John Gould (1804-1881) was arguably the greatest and certainly the most prolific publisher and original author of ornithological works in the world. He was born in 1804, Dorsetshire, England, and went on during his 76 year life span to be acknowledged around the world as 'The Bird Man'. From 1830 to 1881 in excess of 46 volumes of reference work were produced in colour to imperial folio size (22" x 16" or 559mm x 406mm), with supporting text.
........Together with those of John James Audubon the ornithological works of John Gould are the best known and amongst the most sought after books to appear in the Sales Rooms of Auction Houses and Antiquarian Booksellers anywhere in the world. At auction, original Goulds can fetch anything from £20,000 - £60,000 per volume depending on title and condition. The HillHouse BM(NH) series, first began in 1987, are the only authentic facsimiles of the works of John Gould. They are taken from the brilliantly coloured original copies held in the libraries of the B.M.(N.H.) in London and at Tring.
........These facsimiles are absolutely faithful to the original copies, being of the same size (Imperial Folio), and containing as they do, the original librarian's stamps and markings, as well as all notations and the occasional stains and marks, and thus are difficult to separate visually from the originals. Hence, they are of great archival value, and are in any case rare books in their own right because produced in small quantities. The first four volumes do not exceed 750 copies each, but all the later volumes are being produced to no more than 300 copies each. Each copy is hand sewn, cased-in and bound, the boards being covered in exquisite Japanese Saifu cloth, and stamped in 24 carat gold with the Crown Cipher of the B.M.(N.H.). The books are individually inspected by sight, numbered and packaged in heavy-duty specially designed corrugated cardboard export cartons. The quality control inspector at the factory then signs each box prior to export.
Already completed is the series covering the Birds of Australia (7 volumes, plus Supplement)