John and Elizabeth Gould

Superb Craspedophora Magnifica Bird lithographed by the ornithologists Gould

1875-1888

Elizabeth was born on July 18th, 1804 in Ramsgate, England to a military family. She likely underwent training in drawing and botany from an early age as was typical of a woman of her class in Victorian England. She met John Gould through her brother, Charles Coxen, who was also a taxidermist. She married John Gould in January 1829, both 24 years old. Gould began her professional work-life by producing ornithological drawings intended to supplement John's ornithological writing in letters to colleagues. John encouraged her to learn lithography and had his collaborator Edward Lear teach her. Once proficient with the art form, she created illustrations from John's more rudimentary drawings. She designed, lithographed and painted more than 650 plates that appeared in A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains, The Birds of Europe, A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and many other texts.