A Special Distribution of John Gould's Hummingbirds

Eriocnemis Alinae

Spathura Solstitialis

Chrysobronchus Viridicaudus

Arader Galleries is pleased to announce a syndicated distribution of authentic hand colored lithographs from John Gould's most famous work: A Monograph of the Trochilidae - the Hummingbirds. These beloved images were published between 1849 and 1881. They were based on specimens in Gould's own magnificent collection and on his own travels. They are renowned for their use of mineral inks that duplicate the iridescence that makes these birds so special. This is the finest natural history coloring of all time. Nothing else before or since compares. These 418 beautiful, hand colored lithographs in superb condition will be distributed on Saturday, September 17th at our gallery in New York at 1016 Madison Avenue between 78th and 79th street. A price list is available on request.

A syndication is a wonderful opportunity to build or add to a collection at tremendously discounted prices. 83 shares consisting of five lithographs are available at $4,800, or $960 each. The order of selection will be determined in three rounds by a random lottery. Numbers 1 through 83 will be drawn and beginning with "1" each owner will select one piece. The order will be reversed in the second round, with each owner beginning with "83" selecting two pieces. The final round will also be in reverse order, and two more pieces will be selected. The process is fun, and owner is guaranteed to receive lithographs having a retail value of at least $25,000. A deposit of $1,000 will hold your place in the syndication, with the balance due ten days prior to the sale. You have the right to return your share for any reason until December 31, 2012.

Please contact Arader Galleries at 415.788.5115 for additional questions and to purchase a share.

Arader Galleries presents a syndication of John Gould's "A Monograph of the Trochilidae - the Hummingbirds"

Topaza Pella -

Crimson Topaz

Cometes Sparganurus - The Sapphro Comet

Arader Galleries is pleased to announce a syndicated distribution of authentic hand-colored lithographs from John Gould's
most famous work: A Monograph of the Trochilidae - the Hummingbirds. These beloved images were published between
1849 and 1881, based on specimens in Gould's own magnificent collection and from his travels.

These engravings are renowned for their use of mineral inks that duplicate the natural iridescence that makes these birds so special. This is the finest natural history coloring of all time, nothing else before or since compares. These 418 beautiful, hand colored lithographs in superb condition will be distributed at 1:00 pm on March 12, 2011 at our gallery in New York
at 1016 Madison Avenue.

A syndication is a wonderful opportunity to build or add to a collection at tremendously discounted price. 83 shares consisting of five lithographs are available at $4,800, or $960 each. The order of selection will be determined in
three rounds by a random lottery.

For more information about the John Gould hummingbird syndication,
please contact our San Francisco gallery at (415) 788-5115.

John Gould’s The Birds of Australia: A Copy Once Owned by the Governor of Tasmania, Captain John Franklin

John Gould (1804-1881)
The Birds of Australia (and Supplement)
Eight bound volumes including supplement
Folio size: 21 3/8” x 14 3/8”
Printed by Richard and John E. Taylor
Published by the Author, 1840-1848; 1851-1869
681 hand-colored lithograph plates

John Gould’s monumental Birds of Australia magnificently displays the author’s scientific skill and attention to detail and provides a more complete study than his Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and The Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. At its time of publication the birds of this region were essentially unknown to a European audience and as Gould himself admitted in the preface to the book, “the field was comparatively a new one”.

In September 1838, the author and his wife, Elizabeth, arrived in Australia and spent the following 18 months exploring Tasmania and the adjacent islands, South Australia, and new South Wales. Upon the discovery that she was pregnant, Elizabeth Gould resolved to remain in Tasmania while her husband set about discovering the birds of Australia’s interior. She was to stay with the Governor of Van Diemen’s land (Tasmania), John Franklin, during this time and became fast friends with the Governor’s wife. Thus, it was that Captain Franklin became a subscriber to the Birds of Australia. An autographed letter, dated April 1877 and written by Henry Elliot, sheds additional light on the provenance of the present edition. He writes: “This copy of Gould’s Birds of Australia belonged to Sir John Franklin to whom I was aide de camp, and in whose house, while Governor of Tasmania, Gould lived many months while making his Collection. I had myself made a collection of the Birds of Tasmania, and gave many of the specimens to Gould. After the death of Sir J. Franklin’s widow in 1876 this copy of the work was given to me by his niece . . .” The letter is inserted into the first volume of the book and indeed, Gould acknowledges the assistance of both Elliot and Franklin in his preface.

The Birds of Australia is John Gould’s largest and most important work. Because he himself spent so much time in the field making his own observations, the text that accompanies the illustrations is by far the most accurate and detailed of all his works. Moreover, it is such a complete study that very few additions have ever been made to the study of Australian ornithology.

We are pleased to announce that this landmark work in ornithology is currently at the San Francisco location and available for viewing upon request. Please call Arader Galleries at 415.788.5115 for price inquiries and to request the catalog.

John Gould Artist Proofs

John Gould (1804-1881)
Artist proofs for The Birds of Europe
"Spoonbill" (top image)
"Marsh Sandpiper" (center image)
“Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper” (bottom image)
London: 1832-37
Lithographs with hand-written notations

John Gould was without question the most prolific natural history artist of the 19th century, and the only one to rival John James Audubon in ambition and quality. The 19th century was a time of intense fascination with discoveries in natural history, especially regarding knowledge of the wildlife of exotic lands. Gould shared the romantic enthusiasm of his time for such subjects, as well as the popular impulse to catalogue exotic wildlife. He combined his passion for natural history with outstanding scientific, artistic, and entrepreneurial talents. Drawing on these abilities, he embarked on a series of projects that would eventually make him the leading publisher of ornithological illustrations in Victorian Britain. Gould’s unparalleled career spanned five decades, and he produced a monumental series of books of birds throughout the world.

From the time he took up taxidermy in his early teens, Gould was devoted to recording bird life, either as he observed it personally or as it was reported to him by other ornithologists. He procured the scientific information through extensive correspondence, travel, and field research. The preparatory drawings that he produced were passed on for completion to skilled illustrators, most notably his wife, Elizabeth, and Edward Lear. The plates which resulted from such partnerships were a splendid fusion of art and science, with a scope than remains unsurpassed. Stunning and at the same time highly accurate, Gould’s illustrations linked beauty to science, and science to beauty, in and an unprecedented manner.

One of the most accomplished and engaging natural history works of the 19th century, The Birds of Europe was also the first of Gould’s works to feature plates by Edward Lear. A total of sixty-eight images bear Lear’s name, and they are among the most remarkable bird drawings ever made. Lear endowed his illustrations with some measure of his own whimsy and intelligence, and his style is at once fluidly spontaneous and realistically precise. In this way, the images of The Birds of Europe are amazingly distinctive, while also highly realistic.

Gould undertook this work partly in an effort to redress the imbalance between the study of local and foreign ornithology. In his preface he stated his mission: “the Birds of Europe, in which we are, or ought to be, most
interested, have not received that degree of attention which they naturally demand. The present work has been undertaken to supply that deficiency.” Gould portrayed birds native to Europe in a manner that had only been thought appropriate for the colorful species of distant places. In this way he managed to draw much popular interest back to native birds, which were suddenly considered equally beautiful to exotic species. These proofs, which have notations by the Goulds, were part of the the final preparation stages for this publication.

These artist proofs (show above and at www.aradersf.com) are currently available for purchase at Arader Galleries. For more information, please call 415.788.5115.