Vieillot, Louis J. P. (1748-1831)

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot (1748-1831), along with Wilson, was a pioneer in a new kind of ornithology in which birds were no longer assessed as specimens and skins, but studied as living organisms within their environment. Vieillot was one of the more discerning ornithologists who gave particular study to female, immature and seasonal plumages. His work “Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l’Amerique septentrionale” contains descriptions of many North American birds, some of which predate those of Alexander Wilson. The plates bear all the hallmarks of the great French natural history books of the first two decades of the 19th century. They are individual works of art, whilst also being scientifically accurate pictorial documents of the highest order.

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