John Henry Gurney

A Passion for Birds

Inbunden, Engelska, 2025

AvPeter Mundy,Clive Slater,Raymond Williams

559 kr

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JohnHenry Gurney: A Passion for Birdsdetails the life of JohnHenry Gurney (1819-1890) who became a successful banker when still young. Hiswealth enabled him to indulge his passion for collecting natural historyspecimens, especially birds. A major supporter of the fledgling Norfolk andNorwich Museum, in 1853 he announced his intention to collect a series of everyspecies of bird of prey in the world, and to donate and display them in themuseum. Unfortunately, devastating events in his private and professional lifethreatened to derail his efforts. Nevertheless, he persisted in hisspecimen-collecting and ornithological studies and became a world-renownedexpert on birds of prey and the birds of southern Africa. Gurney named nearly30 bird species new to science and had several species named after him. He madesignificant and long-lasting contributions to bird identification and knowledgeof the distribution of many species. But why did he choose to collect and studybirds of prey in particular; how closely did he approach his goal and how muchdid it cost him? This book attempts to answer these questions. Published in association with the British Ornithologists' Club.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2025-09-25
Mått214 x 32 x 159 mm
Vikt1 485 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor496
FörlagJohn Beaufoy Publishing Ltd
ISBN9781913679743

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Clive A. Slater read Zoology at King's College, University of London leading to a career in environmental and public health. Thereafter he researched the history of Gurney's famous raptorial collection, which had been held for over 100 years at Norwich Castle Museum where Clive is now a Research Associate in the Natural History Department. Peter J. Mundy read Zoology at King's College, University of London before teaching in Nigeria where he began research on vultures leading to a PhD. He worked as an ornithologist at Zimbabwe National Parks for many years before being appointed a Professor at the National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Peter authored over 500 publications and was an expert on birds of prey.Raymond B. Williams read Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and his subsequent research in avian parasitology and marine zoology was awarded a PhD, an ScD and a DSc. His ongoing research includes printing and publishing in the Victorian era, and the lives of naturalists. Ray has authored over 300 publications and was awarded the Founders' Medal by the Society for the History of Natural History in 2009.

IBIS, The International Journal of Avian Science, October 2025. David Ballance "The book is an extraordinary achievement by the three dedicated authors." Fatbirder "Definitely my kind of book!" Birdwatch Magazine, November 2025 An 'immensely authoritative volume' and a 'good illuminating read'.British Birds, April 2026, Vol. 119. "This biography, now taking its place alongside recently published volumes on Henry Seebohm, Henry Dresser and William Yarrell, will go a long way towards restoring Gurney's deserved prominence amongst his peers. For students of Victorian ornithology, it will be an essential purchase." Tony Irwin, Bull B.O.C. 2026. 146 "... I really liked this book. It contains a mass of well-organised information, with something to interest everyone. While it is a great read, worth borrowing from a library, I suspect that many of us will want our own copy so we can delve into it time and time again."