John Gould 367559 221836568 2008-06-26T09:16:31Z Dave souza 85186 /* Work with Darwin */ improve links {{otherpeople}} {{Infobox Scientist |name = John Gould |box_width = |image =John Gould.jpg |image_width =150px |caption = |birth_date = [[14 September]] [[1804]] |birth_place = [[Lyme Regis]], [[Dorset]] |death_date = [[3 February]] [[1881]] |death_place = |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = [[England|English]] |ethnicity = |field = [[ornithology]] |work_institutions = |alma_mater = |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = [[Charles Darwin]] |influenced = |prizes = |religion = |footnotes = |signature = }} '''John Gould''' ([[14 September]] [[1804]] – [[3 February]] [[1881]]) was an [[England|English]] [[ornithologist]]. The [[Gould League]] in [[Australia]] was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "[[Darwin's finches]]" was pivotal in the [[inception of Darwin's theory]] of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]], though they are barely mentioned in [[Charles Darwin]]'s book, ''[[On the Origin of Species]]''. ==Early life== Gould was born in [[Lyme Regis]], [[Dorset]], the son of a gardener and the boy probably had a scanty education. Shortly afterwards his father obtained a position on an estate near [[Guildford]], [[Surrey]], and then in [[1818]] became foreman in the Royal Gardens of Windsor. The young Gould started training as a gardener, being employed under his father at Windsor from 1818 to 1824, and he was subsequently a gardener at [[Ripley, North Yorkshire|Ripley]] Castle in [[Yorkshire]]. He became an expert in the art of [[taxidermy]] and in 1824 he set himself up in business in [[London]] as a taxidermist, and his skill led to him becoming the first Curator and Preserver at the museum of the [[Zoological Society of London]] in 1827. ==Research and works published== Gould's position brought him into contact with the country's leading naturalists, and also meant that he was often the first to see new collections of birds given to the Society. In 1830 a collection of birds arrived from the [[Himalayas]], many not previously described. Gould published these birds in ''A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains'' (1830–1832). The text was by [[Nicholas Aylward Vigors]] and the illustrations were [[lithograph]]ed by Gould's wife [[Elizabeth Gould (illustrator)|Elizabeth]]. This work was followed by four more in the next seven years including ''Birds of Europe'' in five volumes – completed in 1837, with the text written by Gould himself, edited by his clerk Edwin Prince. Some of the illustrations were made by [[Edward Lear]] as part of his ''Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae'' in 1832. Lear however was in financial difficulty and he sold the entire set of lithographs to Gould. The books were published in a very large size, imperial folio, with magnificent coloured plates. Eventually 41 of these volumes were published with about 3000 plates. They appeared in parts at £3 3s. a number, subscribed for in advance, and in spite of the heavy expense of preparing the plates, Gould succeeded in making his ventures pay and in realizing a fortune. ==Work with Darwin== When [[Charles Darwin]] presented his mammal and bird specimens collected during the [[second voyage of HMS Beagle|second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'']] to the [[Geological Society of London]] at their meeting on [[4 January]] [[1837]], the bird specimens were given to Gould for identification. He set aside his paying work and at the next meeting on [[10 January]] reported that birds from the [[Galápagos Islands]] which Darwin had thought were blackbirds, "gross-bills" and [[finch]]es were in fact ''"a series of ground Finches which are so peculiar"'' as to form ''"an entirely new group, containing 12 species."'' This story made the newspapers. In March, Darwin met Gould again, learning that his Galápagos "wren" was another species of finch and the [[mockingbird]]s he had labelled by island were separate species rather than just varieties, with relatives on the [[South America]]n mainland. Subsequently Gould advised that the smaller southern [[Rhea (bird)|Rhea]] specimen that been had rescued from a Christmas dinner was a separate species which he named ''Rhea darwinii'', whose territory overlapped with the northern rheas. Darwin had not bothered to label his finches by