Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations and tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Conventions
- Introduction
- 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
- References
- Bibliography of Henry Dresser
- Index of birds
- General index
13 - The grand finale: producing Eggs of the Birds of Europe
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 January 2026
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations and tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Conventions
- Introduction
- 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
- References
- Bibliography of Henry Dresser
- Index of birds
- General index
Summary
Henry Dresser issued a prospectus for Eggs of the Birds of Europe early in 1904. This book was the crowning glory of Dresser's career, complementing A History of the Birds of Europe and his popular Manual of Palaearctic Birds. Through the project, Dresser had been part of the machinery that brought amazing disiies to a scientific readership. The book received excellent reviews in the Ibis, notably on the 'great mass of new information on the range of many species' provided by Sergei Buturlin, and the high quality of the plates. While Dresser's book on eggs was underway, A History of the Birds of Europe had a new lease of life as J. Lewis Bonhote used some of the plates for his Birds of Britain. Through his book, he took Dresser's plates to a much wider audience.
Information
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- Chapter
- Information
- Henry Dresser and Victorian ornithologyBirds, books and business, pp. 218 - 231Publisher: Manchester University PressFirst published in: 2026
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