Mr & Mrs Gould. Grantlee Kieza. 2024.

On a cold spring day in 1838, John and Elizabeth Gould sailed into Australian waters, prepared for the biggest adventure of their lives. The Gould’s had crossed three oceans from their London home to fin the treasures of Australia’s wildlife and showcase them to the world.

On the rolling seas, Elizabeth had fallen pregnant with her seventh child, and there would be little rest for her in illustrating her husband’s new book. Earlier volumes had made him England’s celebrated “Bird Man” - a force of nature in science and publishing - and Elizabeth had always worked in his shadow, but perhaps with Birds of Australia she would finally receive the acclaim she deserved.

Before sailing for Australia, John Gould had studied birds from the Galápagos Islands and played an integral role in the work of fellow naturalist Charles Darwin and his controversial theory of evolution by natural selection. But Gould was determined to make his own name, and in Australia he would uncover a vast array of wildlife that would generate huge praise and profits.

Gould was the son of a poor gardener and he seized every opportunity to overcome his station, starting his professional life as a taxidermist and clawing his way to become chief “animal stuffer” for King George IV. But his fame and fortune would come from his work with exotic birds - as a publisher of beautiful books illustrated with his wife’s exquisite lithographs for lucrative audiences in Britain, Europe and America.

Birds of Australia would become a historic, landmark publication, but tragically Elizabeth didn’t live to see it, dying soon after the birth of her eighth child and devastating John Gould, who named the beautiful Gouldian Finch in her memory. In this in-depth account, bestselling author Grantlee Kieza brings the Goulds’ amours expedition to life - one which would astonish the world and cement the reputation of the driven, ambitious Bird Man and his brilliant wife forever.