This extensive publication of some 448 fine hand-colored plates originally released in 22 parts, was the first large-scale project to be undertaken by John and Elizabeth Gould.  The tremendous skill of Elizabeth in drawing the majority of the plates after John's drawings, is beautifully matched by her extraordinary talent in then transferring these images to the lithographic stone.  The scope of the book was such that Gould engaged the assistance of Edward Lear who had come to his notice after the publication of his superb book on Parrots.  Lear is considered by many experts to be one of the most remarkable of all bird artists.  Gould, after the publication of his Birds of the Himalaya Mountains, wished to embark upon the Birds of Europe in order to "redress the imbalance between the study of local and foreign ornithology.

There were 256 subscribers to this important work, thus making it one of Gould's rarest publications.