MIVART, St. George Jackson (1827-1900) - KEULEMANS, Johann Gerrard (1842-1912).
A Monograph of the Lories, or Brush-Tongued Parrots, composing the Family Loriidae.
London: R. H. Porter [printed by Taylor and Francis], 1896.
61 hand-colored lithographic plates by and after Keulemans, 4 colored maps, anatomical figures in the text (small waterstain to lower edge of last few leaves). Modern red half morocco, gilt, top edges gilt. Provenance: with Wheldon and Wesley, 1977, $1,647. "A VERY ATTRACTIVE GROUP OF RATHER SMALL BIRDS" (Mivart) First edition, and an attractive copy. The maps show the distribution of the family across Australia, New Guinea and the South Pacific Islands, and provide a detail of the islands between Celebes and New Guinea. The plates are described by Sitwell as Keuleman's 'best work', and represent 16 species for the first time. In his introduction the author explains his interest in the family Loriidae 'a very attractive group of rather small birds' varying in dimension 'from the size of a Turtle-Dove to about that of a Sparrow', and consisting 'of 75 more or less distinct species. The family is remarkable for its brilliancy and gay coloration', and its friendliness: 'Some of them . will spontaneously approach human dwellings, and most of them make excellent pets.' Keulemans began his career as a taxidermist providing stuffed birds to the State Museum of Natural History at Leiden. The director of that museum encouraged Keulemans to pursue his love of natural history, where he obtained a scientific appointment after an expedition to West Africa in 1865 and 1866. His accomplishments in illustration came to the notice of Richard Bowdler Sharpe, later a director of the British Museum, who encouraged him to move to England. Keulemans quickly achieved wide recognition and established himself as the most popular bird artist of the late Victorian period. He regularly provided illustrations for "The Ibis" and "The Proceedings of the Zoological Society". He illustrated many important bird books including Buller's "A History of the Birds of New Zealand" (1873), Shelley's "Monograph of the Sun-Birds" (1876-1880), William Vincent Legge's "Birds of Ceylon" (1880), Daniel Giraud Elliot's "Monograph of the Hornbills" (1887-1892), Richard Bowdler Sharpe's "Monograph on Kingfishers" (1868-1871), Henry Seebohm's "Monograph on Thrushes" (1902), and Osbert Salvin's "Biologia Centrali-Americana" (1879-1904). Fine Bird Books p. 94; Nissen IVB 640; Wood p. 468: 'an excellent treatise with beautiful hand-coloured plates'; Zimmer p. 439.
Comparable: Sotheby’s, 1998 - £12,650 ($20,800)