William Buelow Gould
Encyclopedia
William Buelow Gould was an English
and Van Diemonian
(Tasmania
n) painter
. He was transported
to Australia
as a convict
in 1827, after which he would become one of the most important early artists in the colony, despite never really separating himself from his life of crime.
Gould's life in Van Diemen's Land was the subject of the award winning historical fiction
novel Gould's Book of Fish
, centring around Gould's production of the Sketchbook of fishes. In April 2011 Gould's original Sketchbook of fishes was recognised as a document of world significance by UNESCO
.
, Merseyside
, England
. While little is known of his early life, it is thought that he received artistic training under Irish
painter William Mulready
, R.A., in London
, and German
lithographer
Rudolph Ackermann
in The Strand
, and that he worked in Spode
's factory in Stoke-on-Trent
, Staffordshire
, as a painter of porcelain
.
Gould evidently moved around England quite a bit, and on 7 November 1826 he was convicted
in Northampton
, East Midlands
, of having by "force of arms stolen one coat", and was subsequently sentenced to "seven years beyond the seas", a phrase indicating transportation
to the then British penal colony
of Australia. While the sentence was for the fairly standard term of seven years, as with most convicts, Gould would never return to England. At the time of this conviction, Gould was married and had two children, and had also received a prior conviction for "stealing colours".
, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), in December 1827. During the journey he was known to have painted portraits of the officers. Gould was sent to work on the brick
fields, but was soon in trouble again, mainly for petty offences
involving theft and drunkenness. In June 1829 Gould was sentenced for forgery
of a banknote
to three years at Macquarie Harbour Penal Station
on the west coast
of Tasmania, one of the most notoriously harsh penal stations in the colonies, generally reserved for only the worst convicts.
The only access to Macquarie Harbour
from Hobart at the time was by ship around the rugged south and west coasts of Tasmania. During the voyage Gould's brig
, the Cyprus, became weather bound in the isolated Recherche Bay
some 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) south of Hobart, where half the convicts aboard mutinied
and took the ship. Gould was amongst the convicts left marooned
along with the officers, and he was one of a party who went overland by foot to seek help. Lieutenant Governor
Sir George Arthur commuted
the sentences of the convicts who had remained with the officers, and Gould was assigned as a house servant
to the colonial surgeon Dr James Scott.
An amateur naturalist
, Scott put Gould's artistic talents to use, having him paint watercolours of native flora
regarded even today as being of a high technical standard. Gould however would not remain out of trouble, and was again sentenced to Macquarie Harbour in 1832. Based on his reputation from his time with Scott, Gould was assigned as house servant to another amateur natural historian, Dr William de Little on Sarah Island at the penal station. Here he continued with his painting, producing highly accomplished still life
watercolours of botanical specimens
, bird
s, fish
es, and other sea life
collected from the surrounding beaches. His work also included landscape sketches providing important insights into the convict settlement. The Macquarie Harbour settlement was closed in 1833, and along with the other remaining prisoners, Gould was transferred to the Port Arthur Penal Station
on the south-east coast of Tasmania.
Gould was granted his Certificate of freedom
from Port Arthur on 25 June 1835, and worked briefly for a coachbuilder
in Launceston
in the north of Tasmania, before returning to Hobart and marrying Ann Reynolds in 1836. While he continued his mainly still life artwork, the quality of the work became variable, and he descended into a cycle of drunkenness, poverty
, and prison sentences for theft. Gould died of natural causes at his home on Macquarie Street, Hobart
on 11 December 1853.
in Launceston holds 177 of his botanical works. A number of works, including a self-portrait
, hang in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
in Hobart. His work is also held by the National Gallery of Victoria
in Melbourne
, Entally National House, Franklin House, Launceston, and Narryna Heritage Museum, Hobart.
Some notable and representative works include his Still life, fruit (1832), Sketchbook of fishes (c1832) (see below), Native orchid, Dipodium punctatum (c1830-1840), Still life, game, River scene with aborigines (1838), and Still life, flowers in a blue jug (c1840).
