William MacGillivray

From humble beginnings William MacGillivray became Scotland's foremost 19th-century ornithologist and naturalist, ending his career as Regius Professor of Natural History at Aberdeen.

Although MacGillivray had a close working relationship with John James Audubon, the celebrated American bird artist, it is Audubon and not MacGillivray whose genius is still remembered.

MacGillivray's five-volume "A History of British Birds", with its emphasis on anatomical structure, never received much credit, despite being one of the most careful and detailed descriptions of British birds that has ever been published.

Unfortunately as he could never afford to get his bird paintings engraved and published, his talents as a painter have also never been appreciated.

This account of MacGillivray's life and work provides an insight into why he deserves due recognition.

It also presents a previously unpublished selection of MacGillivray's elegant water-colour paintings of birds, fish and mammals which are now in the Rare Books Room at The Natural History Museum.