Gould, John (1804 - 1881)

Summary

John Gould visited Australia in 1838-1840 with his wife, Elizabeth Gould (qv), and on his return to England published fourteen volumes on the birds and mammals of Australia illustrated by both himself and Elizabeth.

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• John Gould - Records, 1839 - 1843, ML MSS 547; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Linnean Society of London - Records, 1792 - 1870, FM 4/2699; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Gregory Macalister Mathews - Records, 1900 - 1949, MS 1465; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• John Gould - Records, 1838 - 1884, MS 587; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• John Gould - Records, 1838 - 1884, MS 454; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• John Gould - Records, 1888 - 1951, MS 1755; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• John MacGillivray - Records, 1844 - 1855, mfm G 1881; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Joseph Ravenscroft Elsey - Records, 1857, MS 1217; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Royal Society of Tasmania

• John Gould - Records, 1838 - 1942, Ms 58/29-37; Royal Society of Tasmania. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• John Gould - Records, 1857 - 1877, M725-7; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Western Australia Herbarium

• John Gould - Records, 1842, 58(044) Gil; Western Australia Herbarium. Details

Published resources

Books

• Datta, Ann, John Gould in Australia: Letters and Drawings with a Catalogue of Manuscripts, Correspondence and Drawings Relating to the Birds and Mammals of Australia Held in the Natural History Museum, London (Melbourne: Miegunyah Press [MUP], 1997), 516 pp. Details
• Dawes, Sean C., John Gould: an Australian Perspective (Stepney, SA: Axiom Publishing, 2011), 228 pp. Details
• Fisher, Clemency and Calaby, John, The Top of the Top End: John Gilbert's Manuscript Notes for John Gould on Vertebrates from Port Essington and Cobourg Peninsula (Northern Territory, Australia); with Comments on Specimens Collected during the Settlement Period 1838 to 1849, and Subsequently (Darwin: Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, 2009), 239 pp. Details
• Ford, Fred, John Gould's extinct and endangered mammals of Australia (Canberra: NLA Publishing, 2014), 271 pp. Details
• Gould, John, Kangaroos, with modern commentary by Joan M. Dixon (South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1973), 152 pp. Details
• Gould, John, A Monograph of the Macropodidae, or Family of Kangaroos (Melbourne: Lansdowne Editions, 1981), [63], 13 pp. Details
• Gould, John, The mammals of Australia, with modern notes by Joan M. Dixon (South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1983), 416 pp. Details
• Russell, Roslyn, The Business of Nature: John Gould and Australia (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2011), 244 pp. Details
• Sauer, Gordon C., John Gould, the Bird Man: a Chronology and Biliography (Melbourne: Lansdowne Editions, 1982). Details
• Sharpe, R. B., Analytical index to the works of the late John Gould, F.R.S., with a biographical memoir and portrait (London: Henry Sotheran, 1893), 375 pp. Details
• Tree, Isabella, The Ruling Passion of John Gould: a Biography of the Bird Man (London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1991), 250 pp. Details
• Tree, Isabella, The bird man: the extraordinary story of John Gould (London: Ebery Press, 2003), 246 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Chisholm, A. H., 'Gould, John (1804-1881), zoologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 465-467. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010427b.htm. Details
• Sauer, G.C., 'Forty Years Association with John Gould the Bird Man' in From Linnaeus to Darwin: Commentaries on the History of Biology and Geology: Natural History in the Early Nineteenth Century: Papers from the Fifth Easter Meeting of the Society, 18-31 March, 1983, A. Wheeler and J. H. Price, eds (London: Society for the History of Natural History, 1985), pp. 159-166. Details

