This chapter explores the range of work and practices involved in producing A History of the Birds of Europe, one of the most ambitious bird books of the late nineteenth century. The book secured Henry Dresser's place in the canon of ornithology and helped with his steady climb within scientific society. Each part of the book consisted of articles and plates on individual species of different types of bird. Dresser asked Joseph Wolf to develop a motif for the title pages, showing an anthropomorphised Eurasian Eagle-Owl holding a lantern, shining the light for small birds which flit around the owl, standing inside a large 'D' for Dresser. The production of A History of the Birds of Europe involved the detailed examination of 10,637 bird specimens (mostly by Dresser, although some would have been examined by Sharpe when he was working on the project).