Professor Christopher Pressler, University Librarian and Director of The John Rylands Library, writes: Henry Eeles Dresser (1838-1915) was one of the most significant and influential ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries – a producer of beautiful books which combined new scientific information with masterpieces of bird illustration, and a leading figure in scientific society. A History of the Birds of Europe is widely regarded as his most important work – ‘a monument of the industry and accuracy of the author’, according to his obituary in the British Ornithologist Union’s Ibis.
This set of volumes is Dresser’s unique author’s copy and includes the original, hand-coloured plates that were used as colour masters for the lithographs that were eventually published and sold by subscription. They also contain inserted drawings and manuscript annotations pertaining to colouring, composition and background, and additional plates that were never released. Dresser was not an artist himself, rather a commissioner, and his attention to detail, relationships with artists and innovative approaches to printmaking play out in the margins. The artists featured – including John Gerrard Keulemans, Joseph Wolf, Archibald Thorburn and Edward Neale – are a who’s who of notable scientific illustrators of the time.
This remarkable author’s copy of A History of the Birds of Europe raises awareness of the impact and legacies of Dresser’s work; provides unique insight into the creative and scientific processes behind the publication itself; and offers a rich resource for the history of ornithology, the visual representation of birdlife, and publishing in 19th-century Britain. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest declared the volumes a national treasure for their outstanding significance to the study of book publishing and printing technique, as well as ornithological representation, illustration and annotation. The multifaceted nature of the volumes’ significance has helped to secure support from Art Fund and the ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund – alongside the vital contribution from the Friends of the Nations’ Libraries – to save them for the country.
The significance of the volumes becomes all the greater in combination with the collections already cared for by Manchester Museum and The John Rylands Library, both cultural institutions of The University of Manchester. The John Rylands Library Special Collections hold an outstanding collection of natural history and ornithology printed works, a highlight of which is a complete and uniformly-bound set of the publications of John Gould – arguably the greatest illustrator of birds in the 19thcentury. The Library also possesses one of the subscription copies of A History of the Birds of Europe and a unique album of letters and photographs compiled by Dresser which lays out the international social and scientific networks of which he was part.
Manchester Museum is the leading repository of Dresser’s collection of ornithological specimens – one of the finest in Britain. These holdings comprise around 7,600 bird-skins and 3,000 eggs acquired between 1899–1913. Crucially, these collections offer a unique primary source for much of the artwork of A History of the Birds of Europe. Illustrations were based on study skins (as opposed to live birds) – in all, 10,367 were studied, almost half (4,385) taken from Dresser’s own collection now held at Manchester. The Museum also holds various of Dresser’s papers, including a letter book dating from 1871-73, containing correspondence dealing with the administration of A History of the Birds of Europe.
Uniting Henry Dresser’s personal copy of A History of the Birds or Europe with the complementary collections and expertise of the John Rylands Library and Manchester Museum creates huge public engagement potential and consolidates The University of Manchester as the pre-eminent place for scholarly research into Dresser, his methods and networks, whilst permanently safeguarding the future of this outstanding work for the nation.