island, but others on the expedition had taken more care. He now sought specimens collected by captain [[Robert FitzRoy]] and crewmen. From them he was able to establish that the species were unique to islands, an important step on the [[inception of Darwin's theory|inception of his theory]] of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]]. Gould's work on the birds was published between 1838 and 1842 in five numbers as Part 3 of ''[[Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle]]'', edited by Charles Darwin. ==Research in Australia== In 1838 the Goulds sailed to [[Australia]] intending to study the birds of that country and be the first to produce a major work on the subject. They took with them the collector [[John Gilbert (naturalist)|John Gilbert]]. They arrived in [[Tasmania]] in September, making the acquaintance of the governor [[John Franklin|Sir John Franklin]] and his [[Jane Griffin (Lady Franklin)|wife]]. Gould and Gilbert collected on the island. In February 1839 Gould sailed to [[Sydney]], leaving his pregnant wife with the Franklins. He travelled to his brother-in-law's station at [[Yarrundi]], spending his time searching for [[bowerbird]]s in the [[Liverpool Range]]. In April he returned to Tasmania for the birth of his son. In May he sailed to [[Adelaide]] to meet [[Charles Sturt]], who was preparing to lead an expedition to the [[Murray River]]. Gould collected in the [[Mount Lofty]] range, the Murray Scrubs and [[Kangaroo Island]], returning again to [[Hobart]] in July. He then travelled with his wife to Yarrundi. They returned home to England in May [[1840]]. [[Image:Gould John Duckbilled Platypus 1845-1863.png|thumb|220px|right|[[Platypus]]: illustration from John Gould's ''The mammals of Australia'' (1845-1863).]] The result of the trip was ''[[The Birds of Australia]]'' (1840–1848) - [http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-f4773 see selected digitised images from the published work]. It included a total of 600 plates in seven volumes, 328 of which were new to science and named by Gould. He also published ''A Monograph of the Macropodidae, or Family of Kangaroos'' (1841–1842) and ''The Mammals of Australia'' (1849–1861) - [http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-f10032 see selected digitised images from the published work]. See also: [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an6803903 Digitised album held by the National Library of Australia] After his wife's death in 1841 Gould's books used illustrations by a number of artists, including [[Henry Constantine Richter]] and [[Joseph Wolf]]. ==Study of hummingbirds== Throughout his professional life Gould had a strong interest in [[hummingbird]]s. He accumulated a collection of 320 species, which he exhibited at the [[Great Exhibition]] of 1851. Despite his interest Gould had never seen a live hummingbird. In May 1857 he travelled to the [[United States]] with his second son Charles. He arrived in [[New York]] too early in the season to see hummingbirds in that city, but on [[21 May]] [[1857]] in Bartram's Gardens in [[Philadelphia]] he finally saw his first live bird, a [[Ruby-throated Hummingbird]]. He then continued to [[Washington D.C.]] where he saw large numbers in the gardens of the Capitol. Gould attempted to return to England with live specimens, but not being aware of the conditions necessary to keep them they only lived for two months at most. Gould published: ''A Monograph of the Trochilidae or Humming Birds'' with 360 plates (1849–61); ''The Mammals of Australia'' (1845–63), ''Handbook to the Birds of Australia'' (1865), The Birds of Asia (1850–83), ''The Birds of Great Britain'' (1862–73) and ''The Birds of New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands'' (1875–88). ==Tributes== The [[Gould League]], founded in Australia in 1909, was named after him. This organisation gave many Australians their first introduction to birds, along with more general environmental and ecological education. One of its major sponsors was the [[Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union]], also known as Birds Australia. ==Family== His son [[Charles Gould]] was notable as geological surveyor. ==Bibliography == {{wikisource-author}} :''Source: [http://www.austmus.gov.au/research_library/bibliog.htm Australian Museum Research Library]'' *John Gould [1804-81], The birds of Asia; 1850-83 7 vols. 530 plates, Artists: J. Gould, H. C. Richter, W. Hart and J. Wolf; Lithographers: H. C. Richter and W. Hart; Parts 33-55 completed after Gould's death by R. Bowdler Sharpe; Vol VI :Artist and lithographer: W. Hart *John Gould [1804-81]; The birds of Australia; 1840-48. 