“A feast of beauty and a source of wonder” was the phrase used by Sacheverell Sitwell, Handasyde Buchanan, and James Fisher to describe the images in ornithologist and artist John Gould’s A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds.* It seems there are few who would disagree with this statement, as a five volume set plus supplement sold at Christie’s Auction House in 2011 for $217,845.

Published in parts between 1849-1861, over 480 species of humming birds were described within this title. The work represents extreme attention to detail, down to the use of pure gold leaf under transparent oil colors to recreate the iridescent nature of a humming bird’s feathers.

A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds is considered Gould’s masterpiece. It was originally issued in 30 parts (the final three finished by R. Bowdler Sharpe after Gould’s death). Many of the humming birds depicted are from Gould’s own collection – a collection that went on exhibit at the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park in 1851.

Considered the “father of bird study in Australia,” Gould assisted Charles Darwin in identifying the finches he had collected on his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. Throughout his professional life, Gould maintained a strong interest in hummingbirds, though it was not until May, 1857 – nearly 30 years after he began his ornithological career – that Gould saw his first live hummingbird on a visit to Philadelphia.

The illustrations within this work are positively breathtaking. We’ve prepared a slideshow of them for you below. You can find the illustrations from volumes 1 in our Flickr account. Enjoy images from all five volumes without emptying your pocketbook by visiting BHL.

*Quote from Fine Bird Books, by Sacheverell Sitwell, Handasyde Buchanan, and James Fisher

“These birds are supposed to be seen only before stormy weather, and therefore are not welcome visitors to sailors, who call them Devil’s birds, witches, and Mother Carey’s chickens – the last name said to have been originally bestowed upon them by Captain Carteret’s sailors, probably from some celebrated ideal hag of that name.”

However, the author points out that Hawksworth has a different story to tell. On his authority, Philip Carteret, Esquire, Commander of His Majesty’s sloop the “Swallow,” wrote in his journal, “We also saw a great many Pintado birds, which are prettily spotted with black and white, and constantly on the wing, though they frequently appear as if they were walking upon the water, like Peterels, to which sailors have given the name of Mother Carey’s chickens.”

As the author relates, here Carteret speaks of this nickname as though it is “familiar to them and current in his time.” Encountering such inconsistencies and dead ends, the author finished with, “Not being able to trace the pedigree of ‘Mother Carey,’ the only thing to be done is to have an illustration of herself and her work, with her brood around her.” Indeed, our own research into the subject yielded very few additional discoveries.

We did find that Mother Carey is a supernatural figure that “personif[ied] the cruel and threatening sea” in the same way that Davy Jones does. Indeed, some assert that she is his wife. According to myth, she and Davy Jones are responsible for shipwrecks. Some claim that her name is a derivation of the latin name Mater cara, meaning “Precious Mother,” but there is no concrete evidence to support this. When and where the name was first used in relation to storm-petrels, no one seems to know.

But, perhaps this enigma makes the phrase, and the corresponding illustration, all the more interesting! True, we cannot tell you why or when Mother Carey came into the picture, but we can still enjoy these little nuggets of fascinating art and contextual tidbits that we uncover in BHL. So, for your enjoyment, ladies and gentlemen, Mother Carey and her Chickens, as featured in v. 2 of Ornithological Miscellany!

This week’s book of the week, v. 2 of Ornithological Miscellany, was contributed by the Smithsonian Institution. Love the illustrations and want to see all of them (lots of lovely birds illustrations in addition to witches!) from all volumes of Ornithological Miscellany? Then visit our Flickr site and see the collection on this week’s book of the week!

Flickr: v. 1
Flickr: v. 2
Flickr: v. 3

“The opportunity [the expedition] gave Fuertes for life studies of African birds was varied and unusual. Theretofore engaged solely in painting American birds, he found tremendous enthusiasm in a new field and plunged into it with joyous abandon and tireless energy…The painting was in almost all cases done in the tent, the artist sitting on his sleeping cot and his materials and specimens scattered about him.”

Fuertes produced 108 painting and sketches for the expedition. After his death, Mr. C. Suydam Cutting purchased these works and gave them to the Field Museum. As Osgood wrote,

“The great popularity and the prominence of Mr. Fuertes as the leading American painter of birds, together with the opinion freely expressed that these final studies represented the height of his power, brought a demand for their reproduction in some form that would make them available to a wide circle.”

Thus came our book of the week, which presents 32 of these paintings “reproduced by offset lithography.” We’ve featured only a few of these in our post today. We invite you to take some time to look at the rest, and visit John Pittman’s blog for more illustrations and information. We send out a special thanks to Mr. Pittman for inspiring this book of the week and providing us with such valuable additional information. There’s no limit to the things you can learn via social media conversations!