Untold lives blog

Evidently the anticipation of commuting into central London after a twelve day break caused me to forget that today is #NationalBirdDay and that I had promised the Master of Untold Lives I would write a blog.

In haste, this is less blog and more collection of some of the amazing pictures of birds we have in our manuscripts collection here at the British Library. Rather than simply posting some images and captions, I thought it might be amusing to turn them into a quiz. It’s ‘just for fun’ and the answers are at the bottom. Give yourself a point for every bird correctly named. Award yourself extra smug points and a feather in your cap if you can identify either the artist or the date to within fifty years of each image. Have fun and no tweeting (sorry).

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1. Black and white petrel. Drawn from the ship Rochester, called a ‘Pantado Bird’ in the ship’s log, May 1710, sailing on the Cape Lagallus [Cape Agulhas] to China. Pen and black ink. IOR/MAR/B/137B . 

2. Kinmodsui or mandarin duck. By Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716). Illustration for 'History of Japan' 1727. Pen and black ink. Sloane MS 3060 ff. 428-559.

3. Male sparrowhawk.  From 'Watercolour studies of birds and animals, made in 1841-42 at the Surrey Zoological Gardens and British Museum' by Charles Buckler. Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour. Add MS 36427.

4. Male Gadwall. 'Drawings in Indian ink from the Collection of Sir Joseph Banks'. Pen and black ink with monochrome wash. Before 1820. Add MS 11807.

5. A large pigeon! From 'Alice's Adventures Underground' by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Pen and black ink.
"A large pigeon had flown into her face, and was violently beating her with its wings". Add MS 46700, f. 33.

6. Jackdaw. From Edward Lear's 'Nonsense Alphabet', February 1865, pen and black ink. Add MS 47462.

7. Brahminy Kite. Called 'The Brahminy Kite of Bengal in 'Miscellaneous Drawings bequeathed by Maj Gen Thomas Hardwicke'. Probably between 1777-1823.. Pen and wash.  Add MS 10985.

8. Young Dunlin. From 'Watercolour studies of birds and animals, made in 1841-42 at the Surrey Zoological Gardens and British Museum' by Charles Buckler. Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour. Add MS 36427.

All images

Alexandra Ault

Curator, Manuscripts and Archives 1601-1850