Lot 6: DARWIN, Charles – GOULD, John (1804-1881) and GOULD, Elizabeth (1804-1841).

DARWIN, Charles – GOULD, John (1804-1881) and GOULD, Elizabeth (1804-1841). The Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle. Part III. Birds. London: Smith, Elder, and Co., [1838-]1841. The key part of Darwin’s lavish publication on the scientifc fndings from the voyage of the Beagle. Upon his return from his legendary expedition, Darwin donated his ornithological specimens to the Zoological Society, where they were catalogued by John Gould. Although not himself an evolutionist, it was ironically Gould’s observations about the speciation of the Galapagos fnches (among other birds collected on the voyage) which helped point Darwin to the crucial realization that “Lyell’s general principles linking past with present could be applied to the biological world as much as to the geological” (Browne). The handsome lithographs were executed by John’s wife Elizabeth Gould. The entire fve-volume report was issued in parts, of which Birds comprised fve parts of ten plates each. Anker 173; Browne, Charles Darwin: Voyaging, pp. 359-61; Freeman 9; Nissen IVB 384; Norman 586; Zimmer p. 157. Part three only, of fve, quarto (302 x 238mm). 50 hand-colored lithographed plates interleaved with guards (occasional light marginal spotting, a few plate numbers shaved; 1967 Bulgarian postage stamp featuring a pheasant on title verso). Modern green half morocco.