This rare lithograph of Hastings Tragopan (Tragopan hastingsii) is from John Gould's A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains. Issued in parts between 1830 and 1832, drawn and lithographed by E Gould.In 1827 Gould became the Curator and Preserver of the newly formed Zoological Society. Here he would have dealt with many of the newly discovered species being sent to the Society by collectors around the world.During this period he met his wife, Elizabeth Coxen; then working as a governess, she was also a talented artist. Gould encouraged her to learn lithography and together they produced their first book on birds, A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains. This work comprised 80 colour plates of illustrations drawn by Elizabeth.The hundreds of birds carefully described and classified by Gould were based on a collection of skins received by the Zoological Society. Gould was undeterred when he could not find a publisher to risk any capital on the work, and simply published it himself.Produced at a time of burgeoning interest in ornithology, its success gave Gould the confidence to plan a much larger work, and in October 1831 he issued his prospectus for The Birds of Europe. A publishing phenomenon had been born.Size: approximately 20? x 14?

The print is in excellent condition on thick, high quality paper. Please inspect the image carefully