Sharpe’s Birds of Paradise

"With their extravagant, sweeping plumage and glorious iridescent colours, birds of paradise appear almost mythical: indeed it was once thought that they lived entirely in the air, only falling to the ground when they died. Their plumes have been exchanged as currency and worn in sovereigns’ crowns, and they played a part in helping Darwin, together with A . R. Wallace, formulate his theory of evolution. At the end of the 19th century, Richard Bowdler Sharpe published his Monograph of the Paradiseidae and Ptilonorhynchidae. Dedicated entirely to birds of paradise and bower-birds, it is one of the greatest bird books and, for many, the most beautiful ever created."

BOWDLER-SHARPE, Richard. Sharpe’s Birds of Paradise. London: The Folio Society, 2011. Limited, Numbered Edition.  

2 vols, as follows: 

[1] Monograph of the Paradiseidae of Birds of Paradise and Ptilonorhynchidae or Bower-birds, by R. Bowdler Sharpe . . . the plates, with a foreword by David Attenborough. 549 × 378 × 36 mm. [86] leaves. Photographed by James Robinson and reprographics by Dot Gradations. Printed by Firmengruppe APPL. Bound by Beltz in quarter dark green Nigerian goatskin leather. Dark green canvas boards blocked in red and gold with design by Neil Gower. Gilded top edge. Pale green endleaves. This edition has been reproduced from a copy held at The John Rylands Library, University of Manchester. Leaf preceding title-page reads in part ‘The edition is limited to one thousand numbered copies for sale to members of The Folio Society, and twenty lettered copies which are not for sale’. Dark green canvas slip case blocked in gold with titling decoration. First published by Henry Sotheran & Co. between 1891 and 1898.

[2] Birds of Paradise, Monograph of the Paradiseidae, or Birds of Paradise, and Ptilonorhynchidae, or Bower-birds, by Richard Bowdler-Sharpe, the text, introduced by Errol Fuller. 239 × 162 × 30 mm. Pp. [1–4] 5–288. Type: Bodoni. Printed and bound by Beltz in full dark green canvas with paper label on front board; green endleaves. Green slip case. Includes an appendix that was printed in 1898.

Condition

The main volume is in beautiful near-fine condition, the binding square and firm, with pages clean throughout. A previous owner—evidently a bird enthusiast—has lightly pencilled plate numbers (in increments of five) to the List of Plates, and numbered each plate at the upper right corner; they have also produced a helpful printed list correlating the English bird names with the plate titles, which will accompany the volume and be tucked inside. These pencil markings could be removed without trace, but are rather useful, and have therefore been retained; they are visible in the photographs. The accompanying commentary volume is in similarly near-fine condition, with no notable faults. Both volumes are housed in their matching slipcases, which show light shelf wear but remain otherwise near-fine and structurally sound.

About this production

All 79 plates from Sharpe’s Birds of Paradise are reproduced here for the first time in book form and at their true, original size, with a foreword by David Attenborough. The original text, in a separate commentary volume, is introduced by Errol Fuller.  

The 19th century saw a rapid evolution in the publication of natural history books. Magnificent large-scale tomes, sumptuously bound and illustrated with hand-coloured plates, celebrated all the latest discoveries of exotic birds and animals around the world. Richard Bowdler Sharpe was Assistant Keeper of the British Museum’s Zoology Department, and had collaborated with John Gould on The Birds of New Guinea. Following Gould’s death in 1881, Sharpe set out to create an entirely new work dedicated entirely to birds of paradise and to bower-birds, then thought to be related to birds of paradise.

A triumph of art and ornithology. Sharpe chose John Gerrard Keulemans and William Matthew Hart as the artists for the project. Both were specialists in the subject; many of Keulemans’s works can still be found on display in the American Museum of Natural History. Once printed, the plates were coloured in by hand, a laborious and skilled process. Three of Sharpe’s daughters were colourists who had worked on other ornithological books, and it is possible that they contributed to their father’s masterpiece. Certainly the hand-colouring is of a quality and sophistication that mark the culmination of a great tradition, evincing skills that modern practitioners find impossible to match. 

Sharpe’s original text in a separate commentary volume. Painter and naturalist Errol Fuller is the foremost authority on Sharpe. In his introduction to the commentary volume he explores the historical context of Sharpe’s project, noting how Sharpe chose ‘the perfect group of birds – spectacular in every way – to bring about a grand finale to a glorious episode in publishing history.’

"The Folio Society has produced a truly remarkable edition of one of the greatest of all bird books. Birds of paradise are among the most spectacular and colourful creatures on earth, and this book displays them in all their extraordinary beauty and variety." (David Attenborough)