An Online Restoration of John Gould’s “A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds”

Nicholas Rougeux has created an incredibly detailed and impressive online reproduction of John Gould’s A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds.

I’m in awe of both the original work, as well as it’s current manifestation. The original work is now in the public domain, but Rougeux has published the restored illustrations under a CC0 1.0 Universal license – meaning, folks can use those illustrations without any restrictions.

What an impressive amount of work, and what an amazing project. Rougeux strikes me as that rare individual who has both design and coding chops, and is actually good in both disciplines. A lovely, lovely site.

A fun note: the main image on the home page of all the hummingbirds is named murmuration.jpg.

I was reminded of my friend Ian’s phenomenal book: Abecedary – Group Names of Birds and Beasts. Something you should check out, if you haven’t already.

[via MetaFilter]

Related:
Backyard Hummingbird
Nearby Hummingbird
Ian Rogers: Abecedary – Group Names of Birds and Beasts
Blanchard Springs Caverns