A history of the birds of Europe including all the species inhabiting the Western Palaearctic region, by Henry E. Dresser. Volume 2. London: Published by the author; 1871-1887.
Due to popular demand, more remarkable plates from this work will be on display throughout the year!
Balfour Library shelf mark: qKZ.4 (1)
The book is open at: Plate 51, Erithacus rubecula (Redbreast, more commonly known as a Robin). This plate is a hand coloured lithograph produced by J. G. Keulemans, a renowned ornithological illustrator, and depicts an adult male and a young redbreast perching on a branch. The breast of the adult male is a vivid shade of orange which belies its name but is more realistic. The fine detail in the hand colouring of Keulemans’ lithograph is especially noticeable in the plumage of the young redbreast but as with all of his lithographs it is the eyes that are one of the most striking features.
Henry Eeles Dresser (1838-1915) was born in Thirsk. After his schooling in Bromley, Kent and at a German school near Hamburg he entered his father’s timber-merchant business and travelled extensively in northern Europe from 1834 to 1862. From his time at school in Germany he began to systematically collect the eggs and bird skins of Palaearctic birds. He deposited some 12,000 items at the Manchester Museum from 1899 onwards.
Dresser left England with a cargo for Texas in 1863 and spent over a year collecting there. Shortly after his return to England he published his first scientific paper, Notes on the birds of southern Texas, in Ibis in 1865. He continued to contribute to Ibis from then until 1909; and also joined the British Ornithologist’s Union in the same year. He was also a member and fellow of the Linnean Society and Zoological Society of London, and was an honorary fellow of the American Ornithologist’s Union. He was an authority on the birds of Europe and the author of several important works, including A history of the birds of Europe. Eight quarto volumes of this were published between 1871 and 1881, which were illustrated with 633 hand coloured plates, mainly prepared from drawings by Joseph Wolf, J. G. Keulemans and E. Neale.
After returning from Texas, Dresser started work in the iron trade in London but continued to travel extensively throughout the whole of his life.
Professor Alfred Newton subscribed to A History of the Birds of Europe as it was published in its parts. He has made a note inside the first volume of the number of subscribers (374), the top three of whom are “His Majesty the King of Italy, H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh K.G., H. H. Duleep Singh, Elveden Hall, Thetford”, in that order. Interestingly, the Newton family lived on the Elveden Estate on the Norfolk-Suffolk border until Newton’s father died in 1863.
The robin can be seen throughout the year but is particularly associated with Christmas time. According to the RSPB robins are aggressively territorial and are quick to drive away intruders. This presents a very different view to their depiction on Christmas cards!
Sources:
Animal Diversity Web http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/
Dresser’s obituary in Ibis 58 (2) 340:342 (April 1916) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1916.tb07939.x/abstract
Handbook of Texas Online http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdr12
RSPB http://www.rspb.org.uk/
Wikipedia ‘John Gerrard Keulemans’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gerrard_Keulemans
Wikipedia ‘Lithography’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography
