The Family of Hummingbirds

For all the bird lovers, the definitive collection of hummingbird illustrations by 19th-century naturalist painter John Gould, the "British Audubon".

This sublime collection of 418 superbly detailed hand-colored lithographs of hummingbirds, created by John Gould, the British Audubon, in the mid-1800s, represents all the known species at that time and is the most complete ever produced of hummingbirds. Unlike John James Audubon, whose work focused on the avifauna of a single country, Gould s folios illustrate species from around the world. His original set of folios Family of Humming-Birds reproduced here in its entirety, depicts the magnificent jewel-like birds together with botanicals native to their habitats in the most remote and exotic ecosystems of the Americas.

In her essay for the book, co-author Laura Oppenheimer tells the story of Gould s colorful life and places his work in the context of a remarkable period when exploration and classification of the world s natural wonders was at the forefront of scientific discovery and universally celebrated in Victorian popular culture. Joel Oppenheimer details how Gould created the prints and presents an overview of nineteenth-century printmaking and lithography techniques. He also unravels the mystery behind the gold-leaf process that Gould employed to portray the iridescent quality of the hummingbirds plumage, resolving a long-standing controversy regarding who should be credited for its invention. This Family of Hummingbirds will delight birdwatchers, fans of natural history art, and hummingbird lovers everywhere.