Giclee reprint of an original lithograph from John Gould’s The Birds of Europe, published in London between 1832 and 1837.

The Birds of Europe is a legendary five-volume ornithological masterwork published in London between 1832 and 1837. It was conceptualized and produced by the "English Audubon," John Gould (1804–1881), marking his first massive multi-volume regional study.

While John Gould conceived the layouts and sketches, the famous artist and nonsense poet Edward Lear drew and lithographed this specific plate. He was hired by Gould to illustrate the publication's largest birds Lear’s involvement revolutionized the volume's use of perspective and dynamic realism.

The original series was issued in 22 distinct parts over five years to a tiny, elite subscriber list of just over 200 wealthy individuals and European monarchs. Today, complete sets are incredibly valuable rare book treasures. 

The Maguari Stork (Ciconia maguari) is a large species of stork that inhabits seasonal wetlands over much of South America, and is very similar in appearance to the white stork; albeit slightly larger. It is the only species of its genus to occur in the New World and is one of the only three New World stork species, together with the wood stork and the jabiru.

The Maguari Stork was surprisingly included as Plate 285 in this work despite being a South American species. During the 19th century, European naturalists frequently integrated exotic specimens from foreign territories and menageries into their local taxonomies. Gould included the bird under its older scientific classification, Ciconia maguari.