Henry Dresser and Victorian ornithology : birds, books and business / Henry A. McGhie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGhie, Henry A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dresser, H. E. (Henry Eeles), 1838-1915--Correspondence.

Dresser, H. E.

Dresser, H. E. (Henry Eeles), 1838-1915--Diaries.

Dresser, H. E. (Henry Eeles), 1838-1915.

Ornithologists--Great Britain--Biography.

Ornithologists.

Ornithology--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Ornithology.

Birds--Europe.

Birds.

Birds--Catalogs and collections--Great Britain.

Birds--Collection and preservation.

Birds--Classification.

History.

Great Britain.

Europe.

Birds--Nomenclature.

Birds--Identification.

Genre:

Classification.

Biographies.

Catalogs and collections.

Diaries.

Field guides.

History.

Records and correspondence.

Terminology.

Correspondence.

Personal correspondence.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 341 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Henry Dresser (1838-1915) was one of the most successful and influential ornithologists of the Victorian era, described by one contemporary as 'quite a character in an age of individualism'. A wealthy businessman and natural history collector, Dresser travelled widely on business in Europe, Canada, the United States and Mexico, before settling down to work in London in the timber and iron trades. He built enormous collections of bird skins and eggs from Europe, the Arctic, North American and Asia, which he sourced from famous travellers and collectors at the forefront of scientific exploration, as well as his own travels. These collections formed the basis of over 100 publications on birds, including some of the finest of the great bird books of the late nineteenth century, combining cutting-edge scientific information with masterpieces of bird illustration. Henry Dresser and Victorian ornithology is based on a wealth of previously unpublished letters, diaries and photographs in museums and archives in the UK, US, Canada and Russia. These are used to provide the first detailed biography of any of the independent industrialist-naturalists who were integral in shaping nineteenth-century British ornithology. It explores his friendships - and disagreements - with his fellow ornithologists, and also tells the extraordinary story of the fourteen months he spent in Texas and Mexico during the American Civil War. Dresser played a key role in scientific society at the time of great transformation, and helped to establish the first bird conservation laws in Britain. Book jacket.

Contents:

1. Family background and early life

2. Texas : the big adventure

3. Settling down to business

4. Early exploits in ornithological society

5. Collecting

6. Discovering the birds of Europe. I

7. Discovering the birds of Europe. II

8. Making The birds of Europe

9. A central figure : society life in the 1870s

10. The 1880s : the rise of rivalry

11. The 1890s : the continuing rise of the British Museum (Natural History)

12. Working independently, 1900-5

13. The grand finale : producing Eggs of the birds of Europe

14. Time for a change

15. Legacies

Appendix 1. Birds mentioned in the text

Appendix 2. Birds named by Henry Dresser

Appendix 3. Birds named after Henry Dresser

Appendix 4. Publications based on Henry Dresser's collections, 1985-2017.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-318) and indexes.

"Bibliography of Henry Dresser": pages 319-327.

ISBN:

9781784994136

1784994138

OCLC:

982093066