Monograph of Toucans by Illustrator John Gould Leads Swann’s Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books Sale

John Gould was described as one of the greatest figures in bird illustration after John James Audubon in the book Birds of Great Britain. John Gould (British, 1804 – 1881) was a gardener employed under his father at Windsor before becoming an expert in taxidermy. He became the first curator and preserver at the Zoological Society of London in 1827. For natural history enthusiasts, Swann Auction Galleries is offering A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans by John Gould in its upcoming Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books sale. The monograph was published in London between 1834 and 1855 as a supplement to the first edition of two works bound in one. The works include an uncolored anatomical plate and 53 vividly hand-colored lithographed plates of tropical toucans by Edward Lear and Elizabeth Gould. Gould’s wife Elizabeth helped her husband color and finish most of the bird illustrations published under his name. Every sky with its varied tints and every feather of each bird was colored by hand.

Among maps, a set of 24 engraved gores for Vincenzo Coronelli’s 42-inch terrestrial globe is notable. Coronelli made them to construct the massive Gran Globi. The segments were made around 1688 to 1697 in Venice. Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650 – 1718) was an Italian Franciscan friar, cosmographer, cartographer, publisher, and encyclopedist who created hundreds of maps in his lifetime. His atlases and globes earned him the positions of Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice and Father General of the Franciscan order. View the full catalog of the Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books auction by visiting Swann Auction Galleries.