A Hand-Colored Lithographic Plate by R. Bowdler Sharpe and John Gould from Volume II of BIRDS OF PARADISE [MONOGRAPH OF THE PARADISEIDAE] entitled ÆLURŒDUS BUCCOIDES (Temm.) [Barbet-Like Cat-Bird] Plate XXXVII.The Plate was prepared by William Matthew Hart (Irish, 1830–1908), "so well known for his long and honourable association as artist for Mr. Gould's ornithological works." (Sharpe, Introduction).Taken from the MONOGRAPH OF THE PARADISEIDAE, OR BIRDS OF PARADISE AND PTILONORHYNCHIDAE, OR BOWER-BIRDS, By Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847-1909). Published: London, H. Sotheran & Co, 1891-98. The Birds of Paragraph was the first monograph devoted to the remarkable birds of paradise, and the "last of the fine bird books" (Fine Bird Books p.107)Note: The plate is accompanied by its leaf with descriptive letterpress (contained in verso folder).Professionally matted and framed in custom hand-made silk matting (w/ gold gilt wood borders) and a gold gilt carved wood frame. Approx. Size Each: 31.5" H x 24.5" W.The MONOGRAPH OF THE PARADISEIDAE (Birds of Paradise) was first conceived by John Gould, but was completed by Sharpe after Gould's death. Gould had intended to publish the first monograph devoted to the birds of paradise following completion of his Birds of New Guinea. When Sharpe took over the task of completing that work, he appealed for subscribers for the proposed monograph. The response was clearly enthusiastic as within three years the first part of the present work was published. Some of the plates had previously appeared in Gould's Birds of New Guinea as "Messrs. Sotheran purchased the stock of Gould's works after his death [and] acquired the stones with which he had intended to illustrate his Monograph... Many of them were broken or otherwise damaged, and of these some have been redrawn or replaced by new plates by Mr. Hart. Since Gould's time, however, many marvelous new species have been discovered, and these have been described and figured in the present work".References: Fine Bird Books (1990) p.107; Nissen IVB 581; Ripley 263; Wood, p.565; Zimmer, p.581.William Matthew Hart (1830-1908) was an Irish-born English bird illustrator and lithographer who worked for John Gould. He began working for Gould in 1851, beginning an association that was to last thirty years. Early during this period he made the patterns for the lithographic plates for Gould's work on hummingbirds, as well as working on The Birds of Great Britain with Henry Constantine Richter. By 1870, Hart had become Gould's chief artist and lithographer. After Gould's death in 1881, Hart was employed by Richard Bowdler Sharpe of the British Museum to complete Gould's work on the birds of New Guinea and to produce illustrations for Sharpe's monograph on the birds-of-paradise.