Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots

Nature, March 27, 2003
Edward Lear, known for nonsense verse, was also an accomplished artist. A rare collection of ornithological plates in PDF format.

Library Journal, August 2003
One of the greatest examples of 19th-century zoological illustration. The product is of high quality and simple to use.

The AFA Watchbird, Third Quarter 2003
It’s a great joy to flip through the pages, turn back to a favorite, zoom in, and absorb the beauty.

The Society for the History of Natural History Newsletter, October 2003
Lear's Parrots contains the finest illustrations of the family ever produced--a stylistic monument in the depiction of birds.

University of Chicago Magazine, October 2004
Octavo editions give readers a firsthand experience of a milestone text: each includes page-by-page views, expert commentaries, and appropriate "marginalia."

Book Description
Edward Lear’s album of parrots contains the finest illustrations of the family ever produced. Lear (1812–88) turned his hand to many things in the course of his artistic and literary life—landscape painting, nonsense verse, and the illustration of birds and reptiles. His work as a natural history draftsman lasted little more than the first decade of his career, until his eyesight became too weak for the detail of feathers and scales. The Psittacidae is Edward Lear’s most remarkable achievement: he conveyed with telling sympathy the carriage of a bird, the grasp of the claws, the tilt of the head, its grave, curious, or quizzical expression. The book, first issued in parts, was drawn, lithographed, and published on a shoestring by Lear himself in a tiny edition. Commentary by Robert McCracken Peck.

From the Publisher
Imaged from the collection of the California Academy of Sciences


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