JOHN GOULD, one of the most important and productive ornithological illustrators of the 19th century, was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, in 1804. He began to study birds and to learn taxidermy while assisting his father, a gardener, in the royal gardens of Windsor. By 1827, he was employed by the Zoological Society in the care of their ornithological collections, and in 1829 published the first of his nearly 300 scientific articles.

Elizabeth Gould John Gould: Bird Man, 1987, by Maureen Lambourne

In the same year he married Elizabeth Coxen, an accomplished artist who became his partner in the production of a long series of major natural history monographs distinguished for their fine color plates. This partnership lasted until her death in 1841 following the birth of their sixth child. Together, John and Elizabeth Gould published seven major works, with 697 ornithological color plates. The celebrated artist and humorist, Edward Lear, assisted the Goulds during the production of two of these works and about 150 of the plates are his; the rest are the work of the Goulds.
After Mrs. Gould's death, John Gould depended upon H. C. Richter, W. Hart, and (to a lesser degree) Joseph Wolf to support him in his work. Over the next forty years, Gould and his artists published volume after enormous volume of color plates—on kangaroos and other Australian mammals, but above all on birds—the birds of Australia, Asia, Europe, Great Britain and New Guinea, toucans, partridges, trogons, pittas, and Gould's beloved hummingbirds. He and his works were welcomed into the most prestigious scientific circles and into the libraries and homes of the world. England's Audubon, as he was sometimes called, was responsible for the publication of over 3,300 color plates of birds and other animals. An efficient businessman, he made a financial success
of an activity notorious for its commercial failures. Severe in manner and apparently never knowing his employees' Christian names, he yet left his artists substantial bequests and was willing, in his old age with his life's work not yet completed, to spend the time and effort to encourage young naturalists. He died in 1881, leaving a priceless legacy of beauty and scientific knowledge. He chose his own epitaph: John Gould the Bird Man.
Gould had always been his own publisher, financing his ventures largely from the advance subscriptions for his works. At the time of his death, his stock of unsold copies, unbound text and plates in various states, lithographic stones, drawings and paintings, amounted to nearly three tons. The entire lot, along with Gould's copyright, was purchased by the London bookseller, Henry Sotheran Ltd, and put in storage where it rested undisturbed for over 50 years. In 1936, Ralph Ellis went to London and when he left in December 1937 a great part of the John Gould archives came to America with him.