Journal Articles

• Barrett, C., 'The Birdman: a sketch of the life of John Gould.', Whitcombe & Tombs (1938). Details
• Bryant, C. E., 'Gould miscellanea and some adecdotes', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 226-31. Details
• Campbell, A. G., 'John Gould Amongst Tasmanian Birds', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 138-41. Details
• Carpenter, Graham and Black, Andrew, 'John Gould in South Australia and a reappraisal of his type locality, "The Belts of the Murray"', South Australian Ornithologist, 41 (1) (2015), 1-17. Details
• Cayley, Neville W., 'John Gould as an Illustrator.', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 167-72. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'John Gilbert. Some Letters to Gould', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 186-99. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'Some Letters from George Grey to John Gould', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 216-26. Details
• Chisholm, A. H., 'John Gould's Australian Prospectus', Emu, 42 (1942), 74-84. Details
• Dawes, S., 'John Gould: travels and faunal collections in South Australia', Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, 19 (1981), 78-107. Details
• Dickinson, D. J., 'A Resume of Gould's Major Works', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 118-31. Details
• Fisher, C. T., 'Two previously unpublished letters with the correct version of a third from John Gilbert to John Gould', Australian zoologist 22(1): 7-14, 22 (1) (1985), 7-14. Details
• Fleming, Althea, 'Birds, books and money: McCoy's correspondence with John Gould (1857-1876)', The Victorian naturalist, 118 (2001), 210-8. Details
• Gould, John, 'A brief account of the researches in natural history of John MacGillivray, Esq, the naturalist attached to H.M. Surveying-Ship the Rattlesnake, on the north-eastern coasts of Australia, New Guinea, etc.', Contributions to ornithology, [3/4] (1850), 92-105. Details
• Hindwood, K. A., 'Some Gouldian Letters', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 206-12. Details
• Hindwood, K. A., 'John Gould in Australia.', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 95-118. Details
• Hindwood, K. A., 'The Letters of Edwin C. Prince to John Gould in Australia.', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 199-206. Details
• Iredale, T., 'John Gould: the Bird Man.', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 90-5. Details
• Mack, G., 'John Gould's Correspondence with Sir Frederick McCoy', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 212-6. Details
• Mathews, Gregory M., 'John Gould: an appreciation', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 239-40. Details
• Mathews, Gregory M.; and Iredale, Tom, ' Gould as a systematist', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 172-5. Details
• Noonan, Patrick, '"Sons of science": remembering John Gould's martyred collectors', Australasian journal of Victorian studies, 21 (1) (2016), 28-42. Details
• Olsen, Penny, 'Mr Gilbert's Beautiful Parrakeet', National Library of Australia News (2005). http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/131760/20120120-0944/www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2005/mar05/story-1.pdf. Details
• Parker, S. A., 'Remarks on some results of John Gould's visit to South Australia in 1839', South Australian ornithologist, 29 (1984), 288-91. Details
• Stephens, Matthew, 'Patterns of Nature: the Art of John Gould at the National Library', National Library of Australia News, XV (7) (2005), 3-6. http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2005/apr05/article2.html. Details
• Stone, Witmer, 'The Gould collection in Philadelphia', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 231-3. Details
• Stone, Witmer; in conjunction with Mathews, Gregory M., 'A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the locations of the type specimens', Austral avian record, 1 (6/7) (1913), 129-80. Details
• Whitley, G. P., 'John Gould's Associates', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 141-67. Details
• Whittell, H. M., 'Gould's Western Australian Birds, with Notes on His Collectors', Emu, 38 (2) (1938), 175-86. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/29597222. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q313787. Details
• John Gould's Birds of Australia, Treasures from the National Library, http://www.nla.gov.au/collect/treasures/apr_treasure.html. Details
• 'Gould, John (1804-1881)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-478003. Details

Theses

• Fisher, Clemency Thorne, 'The importance of early Victorian natural historians in the discovery and interpretation of the Australian fauna, with special reference to John Gilbert', PhD thesis, Liverpool Polytechnic, 1992, 643 pp. Details

See also

• Chisholm, A. H., 'Bird seeking in Queensland 1779 - 1922 (part 1-2)', Queensland naturalist, 3 (5) (1922), 66-70, 93-101. Details
• Fitzpatrick, Kathleen, 'Franklin, Sir John (1786-1847), rear admiral, Arctic explorer and lieutenant-governor' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 412-415. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010380b.htm. Details
• MacInnis, Peter, Curious Minds: the Discoveries of Australian Naturalists (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2012), 213 pp. Details
• McGregor, Russell, Idling in green places: a life of Alec Chisholm (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2019), 285 pp. Details
• Olsen, Penny; and Russell, Lynette, Australia's first naturalists: indigenous peoples' contribution to early zoology (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2019), 223 pp. Details
• Pybus, Cassandra, A very secret trade: the dark story of gentlemen collectors in Tasmania (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2024), 318 pp. https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Cassandra-Pybus-Very-Secret-Trade-9781761066344. Pages 146, 173. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
• Stuart, John McDouall, Explorations in Australia: the journals of John McDouall Stuart during the years 1858, 1859. 1860, 1861 & 1862, when he fixed the centre of the continent and successfully crossed it from sea to sea, edited from Mr Stuart's manuscript by William Hardman (London: Saunders, Otley and Co., 1864), 511 pp. Details