Item PZ 53.4 Watercolour and pencil illustration - The Green and Golden Bell-frog, Ranoidea aurea, by Arthur Bartholomew, 11 June 1861

Summary

These watercolour illustrations of a Southern Bell Frog, Litoria raniformis, by Arthur Bartholomew were commissioned by Sir Frederick McCoy, the first Director of the National Museum of Victoria for published Plate 53 in his Prodromus project. McCoy misidentified this species as Ranoidea aurea, (now Litoria aurea), which is known from eastern Victoria, New South Wales and southern Queensland.

Many of the oriignal illustrations in the collection informed the production of the two volume work Natural history of Victoria : Prodromus of the zoology of Victoria, or, figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victorian indigenous animals, the Museum's first major publication from 1878. At the University of Melbourne, McCoy would bring specimens to the laboratory adjacent to his lecture room where they were raised, tended to and illustrated by his assistant, Arthur Bartholomew. Bartholomew, an exceptional natural history illustrator, had the ability to accurately depict the diagnostic characters of each species, thus creating life-like illustrations.

The Prodromus project followed a popular formula of the time, seeking to identify and classify the natural wonders of the 'new world'. Such publications reached a peak in popularity with the work of John Gould in England and the earlier work of James Audobon in America. In Australia, many professional and amateur publications, including Aldine's systematic studies of the colonies and Louise Anne Meredith's Bush Friends From Tasmania, contributed to the genre. The publication of the Prodromus was an enormous undertaking, utilising the work of numerous artists, collectors, lithographers and publishers, over an extended period of time. McCoy died without completing his systematic study, but even at the time few believed that 'any of us will live to witness the completion of the work, if the entire Fauna of Victoria is to be illustrated.' Although costly in both financial and professional terms, it was met with critical acclaim and wide popular support. Financial battles were waged and lost by McCoy, but ultimately the Prodromus has stood the test of time and remains one of Museum Victoria's finest publications.

Description of Content

Growling Grass Frog, Litoria raniformis (Keferstein) by Arthur Bartholomew. Illustration - pencil, watercolour, ink and varnish on paper, 21cm x 28cm, D118, for Plate 53 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria by Frederick McCoy. McCoy misidentified this species as Ranoidea aurea (now Litoria aurea).