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SHARPE, Richard Bowdler (1847-1909)
Astrarchia Stephane [Princess Stephanie Bird of Paradise]
London: Taylor & Francis for Henry Sotheran & Co., 1891-98. Hand-coloured lithograph by William Hart, printed by Mintern Brothers. Very good condition. Sheet size: 21 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches.
A beautiful print from Sharpe's 'Monograph of the Paradiseidae, or Birds of Paradise, and Ptilonorhynchidae, or Bower Birds'.
Sharpe's work on the most spectacular of all bird families depicts the birds of paradise in all their glowing splendor, whilst the bower birds are pictured with their elaborately constructed "bowers", surrounded by the shells, bones and other small found objects with which they decorate the bower thresholds in an instinctive attempt to provide the finest backdrop to their highly elaborate courtship displays.
R. Bowdler Sharpe was John Gould's assistant for many years and was the only man knowledgeable enough and sufficiently attuned to the famous ornithologist's vision to complete several of his works.
Sharpe's comments in his monograph strike a chord with contemporary feelings on the preservation of endangered species. Writing of the then current fashion for decorating women's hats with the feathers of rare Birds of Paradise, he concludes 'What will be said in the future by the civilized world and its scientific investigators when they find that we had the chance of learning the habits of these extraordinary birds, and allowed them to pass out of existence for the adornment of our women-folk, with scarcely a word of protest'.
Fine Bird Books (1990) p.142; Nissen IVB 865; Whittel p.663; Wood p.565; Zimmer p.581.
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#4728 $2,400.00 
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Copyright © 2002-2010 Donald A. Heald
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