The Birds of Great Britain by John Gould, a five-volume work published between 1862 and 1873, will be offered at Tennants Auctioneers’ Books, Maps & Manuscripts Sale in Leyburn on August 22.
The set features 367 hand-coloured lithographs and is celebrated for its scientific accuracy and artistic quality.John Gould, The Birds of Great Britain – Estimate: £25,000-35,000 (Image: Tennants)
The copy comes with provenance from Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough, as well as Birch Bernstein and HH Henley.
Gould, who rose from humble beginnings as a gardener and taxidermist, became one of the most influential British ornithologists of the 19th century.
He published 41 folios with more than 3,000 illustrations, helping to shape ornithology and natural history illustration.Stafford Gaol Calendars of Prisoners – Estimate: £3,000-5,000 (Image: Tennants)
Gould would study, describe, and sketch the birds, before his wife or later artists including Henry Constantine Richter, William Matthew Hart, and Edward Lear, completed the hand-coloured lithographs to his exacting standards.
The illustrations are known for being both artistically striking and scientifically detailed, often showing birds in naturalistic settings.
Other rare works are also included in the upcoming auction.
A copy of John Miller’s Illustratio Systematis Sexualis Linnaei, valued at £8,000 to £12,000, is among the lots.John Miller, An Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus – Estimate: £8,000-12,000 (Image: Tennants)
Published in parts between 1770 and 1777, the botanical volume features detailed illustrations of Carl Linnaeus’ landmark classification system.
Miller, originally Johann Sebastian Mueller from Nuremberg, reportedly received praise from Linnaeus himself for the quality of his drawings.
The book was once gifted to Ackworth School in Pontefract by Ellen Gurney.
Her father-in-law, Samuel Gurney, owned West Ham Park, which was previously home to a botanical garden created by Dr John Fothergill.
It was there that Miller gathered many of the specimens featured in his work.
The sale will also include a group of 42 17th-century calendars of prisoners from Stafford Gaol, estimated at £3,000 to £5,000.
The documents, dating from March 1661 to August 1688, detail prisoners and their charges.
Examples of entries include: “Elizabeth Woolley alias Bell of Elford in ye County of Stafford upon suspicion of having two husbands”
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and “William Bullorke? for mourning Richard Burne Minister of Cannock by discharging a pistoll in the church.”
The calendars also list charges of burglary, highway robbery, livestock theft, counterfeiting, and accusations of being “Popish Priests.”
A fully illustrated catalogue will be available on the Tennants website ahead of the auction.