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.

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

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

Ornithology.

Ornithologists.

Birds--Collection and preservation.

Birds.

Birds--Identification.

Birds--Nomenclature.

Birds--Classification.

Birds--Catalogs and collections--Great Britain.

Birds--Europe.

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

Ornithologists--Great Britain--Biography.

Great Britain.

Europe.

Genre:

Biographies.

Terminology.

Records and correspondence.

History.

Field guides.

Diaries.

Classification.

Catalogs and collections.

Biography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (341 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : color illustrations, photographs, tables

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester, [England] : Manchester University Press, 2017.

Summary:

This book explores the life of Henry Dresser (1838–1915), one of the most productive British ornithologists of the mid-late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and is largely based on previously unpublished archival material. Dresser travelled widely and spent time in Texas during the American Civil War. He built enormous collections of skins and eggs of birds from Europe, North America and Asia, which formed the basis of over 100 publications, including some of the finest bird books of the late nineteenth century. Dresser was a leading figure in scientific society and in the early bird conservation movement; his correspondence and diaries reveal the inner workings, motivations, personal relationships and rivalries that existed among the leading ornithologists.

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:

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

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

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-5261-1602-2

1-5261-3230-3

1-5261-1601-4

OCLC:

1132226854