work. He was also an astute businessman, and obtained subscribers to subsidise his magnificent ornithological publications.

Gould's artist wife Elizabeth (Coxen) Gould (1804-1841) was trained in lithography by Edward Lear who was a colleague of John Gould at the Zoological Society in London. Elizabeth Gould came to Australia with her husband and two of their children, and remained in Tasmania while her husband travelled around Australia collecting birds and sending their skins and his sketches to her. Elizabeth Gould refined her husband's drawings for the lithographs that were made after their return home to England. Elizabeth Gould lithographed around 600 bird species for her husband. She died at the age of 37, of puerperal fever, following the birth of their eighth child (who survived) following their return to England from Australia.

This Elizabeth Gould lithograph of Australian quails has faint foxing marks across the page. They're not easy to see. I had to search for them when I went back to check..It is a lovely lithograph but the price has been reduced. 

Full size is 370 x 535mm (14.5 x 21 inches), as published.