Lear (Edward)

, , 1834.
one of 10 plates drawn and lithographed by Edward Lear for the first edition of John Gould’s ‘A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans’, published in 1834-35. It contained 33 plates in total, the others being drawn by John and Elizabeth Gould, resulting in the first serious attempt to produce an accurate visual record of the family. The plates were to be redrawn and the number significantly expanded to 52 for the 2nd edition, published in 1852-54. This particular bird, the Royal Araçari, has since become extinct.

Edward Lear (1812-1888), famed for the numerous beautiful landscapes he painted on his extensive travels, almost as much as for his nonsense verse, displayed a precocious artistic talent from the age of 16. At 18, he was engaged by the Zoological Society of London to produce studies of their collection of parrots, which he was to go on to publish. This allowed him to illustrate living birds rather than the erstwhile norm of studying stuffed or skinned specimens. This, and his employment by the Earl of Derby to record his private menagerie at Knowsley Hall, brought him to the attention of John Gould (1804-1881), who took him on to tutor his young wife, Elizabeth. All three then collaborated on the early volumes of Gould’s ambitious project to produce sumptuously illustrated monographs of various families of exotic birds..
500 by 340mm (19¾ by 13½ inches).