The Ornithology of Australia
Encyclopedia
The Ornithology of Australia comprises three volumes (of an uncompleted set) of lithographed
, hand-coloured, illustrations of Australia
n bird
s with accompanying text. It was authored by Silvester Diggles
of Brisbane and was originally issued in 21 parts, each part containing six plates (126 plates in all) with short descriptive letterpress, in imperial quarto
format, with the leaves of the plates 39 cm in height. The parts were printed for the author by T.P. Pugh. Altogether, between 1863 and 1875, Diggles, with his niece Rowena Birkett who hand-coloured each plate, produced 325 plates illustrating some 600 Australian birds.
In 1877 Diggles produced what was essentially a two-volume second edition of the previously published work, using 123 of the same plates and renamed Companion to Gould's Handbook, or, Synopsis of the birds of Australia, containing nearly one-third of the whole, or about 220 examples, for the most part from the original drawings, though the spine title was simply Diggles' Ornithology. Volume 1 had 59 plates, volume 2 had 64, printed by Thorne & Greenwell of Brisbane. The title referred to John Gould
's 1865 book Handbook to the Birds of Australia
.
Diggles lacked the funds to continue publishing the series of lithographs. From 1875 his health began to deteriorate, and he died in 1880. His manuscript and original plates, including those unpublished, were later acquired from Diggles’ son by publishing firm Angus & Robertson
which presented them to the Mitchell Library
in Sydney. In August 1990 a facsimile edition of The Ornithology of Australia, volume 1, parts 1–7, was published by State Publishing South Australia (ISBN 0-7243-6556-7).
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
, hand-coloured, illustrations of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s with accompanying text. It was authored by Silvester Diggles
Silvester Diggles
Silvester Diggles was an Australian artist and musician of British origin, as well as being a noted amateur ornithologist and entomologist....
of Brisbane and was originally issued in 21 parts, each part containing six plates (126 plates in all) with short descriptive letterpress, in imperial quarto
Quarto
Quarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...
format, with the leaves of the plates 39 cm in height. The parts were printed for the author by T.P. Pugh. Altogether, between 1863 and 1875, Diggles, with his niece Rowena Birkett who hand-coloured each plate, produced 325 plates illustrating some 600 Australian birds.
In 1877 Diggles produced what was essentially a two-volume second edition of the previously published work, using 123 of the same plates and renamed Companion to Gould's Handbook, or, Synopsis of the birds of Australia, containing nearly one-third of the whole, or about 220 examples, for the most part from the original drawings, though the spine title was simply Diggles' Ornithology. Volume 1 had 59 plates, volume 2 had 64, printed by Thorne & Greenwell of Brisbane. The title referred to John Gould
John Gould
John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
's 1865 book Handbook to the Birds of Australia
Handbook to the Birds of Australia
The Handbook to the Birds of Australia is a two-volume work published in London in 1865 by the author John Gould. It was published in octavo format , containing some 1290 pages, bound in green cloth with gilt lyrebirds on the front covers and with decorated gilt spines...
.
Diggles lacked the funds to continue publishing the series of lithographs. From 1875 his health began to deteriorate, and he died in 1880. His manuscript and original plates, including those unpublished, were later acquired from Diggles’ son by publishing firm Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson is a bookstore chain in Australia. Its first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it sold second-hand books. In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot, George Robertson with whom he had worked earlier.- Bookselling history...
which presented them to the Mitchell Library
State Library of New South Wales
The State Library of New South Wales is a large public library owned by the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Macquarie Street, Sydney near Shakespeare Place...
in Sydney. In August 1990 a facsimile edition of The Ornithology of Australia, volume 1, parts 1–7, was published by State Publishing South Australia (ISBN 0-7243-6556-7).