Bibliograph

Seen but not heard, Lilian Medland's birds, Christobel Mattingley

Type

Label

Seen but not heard, Lilian Medland's birds, Christobel Mattingley

Language

eng

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

resource.governmentPublication

federal national government publication

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Seen but not heard

Responsibility statement

Christobel Mattingley

Series statement

Portfolio series

Sub title

Lilian Medland's birds

Summary

From a young age, Lilian Medland (1880-1955) was always sketching. At 16, while she was doing her nursing training at Guy's Hospital in London, her drawing talent was noticed by leading surgeon Charles Stonham, a keen ornithologist, who invited her to illustrate a book he was compiling - The Birds of the British Islands. So began her second - a lifelong - career. However, due to world events and circumstances, five other books on birds containing her illustrations were never published. After marriage in 1923 to Tom Iredale, Medland migrated with him to Australia and, in the 1930s, she provided 53 watercolour plates for a handbook of Australian birds by ornithologist and collector Gregory Mathews. But, with the advent of the Second World War, this handbook was never published. Eventually, Mathews donated Medland's plates of birds to the National Library of Australia. Here, for the first time, all 53 plates have been published. Seen but Not Heard features an introduction by award-winning author Christobel Mattingley to the artist's life, followed by her exquisite depictions of Australian birds. Lilian Medland has finally received the recognition that she deserves as an ornithological illustrator

Target audience

adult

Classification