“British Birds: Treasures from the Historical Collection”

As the weather warms up and we move into Spring, the birds pour out their song and begin their courting. This inspired us to look afresh at some of the magnificent items from our Historical Collection at RAU Library that feature birds. So, we now have on display a variety of books about British birds, especially those that contain striking illustrations or engravings.

To start with we have chosen one of the classics that some of you may be familiar with, printed in 1865 in eight volumes.

A History of British Birds by F O Morris, 1865

This series was authored by Rev. Francis Orpen Morris (1810-1893), a prolific natural history writer and an ardent campaigner for animal rights. This work includes many hand-coloured engravings of British birds and their habitats.

The plates were engraved by Benjamin Fawcett (1808-1893), one of the finest of the nineteenth century woodblock colour printers. They were then, under the close supervision of both the author and the engraver, hand-coloured by the natural history illustrator and watercolourist Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917). Lydon contributed much in technique and design, collaborating on a large number of works with Rev. Francis Orpen Morris.

This robin appeared in volume 3 of Morris’s A History of British Birds (1853) and was engraved by Fawcett from his original drawing.

The Royal Natural History by Richard Lydekker, 1893, in four volumes

Lydekker was a British naturalist and geologist who was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1874 he joined the Geological Survey of India and made studies of the vertebrate palaeontology of northern India. He was also influential in the science of biogeography and in 1895 he delineated the biogeographical boundary through Indonesia which is now known as Lydekker’s Line.

Volumes 3, and 4 of A Handbook to the Birds of Great Britain include numerous bird illustrations by W. Kuhnert, F. Specht, P.J. Smit, G. Muetzel, A.T. Elwes, J. Wolf, Gambier Bolton and many other leading wildlife artists of the period. It includes 72 chromolithographic plates (a method for making multi-colour prints), 57 full-page wood engravings, and numerous text engravings. You can view the book online here: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/258996#page/48/mode/1up (volume 4 )

Bowdler Sharpe, R., A Handbook to the Birds of Great Britain, 1896 in four volumes

The author Richard Bowdler Sharpe was an English naturalist and zoologist. In 1867 Sharpe was given the post of librarian of the Zoological Society. Then in 1872 he joined the British Museum as a Senior Assistant in the Department of Zoology, taking charge of the bird collection. He became Assistant Keeper in 1895, remaining there until his death.

These four volumes feature beautifully illustrated coloured lithographs throughout each volume. See examples below:

*Kingfisher from Bowdler Sharpe’s, “A Handbook to the Birds of Great Britain”, Vol II. (1896)*

View online here: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/adn259n4

A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds, 4^th rev. ed. by F.O Morris and W. B. Tegetmeier, 1896 completed in three volumes

Around the same time as Bowdler Sharpe was publishing his book, Francis Orpen Morris was producing something different – a detailed and comprehensive ornithological study on birds of the British Isles, their nests, and their eggs, with details of their habits and characterisation, migration patterns, plumage, and much more. Morris was known for his popular writings on natural history, particularly birds and insects.

He was considered a pioneer of the movement to protect birds from the plume trade (using feathers in fashion) and was a co-founder of the Plumage League. This edition was revised and corrected by William Bernhardt Tegetmeier, an English naturalist, popular writer, and a correspondent and friend of Charles Darwin. The 248 illustrations are hand-coloured wood engravings.

View online here: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/57468#page/9/mode/1up

• A Treatise on the Birds of Gloucestershire by W. L. Mellersh, 1902

Little is known of Mellersh’s life. He was apparently a school-teacher based in Cheltenham and wrote only a handful of other ornithological notes. His Treatise, however, although not written in the classic style of a listed account, was very complete and detailed and a valuable contribution to Gloucestershire ornithology.

As Mallersh commented in the preface:

“The illustrations are from reductions of original drawings by Mr. Edward Neale M.B.O.U. They represent the very scenes that have been witnessed in the actual parts of the county drawn, and a debt of gratitude is due to Mr. Neale for the great skill with which he has composed them. The backgrounds are adapted from special photographs taken for the purpose”

View online here: https://forestnightjars.co.uk/gloucestershire-records-1858-2015/

Birds and Their Young by Coward. T.A. 1923

This book is illustrated by Roland Green containing 12 plates in colour on grey paper with tissue guards and 32 pen and ink plates.

Roland Green (1890 – 1972) was a noted bird artist, who painted in watercolours and oils. Green made his home in a disused drainage mill at Hickling in Norfolk. He set many of his bird paintings in the Broads, capturing some of the wild beauty of this region in his distinctive style. Thomas Alfred Coward (1867 – 1933), was an English ornithologist and an amateur astronomer. He wrote extensively on natural history and local Cheshire history.

• British Sporting Birds by F.B Kirkman & Horace G. Hutchinson, 1936.

This beautiful book includes 31 coloured plates by well-known artists such as A.W. Seaby, G. E. Lodge, H. Gronvold, G. E. Collins and Miss Winifred Austen.

Wild Birds and the Land: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Bulletin No. 140 F. Howard Lancum, 1948

The MAFF bulletin contains around 50 black and white illustrations. Each of the fifty species illustrated is accompanied by a note on its physical characteristics and behaviour patterns, along with a statement on its economic significance where this is known. A concluding chapter on the use and method of constructing nest-boxes and bird-tables adds to the value of a publication.

We hope you enjoy these excellent books not only because of the information in them on the natural history of numerous bird species, but also for their wonderful illustrations. Come and see the display in the glass tower cabinet and display cases in the library or browse them online if they are available!

Sources:

https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/anh.2019.0591?journalCode=anh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Orpen_Morris

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bowdler_Sharpe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Francis_Lydon

https://benjaminfawcett.co.uk/lydon.htm