, that Gould produced his noted Sketchbook of fishes, also known as Gould's sketchbook of fishes, Gould's book of fish, or Sketchbook of Fishes in Macquarie Harbour. This sketchbook consisted of thirty-six separate watercolour-on-paper sketches measuring 185 millimetres (7.3 in) x 227 millimetres (8.9 in) each. While only six of these works are signed by the author, and none are dated, all works are attributed to Gould. The sketchbook includes a numbered list of the fish, with common names written in pencil by G. T. Stilwell, and species names in pencil by A. M. Olsen, who is thought to have formally identified the fish.
The original sketchbook with leather binding and marbled board covers is now held by the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, in the State Library of Tasmania
; due to its age and condition it is not available for general access, however a digital version is available on the internet.
This work was made famous in recent times by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan's
critically acclaimed and Commonwealth Writers' Prize
winning 2001 novel Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish
. This book is a fictionalised
account of Gould's life in Van Diemen's Land, focussing on his time at Macquarie Harbour and his work on the Sketchbook of fishes. The book includes a reproduction of Gould's Weedy sea dragon painting on the cover (although the actual image used varies depending on the edition), and other works from the sketchbook as the twelve chapter frontispieces
. The blurb on the back cover starts with:
Another Tasmanian author, Richard Davey
, also uses Gould's Weedy sea dragon painting from the Sketchbook of fishes on the cover of his 2002 book, The Sarah Island Conspiracies, as does the Tasmanian Historical Studies issue dedicated to Tasmanian Creativity and Innovation.
Australian Memory of the World Register
at a ceremony in Hobart on 1 April 2011. This is the equivalent of a World Heritage
listing for historic documentary material, recognising the sketchbook as a document of world significance. It was noted that the sketchbook contained the first record of a number of species. A spokesman for the CSIRO
stated that current scientists still used information from the sketchbook, adding that little was known today about some of the species that Gould had drawn.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Van Diemonian
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
(Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
n) painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. He was transported
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to 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...
as a convict
Convicts in Australia
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government. One of the primary reasons for the British settlement of Australia was the establishment of a penal colony to alleviate pressure on their...
in 1827, after which he would become one of the most important early artists in the colony, despite never really separating himself from his life of crime.
Gould's life in Van Diemen's Land was the subject of the award winning historical fiction
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
novel Gould's Book of Fish
Gould's Book of Fish
Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish is a 2001 novel by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan. Gould's Book of Fish was Flanagan's third novel.-Plot summary:...
, centring around Gould's production of the Sketchbook of fishes. In April 2011 Gould's original Sketchbook of fishes was recognised as a document of world significance by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
.
Early life
Gould was born as William Holland in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. While little is known of his early life, it is thought that he received artistic training under Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
painter William Mulready
William Mulready
William Mulready was an Irish genre painter living in London. He is best known for his romanticizing depictions of rural scenes, and for creating Mulready stationery letter sheets, issued at the same time as the Penny Black postage stamp.-Life and family:William Mulready was born in Ennis, County...
, R.A., in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
lithographer
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman.- Biography :...
in The Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, and that he worked in Spode
Spode
Spode is a well-known English brand of pottery and homewares based in Stoke-on-Trent.- The overview :Spode is a Stoke-on-Trent based pottery company that was founded by Josiah Spode in 1770...
's factory in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, as a painter of porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
.
Gould evidently moved around England quite a bit, and on 7 November 1826 he was convicted
Conviction
In law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal . In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal...
in Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
, of having by "force of arms stolen one coat", and was subsequently sentenced to "seven years beyond the seas", a phrase indicating transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to the then British penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
of Australia. While the sentence was for the fairly standard term of seven years, as with most convicts, Gould would never return to England. At the time of this conviction, Gould was married and had two children, and had also received a prior conviction for "stealing colours".
Life in Van Diemen's Land
Gould was transported to Australia aboard the convict ship Asia, arriving in Hobart TownHobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), in December 1827. During the journey he was known to have painted portraits of the officers. Gould was sent to work on the brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
fields, but was soon in trouble again, mainly for petty offences
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
involving theft and drunkenness. In June 1829 Gould was sentenced for forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
of a banknote
Banknote
A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...
to three years at Macquarie Harbour Penal Station
Macquarie Harbour Penal Station
The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station was a notorious British penal settlement established on Sarah Island in the southern portion of Macquarie Harbour in what was Van Diemen's Land in , Australia....
on the west coast
Convicts on the West Coast of Tasmania
The West Coast of Tasmania has a significant convict heritage. The use of the West Coast as an outpost to house convicts in isolated penal settlements occurred in the era 1822-1833, and 1846-1847....
of Tasmania, one of the most notoriously harsh penal stations in the colonies, generally reserved for only the worst convicts.
