Item LIB 63437 Rare Book - J.J. Halley, 'A monograph of the Psittacidae, or parrot family of Australia', Ballarat, published by the author and the artist, 1871

Summary

'A monograph of the Psittacidae' was written by reverend and naturalist Jacob John Halley (1834-1910). It was originally intended as a larger work on Australian parrots, however, only one part was ever published due to a lack of subscribers. The chromolithographic plates were made after original drawings by James Whitley Sayer (1847-1914) and Richard Laishley (1816-1897).

Halley was born in London and migrated to Australia in 1855, where he became a Congregational minister after a brief business career. While ministering in the Lower Darling region of New South Wales in the early 1860s he went on field trips with his naturalist friend Price Fletcher. He became reverend at Ballarat in 1864 and lived there until he moved to Williamstown in 1872. Although mainly focused on his religious activities, Halley also had an interest in natural history, serving as President of Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria 1885-1887.

James Whitley Sayer was born in 1847 in Cornwall, England, and migrated to Australia in 1857. His father, Reverand Sayer, became the minister at Dunolly, near Ballarat in Victoria. There, the young Sayer met Halley and made original drawings for 'A monograph of the Psittacidae'. At this time, he was yet to embark on any formal artistic training, although he had already displayed three pastel drawings at the Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition of 1866.

Sayer went on to study at the New South Wales Academy of Art and became the treasurer and later secretary of the Art Society of New South Wales (1883-1887), exhibiting works in the society's annual exhibitions. He also exhibited work in the Intercolonial Exhibitions in Sydney and Melbourne in 1879-1880. Sayer was an active participant and leader of Geelong's cultural activities throughout the 1890s and campaigned for many years for the establishment of the Geelong Art Gallery.

Richard Laishley was born in 1816 in Southampton, England and studied painting and engraving in London before becoming a Congregational minister. He was appointed by the Congregational Missionary Society to travel first to New Zealand (1860-1868) and then Australia (1868-1874). Laishley lived in Melbourne while Halley was working on 'A Monograph of the Psittacidae or Parrot Family of Australia' in Ballarat. Presumably Halley, Sayer and Laishley met through their involvement in the church. Like Halley, Laishley had a life-long interest in natural history.

In 1858, while still living in England, Laishley authored and illustrated 'A Popular History of British Birds' Eggs'. Though there is only one completed lithograph of Laishley's in Halley's book, Laishley exhibited multiple lithographic illustrations for the book at the Sydney Intercolonial Exhibition of 1870. Laishley returned to New Zealand in 1874, where he worked on a manuscript and illustrations for a book on New Zealand's natural history which never saw publication.

'A monograph of the Psittacidae' was printed by James Curtis in Ballarat. Halley and Sayer were the primary publishers of the work, however there are several additional publishers listed on the title page, including H. T. Dwight of Melbourne, James Mirams of Collingwood, Walch Bros of Hobart and Launceston and Birchall and Thrübner [Trübner] & Co of London, most of whom also had ties to the Congregational church. The first and only part sold for 8 shillings and sixpence.

The illustrations are chromolithographs printed by Hamel & Ferguson of Melbourne. Chromolithography had recently been introduced to Victoria by Nicholas Chevalier in 1865. Rather unusually for a scientific publication, the 'Great Sulphur Crested Cockatoo' is depicted in a domestic setting. Halley writes 'Cockatoos are very easily tamed, and seem to possess some degree of affection. They delight to sit on the back of one's chair, or on the shoulder, and will climb up a lady's dress and nestle in her neck and bosom, and with their strong beaks take a gentle kiss.'

Physical Description

Quarter-bound brown leather binding, 38cm. Contains 3 chromolithographic plates and 12 pages of letterpress, with the introduction numbered viii-x and the main text numbered 2-8.

Significance

'A monograph of the Psittacidae, or parrot family of Australia' is an interesting example of local natural history publishing in the 19th century. In this period most Australian scientific literature was published in England, although there was some local publishing by scientific societies and the government printer.

The work is very rare, with only a small number of copies of this work ever printed due to financial constraints. Of these only a handful exist today, with five copies in public collections (1 copy at Museums Victoria, 3 copies at State Library of Victoria amd 1 copy at the State Library of New South Wales.)