Print: John Gould Ornithological, Paradise Parrots "Birds of Australia", Hand-Colored, NOS, Vintage 1960s

This is a plate from John Gould's landmark Birds of Australia — the last confirmed sighting of the Paradise Parrot was in eastern Australia in 1927, and this print is all that remains of what it looked like.

• Maker: John Gould (publisher); plate by Henry Constantine Richter
• Materials: Card stock
• Dimensions: 12" × 9" (portrait)
• Origin: USA
• Era: Vintage, 1950s–1960s
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS), excellent — very slight age toning; no folds or damaged corners. Unframed. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.

Marked "Litho in U.S.A., GLCO, Beautiful Parakeets" on the print. This plate depicts the Paradise Parrot — Psephotus pulcherrimus, Latin for "multicoloured and superlatively beautiful" — a species native to eastern Australia now extinct, last confirmed sighted in 1927. Produced by Goes Lithography Company (GLCO) of Chicago from Gould's original 1840–1848 publication. New Old Stock, never used. Six available.

Suitable for framing; we recommend framing to preserve it — a wonderful piece for a bird art collector, a John Gould enthusiast, a lover of natural history illustration, or anyone who wants a piece of genuine ornithological history — and a portrait of a bird that no longer exists — on their wall.

John Gould published The Birds of Australia between 1840 and 1848, a seven-volume, 600-plate comprehensive illustrated account that remains one of the great ornithological publications of all time. While Gould wrote the monographs, much of the illustration was done by his wife Elizabeth Gould and by artists including Edward Lear and H.C. Richter, who produced this particular plate. Gould is considered the father of bird study in Australia; the Gould League there is named in his honor. In the 1950s and 1960s, Goes Lithography Company of Chicago — founded 1879, operating until 2019 — reproduced Gould's plates as advertisement prints for calendars, thermometers, postcards, and promotional pieces.

Browse our shop for more vintage ornithological and natural history prints to round out your collection.