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| Although widespread in continental Europe, the great bustard was extinct as a breeding species in Britain when Dresser completed his monumental work |
AN export ban has been placed by the Government - at least for the time being - on a complete 17-volume edition of ‘A History of The Birds of Europe’ by H. E. Dresser.
The books have a recommended price of £127,000 and are at risk of leaving the UK unless a domestic buyer can be found to acquire them for retention in Britain.
Yorkshire-born Henry Eeles Dresser (1838-1915) is considered to have been one of the most influential ornithologists of the late 19th century.
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| H.E. Dresser - successful businessman and ornithologist who discovered nesting waxwings in Finland |
His work was cited by the likes of John Gould in his The Birds of Great Britain, and he published major articles on the subject of ornithology that helped progress the study of the behaviour of birds as a science.
Dresser used many leading bird illustrators to create the lithographic plates for the imagery that would accompany his text within these volumes.
This particular set was Dresser’s private and unique copy which he had specially printed for himself.
They include the artists' original colour proofs which were used to produce all other published copies of the volumes.
The temporary export ban decision follows advice submitted to the Department of Culture and Media of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.
Says committee member Mark Hallett: "This remarkable private edition of H. E. Dresser’s celebrated A History of the Birds of Europe offers a rich research resource for all those interested in the history of ornithology and in the visual representation of birdlife in 19th Century Britain.
"Published for the author, and featuring numerous written annotations by Dresser himself, this series of seventeen volumes is further distinguished by the hundreds of original, hand-coloured plates that illustrate his text, produced by some of the leading wildlife artists of the day.
"If saved for the UK, this unique set of volumes would not only serve as a scholarly treasure-trove in its own right, it would also provide the perfect complement to the major Dresser archive of ornithological specimens held at the Manchester Museum."
The decision on the export licence application for the volumes will be deferred for a period ending on September 18 this year.
At the end of the first deferral period owners will have a consideration period of 15 Business Days to consider any offer(s) to purchase the volumes at the recommended price of £127,000.
The second deferral period will commence following the signing of an Option Agreement and will last for three months.
Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the volumes should contact the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest on 02072680534 or rcewa@artscouncil.org.uk.
Dresser was born in Thirsk, Yorkshire, where his father was the manager of the bank set up by his grandfather.
Dresser's father left Thirsk in 1840–41 to become a bank manager in Leeds before moving south to set up business as a commission merchant in the Baltic timber business in London in 1846.
Dresser, who went to school in Bromley, Kent, had a lifelong interest in birds and collected bird skins and eggs from his early teenage years.
While in Finland in 1858 he discovered breeding waxwings and was the first Englishman to collect their eggs.
This brought him fame amongst English ornithologists, most of whom were egg and skin collectors.
Through the 1860s, Dresser travelled widely through Europe where he sought out like-mnded ornithologists with whom he could exchange birds and eggs.
He visited, for instance, Heligoland, where he met Heinrich Gätke, of whom he would write an obituary in The Zoologist in 1897.
Dresser had privileged access to the notes of many of the most prominent ornithologists, such as Russian Sergei Buturlin, who discovered the main breeding grounds of Ross's gull in 1905 in the delta of the Kolyma River in remote north-east Siberia.
In 1863, during the American Civil War, he travelled to Texas via the Rio Grande on behalf of Liverpool and Manchester businessmen, taking a cargo of blankets, quinine and other goods in short supply to be sold and purchased raw cotton with the proceeds.
During his time in Texas from June 1863 to July 1864 Dresser made a collection of around 400 bird skins from southern Texas.
His notes from his time in Texas, published in The Ibis (1865–66) are a leading source of information for the period and include mention of several interesting birds including the extinct (or almost extinct) ivory-billed woodpecker, the almost extinct Eskimo curlew and the endangered whooping crane.
Dresser was heavily involved with the early Society for the Protection of Birds (which developed to become the RSPB).
In spite of his prominence as an ornithologist, this activity came second to his business which, from 1870 until 1910, was in the iron industry, with premises at 110 Cannon Street in London.
Dresser left England to live in Cannes for the benefit of his health, He died in Monte Carlo on 28 November 1915.
His collection of birds - along with some of his correspondence and diaries - is held in the Manchester Museum, part of The University of Manchester.
The identity of the current owner of the 17 Dresser volumes is not known - nor the potential overseas purchaser.
The Wryneck says: It would be a shame if this ornithological masterwork ended up in the hands of a wealthy collector in another part of the world. With pressure on finances tight, many UK academic institutions might find it hard to justify an outlay of £127,000. But it would be small beer for a wealthy charity such as the RSPB. The obvious place for the books is within the library of its HQ at The Lodge.
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| Wallcreepers in the Alps |
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