The only access to Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour is a large, shallow, but navigable by shallow draft vessels inlet on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.-History:James Kelly wrote in his narrative "First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour" how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five-oared whaleboat to discover...
from Hobart at the time was by ship around the rugged south and west coasts of Tasmania. During the voyage Gould's brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
, the Cyprus, became weather bound in the isolated Recherche Bay
Recherche Bay
Recherche Bay is located on the extreme south-eastern corner of Tasmania, Australia and was a landing place of the d’Entrecasteaux expedition to find missing explorer La Pérouse...
some 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) south of Hobart, where half the convicts aboard mutinied
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
and took the ship. Gould was amongst the convicts left marooned
Marooning
Marooning is the intentional leaving of someone in a remote area, such as an uninhabited island. The word appears in writing in approximately 1709, and is derived from the term maroon, a word for a fugitive slave, which could be a corruption of Spanish cimarrón, meaning a household animal who has...
along with the officers, and he was one of a party who went overland by foot to seek help. Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor (Australia)
In contemporary Australian state constitutions, a lieutenant governor is a standing appointment for a deputy governor, to act in place of the governor if they are unable, unavailable or unwilling to act. There is no deputy for the Commonwealth governor-general; instead, the senior state governor...
Sir George Arthur commuted
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
the sentences of the convicts who had remained with the officers, and Gould was assigned as a house servant
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
to the colonial surgeon Dr James Scott.
An amateur naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, Scott put Gould's artistic talents to use, having him paint watercolours of native flora
Flora of Australia
The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 20,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens...
regarded even today as being of a high technical standard. Gould however would not remain out of trouble, and was again sentenced to Macquarie Harbour in 1832. Based on his reputation from his time with Scott, Gould was assigned as house servant to another amateur natural historian, Dr William de Little on Sarah Island at the penal station. Here he continued with his painting, producing highly accomplished still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
watercolours of botanical specimens
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, 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, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
es, and other sea life
Marine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
collected from the surrounding beaches. His work also included landscape sketches providing important insights into the convict settlement. The Macquarie Harbour settlement was closed in 1833, and along with the other remaining prisoners, Gould was transferred to the Port Arthur Penal Station
Port Arthur, Tasmania
Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and the open air museum is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. It is located approximately 60 km south east of...
on the south-east coast of Tasmania.
Gould was granted his Certificate of freedom
Certificate of freedom
A certificate of freedom was a document given to a convict in one of the Australian penal colony at the end of the convict's sentence. This stated that the convict was now a free person and could seek out employment or leave the colony....
from Port Arthur on 25 June 1835, and worked briefly for a coachbuilder
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
in Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
in the north of Tasmania, before returning to Hobart and marrying Ann Reynolds in 1836. While he continued his mainly still life artwork, the quality of the work became variable, and he descended into a cycle of drunkenness, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, and prison sentences for theft. Gould died of natural causes at his home on Macquarie Street, Hobart
Macquarie Street, Hobart
Macquarie Street is one of the main streets of the central business district of the city of Hobart, capital of Tasmania, Australia. It is part of the A6, technically making it part of the Huon Highway...
on 11 December 1853.
Notable works
Gould's work is preserved in many galleries around Australia, as well as being held by private collectors. The Queen Victoria Museum and Art GalleryQueen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is a museum located in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1891, the Queen Victoria has a strong reputation for its excellent collection, which includes fine exhibitions of colonial art, contemporary craft and design, Tasmanian history and...
in Launceston holds 177 of his botanical works. A number of works, including a self-portrait
Self-portrait
A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting...
, hang in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is a museum located in Hobart, Tasmania. The museum was established in 1843, by the Royal Society of Tasmania under the leadership of Sir John Franklin, the oldest Royal Society outside of England.-Governance:...
in Hobart. His work is also held by the National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Entally National House, Franklin House, Launceston, and Narryna Heritage Museum, Hobart.
