A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds

October 2, 2023 12:13 PM

"This site is a faithful reproduction and restoration of John Gould’s A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds, a magnificent work of ornithological art and science that was published in six volumes between 1848 and 1887." Scans of the original books were restored by Nicholas Rougeux, who also created the website; the artwork is downloadable and is in the public domain.

Shamelessly ganked from Eric Meyer's Mastodon feed.

posted by adamrice (4 comments total)

TIL, via zooming in on the poster in the FPP link, there is an Andean species called the Comet and they are waaaaaaat
posted by mcstayinskool at 1:09 PM on October 2, 2023

I do wish the original Monograph had been restored in its entirety, with the text about each bird still being able to be accessed opposite the restored artwork.

That said, this is an amazing labor of love and I'm so glad to see all these colors so vibrant once again. Thanks so much for posting!
posted by hippybear at 2:24 PM on October 2, 2023

We have several hummingbirds that visit our flowers and feeder in our backyard. They are beautiful, feisty, highly curious and generally amazing little creatures.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:56 PM on October 3, 2023

I almost just reposted this as it had just shown up on my Facebook page. Until this popped up on Preview. Well, good on you. If anything is Better of the Web than this, I will bake a hat and eat it.

my tags were Birds Hummingbirds JohnGould Trochilidæ Sublime...
posted by y2karl at 12:45 PM on October 12, 2023