Gould, Australia - Grey-headed Vampire Bat or Flying Fox

Gould, Australia - Grey-headed Vampire Bat or Flying Fox
This remarkable, originally hand-colored folio lithograph is from John Gould's The Mammals of Australia. The work was published in London for Gould by Taylor and Francis between 1845 and 1863. The lithographs from the work were predominantly completed by John Gould and H. C. Richter with the hairy-nosed wombat done by J. M. Wolf.

This work was Gould's only serious artistic endeavor outside the world of birds. The accuracy and beauty of the coloring and images make the the work is still highly regarded today. It represents one of the first concerted efforts to record the extraordinary fauna of Australia. Many of the species were depicted for the first time in his work, and twenty of the animals depicted are now extinct.

Gould remarked in the preface, "It was not until I arrived in the country (Australia) and found myself surrounded by objects as strange as if I had been transported to another planet, that I conceived the idea of devoting a portion of my attention to the mammalian class of its extraordinary fauna." (Gould, Preface)

John Gould created nearly 3000 hand-colored plates of animals in his extensive career. Gould gained much of his knowledge by observation and experience and contributed greatly to scientific knowledge at the time. Gould is believed to have done the original sketches for all of his plates. Even at the time of publication, Gould’s plates were very expensive and only sold to a small set of subscribers. Due to the limited subscriber list, the plates remain rare and of high value for collectors today.


Paper Size: ~ 14 1/4" by 23"


Paper Type or Special Features: Originally Hand-colored Lithograph

The work is in good to excellent condition overall. There may be a few minor imperfections, foxing, or text offset which can be common to Gould's works and to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.