Some notable and representative works include his Still life, fruit (1832), Sketchbook of fishes (c1832) (see below), Native orchid, Dipodium punctatum (c1830-1840), Still life, game, River scene with aborigines (1838), and Still life, flowers in a blue jug (c1840).
Sketchbook of fishes
It was around 1832, at Macquarie Harbour Penal StationMacquarie Harbour Penal Station
The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station was a notorious British penal settlement established on Sarah Island in the southern portion of Macquarie Harbour in what was Van Diemen's Land in , Australia....
, that Gould produced his noted Sketchbook of fishes, also known as Gould's sketchbook of fishes, Gould's book of fish, or Sketchbook of Fishes in Macquarie Harbour. This sketchbook consisted of thirty-six separate watercolour-on-paper sketches measuring 185 millimetres (7.3 in) x 227 millimetres (8.9 in) each. While only six of these works are signed by the author, and none are dated, all works are attributed to Gould. The sketchbook includes a numbered list of the fish, with common names written in pencil by G. T. Stilwell, and species names in pencil by A. M. Olsen, who is thought to have formally identified the fish.
The original sketchbook with leather binding and marbled board covers is now held by the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, in the State Library of Tasmania
State Library of Tasmania
The State Library of Tasmania is the organisation which runs the library system in the state of Tasmania, Australia. The State Library operates as part of the Tasmanian Department of Education, and maintains close ties with Tasmanian schools and senior secondary colleges.The headquarters of the...
; due to its age and condition it is not available for general access, however a digital version is available on the internet.
This work was made famous in recent times by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan's
Richard Flanagan
Richard Flanagan is a novelist from Tasmania, Australia.-Early life:Flanagan was born in Longford, Tasmania, in 1961, the fifth of six children. He is descended from Irish convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land in the 1840s. His father is a survivor of the Burma Death Railway. One of his three...
critically acclaimed and Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
winning 2001 novel Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish
Gould's Book of Fish
Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish is a 2001 novel by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan. Gould's Book of Fish was Flanagan's third novel.-Plot summary:...
. This book is a fictionalised
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
account of Gould's life in Van Diemen's Land, focussing on his time at Macquarie Harbour and his work on the Sketchbook of fishes. The book includes a reproduction of Gould's Weedy sea dragon painting on the cover (although the actual image used varies depending on the edition), and other works from the sketchbook as the twelve chapter frontispieces
Book frontispiece
A frontispiece is a decorative illustration facing a book's title page. The frontispiece is the verso opposite the recto title page. Elaborate engraved frontispieces were in frequent use, especially in Bibles and in scholarly books, and many are masterpieces of engraving...
. The blurb on the back cover starts with:
Once upon a time, when the earth was still young, before the fish in the sea and all the living things on land began to be destroyed, a man named William Buelow Gould was sentenced to life imprisonment at the most feared penal colony in the British Empire, and there ordered to paint a book of fish.
Another Tasmanian author, Richard Davey
Richard Davey
Richard Innes Davey is an actor, director and writer. He is the founder of the Round Earth Company and advocate for the understanding of the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island on the West Coast of Tasmania....
, also uses Gould's Weedy sea dragon painting from the Sketchbook of fishes on the cover of his 2002 book, The Sarah Island Conspiracies, as does the Tasmanian Historical Studies issue dedicated to Tasmanian Creativity and Innovation.
UNESCO Memory of the World listing
Gould's Sketchbook of fishes was inscribed on the UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Australian Memory of the World Register
Memory of the World Register – Asia and the Pacific
The first inscriptions on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register were made in 1997. By creating a compendium of the world’s documentary heritage—manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, library and archive holdings—the program aims to tap on its networks of experts to exchange...
at a ceremony in Hobart on 1 April 2011. This is the equivalent of a World Heritage
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
listing for historic documentary material, recognising the sketchbook as a document of world significance. It was noted that the sketchbook contained the first record of a number of species. A spokesman for the CSIRO
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is the national government body for scientific research in Australia...
stated that current scientists still used information from the sketchbook, adding that little was known today about some of the species that Gould had drawn.