Book Review
The Mammals of Australia
Incorporating the 3 original volumes. John Gould 1983. Macmillan Australia
John Gould, the great English naturalist, artist and businessman, made a unique contribution to the delineation and understanding of the Australian fauna when, in the mid-nineteenth century, he completed his three-volume work, The Mammals of Australia. This edition combines the original three volumes on mammals. The first of these deals with the Australian monotremes or egg-laying mammals and some of the marsupial groups; the kangaroos occupy the second volume; the placental mammals are located in the third. John Gould’s text has been augmented with modern notes by Joan M Dixon, Curator of Mammals at the National Museum of Victoria.
The Gould plates were originally produced from rough sketches which were carried out in the field and then transferred to lithographic stone and later painstakingly coloured by hand. This work with more than 150 colour plates is a magnificent collectors’ volume for lovers of Gouldian art and those interested in zoology.
The Mammals of Australia is part of the Reference Collection and cannot be borrowed but can be viewed at the Environment Centre.