7 vols. 600 plates; Artists: J. Gould and E. Gould; Lithographer: E. Gould *John Gould [1804-81]; The birds of Australia; Supplement 1851-69. 1 vol. 81 plates; Artists: J. Gould and H. C. Richter; Lithographer: H. C. Richter *John Gould [1804-81]; The Birds of Great Britain; 1862-73. 5 vols. 367 plates; Artists: J. Gould, J. Wolf, H.C. Richter and W. Hart; Lithographers: H. C. Richter and W. Hart *John Gould [1804-81]; The Birds of Great Britain; 1862-73. 5 vols. 367 plates; Artist: J. Wolf; Lithographer: H. C. Richter *John Gould [1804-81]; The birds of New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, including many new species recently discovered in Australia; 1875-88. 5 vols. 300 plates; Parts 13-25 completed after Gould's death by R. Bowdler Sharpe; Artists: J. Gould and W. Hart; Lithographer: W. Hart *John Gould [1804-81]; A monograph of the Odontophorinae, or partridges of America; 1844-50 1 vol. 32 plates; Artists: J. Gould and H. C. Richter; Lithographer: H. C. Richter *John Gould [1804-81]; A monograph of the Ramphastidae, or family of toucans; 1833-35. 1 vol. 34 plates; Artists: J. Gould, E. Gould, E. Lear and G. Scharf; Lithographers: E. Gould and E. Lear; This edition 1854. All plates attributed to Gould and Richter *John Gould [1804-81]; A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds Supplement, completed after Gould's death by R. Bowdler Sharpe; 1880-87. 5 parts. 58 plates; Artists: J. Gould and W. Hart; Lithographer: W. Hart *John Gould [1804-81]; A synopsis of the birds of Australia, and the adjacent islands; 1837-38 1 vol. 73 plates; Artist and lithographer: E. Gould ==References== *''The Ruling Passion of John Gould'' by Isabella Tree ISBN 0-7126-2158-X *''Darwin'', Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Michael Joseph, the Penguin Group, London [[1991]] ISBN 0-7181-3430-3 * ''[http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-f4773 The Birds of Australia: in seven volumes by John Gould]'' - all volumes fully digitised * ''The Bird Man - The Extraordinary Story of John Gould'' - Isabella Tree, 1991. ISBN 0-09-189579-0 * ''Portraits of the Honorary Members of the Ipswich Museum'' (Portfolio of 60 lithographs by T.H. Maguire) (Publisher: George Ransome, Ipswich, 1846-1852). {{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=John|Last=Gould|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogG.html#gould1}} ==External links== {{Commons|John Gould}} *[http://www.amonline.net.au/exhibitions/gould/ John Gould Inc.] - Exhibition at the Australian Museum * [http://www.amonline.net.au/research_library/johngould.htm Research Library – John Gould and the bird illustrators] *[http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_ZoologyOfBeagle.html ''The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle'' – bibliography by Freeman, R. B. (1977)] *[http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2004/1130006.htm John Gould's place in Australian culture], Ockham's Razor *[http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2005/apr05/article2.html Patterns of Nature: The Art of John Gould] at the National Library of Australia *A. H. Chisholm, '[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010427b.htm Gould, John (1804 - 1881)]', [[Australian Dictionary of Biography]], Volume 1, [[Melbourne University Press|MUP]], 1966, pp 465-467. *[http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/catalog.php?Mod=i&Auteur=John+Gould Scanned books from Gallica] *[http://www.mirroroftheworld.com.au/exploration/terra_australis/mammals_australia.php The Mammals of Australia] - Series of high resolution images taken from the 1845 edition. ==See also== * [[List of wildlife artists]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, John}} [[Category:1804 births]] [[Category:1881 deaths]] [[Category:English ornithologists]] [[Category:Australian ornithologists]] [[Category:Bird artists]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]] [[Category:People from Lyme Regis]] [[de:John Gould]] [[es:John Gould]] [[fr:John Gould]] [[it:John Gould]] [[la:Ioannes Gould]] [[nl:John Gould]] [[pt:John Gould]] [[fi:John Gould]] [[sv:John Gould]]