Saturday, March 13, 2010

Dear John Gould(Dress 13)

Dearest John Gould,
I first experienced your research into birds when friends of the family, emptying out a warehouse they'd just bought, came upon a tattered, watermarked copy of your 'Birds of Australia' (I'm not sure which volume)
(Image credit: National Library of Australia Archives.)
The pages were stuck together and yellowed with age, but I remember gazing with some awe at the faded drawings (meticulous and strangely pretty- your wife's hand.). Today's dress would be printed with a pattern borrowed from those same meticulous drawings: perhaps a tawny frogmouth?

-Black heavy cotton, with a printed fine mesh back/capelet/ruff (all one piece.)-
All my love,
P.S. Sorry for the dreadful image res. I'm at the bf's house, will re-post later.