Keulemans' Onze Vogel - Three Volumes with 200 Originally Hand-colored Lithographs

Artist or Author: John Gerard Keulemans

Work: Onze Vogels in Huis en Tuin

Date of Publication: 1869-1876

Style: Three Volumes with 200 Originally Hand-colored Lithographs

Paper Size: ~ 10 3/4 by 7 1/8"

Condition: The work is in good to excellent condition overall. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.

Description of the work: This rare three volume work with 200 originally hand-colored lithographs is John Gerrard Keulemans' Onze Vogels in Huis en Tuin, or Eleven Birds in House and Garden. It was published in Leiden, Netherlands, from 1869 to 1876 by P. W. M. Trap. There were 500 copies of this work ever published.

The three volumes are bound in dark green morocco with gilt details and lettering and 5 raised bands contained in a dark green box. There are 200 originally hand-colored bird lithographs. Keulemans created the original drawings and lithographed outlines, with Trap completing the lithography. Some speculate that Keulemans colored the plates by hand himself - "A collection of colored prints of various birds by a celebrated artist. Keulemans not only lithographed the original outlines but afterwards colored them by hand." (Wood 416) Though there is some debate on that as Keulemans had Trap color his plates on another project as well.

John Gerrard Keulemans (1842-1912) is one of the most respected bird artists whose images were noted for their fine detail. He contributed to some of the best known ornithological works including those of Elliot, Buller, Dresser, and The Ibis. According to Jackson (Bird Illustrators, p. 90) “The great value of Keulemans' work as an ornithological draughtsman lay in his sureness of design of the plate and his accuracy in portraying the birds themselves. The bird figures were carefully drawn and executed down to the last scales on the feet. The feathering was neatly delineated with the different plumes receiving sympathetic treatment.”

Provenance: Owned by Professor William Gardner Hale, top British authority on wading birds