The Birdman of Aberdeen

Exhibition: The Art of Audubon and MacGillivray

Voice 2019

Close-up from an illustration of a Blue Jay from Audubon's Birds of America.

The Birdman of Aberdeen

The remarkable life of a renowned 19th Century naturalist and ornithologist, whose friendship with a transatlantic contemporary had a profound influence on ornithology in Britain and America, is set to be the focus of a major exhibition staged by the University of Aberdeen’s Museums and Special Collections.

Born in Old Aberdeen, William MacGillivray (1796-1852) was a Professor of Natural History at Marischal College who worked closely with pioneering American ornithologist and artist John James Audubon (1785–1851)

Their relationship is one of the major themes of the exhibition, which begins in September and aims to raise awareness of MacGillivray’s life and work.

Portrait of William MacGillivray (1796 - 1852)

Portrait of William MacGillivray (1796 - 1852)

The exhibition showcases some of the highlights of the University’s extensive special collections – a number of which were donated by MacGillivray himself.

Visitors will have an opportunity to see a giant book measuring over a metre high: a volume of Audubon’s seminal Birds of America (1827-1838) filled with breathtaking depictions of every species of bird that Audubon encountered during his extensive journeys in the North American continent.

Audubon’s images were not just factually accurate, but dramatic artworks capturing scenes such as owls bursting into flight, songbirds perching delicately in trees, and eagles feasting on their prey.

Close-up from an illustration of an American Crow, taken from Audubon's Birds of America.

Illustration of an American Crow, from Audubon's Birds of America.

Birds of a feather

MacGillivray met Audubon in Edinburgh in 1830, and was hired to write the companion text for the illustrations of Birds of America, based on Audubon’s field notes. This was an arrangement that developed into a deep and lasting friendship.

Audubon named a bird - the MacGillivray’s Warbler - after his friend, and sent him gifts of bird specimens from America. An accomplished watercolour artist in his own right, MacGillivray hoped to complete a full colour illustration sequence to his five-volume History of British Birds, though his dream of a counterpart to Birds of America went unrealised.

An adventurous lover of the outdoors who believed in studying nature ‘in the field’, MacGillivray had a poor opinion of the ‘cabinet naturalist’ who never left his study.

While a student at the University of Aberdeen, he would walk from his home on the Isle of Harris to university, making notes on the birds, flora and fauna he found along the way. During these two-week journeys he carried a backpack stocked with supplies of ‘socks, gun powder, sketchbooks, and opium’, and kept extensive diaries.

In 1819, aged 23, he walked 828 miles on foot from Aberdeen to London to visit the British Museum and see its natural history collections. This inspired him to establish the University’s Zoology Museum, and his handwritten journals from this expedition will be on display along with some of the thousands of botanical and ornithological specimens he contributed to the University’s collections.

Illustration of a Goshawk, taken from Audubon's Birds of America.

Illustration of a Goshawk with foliage in background, taken from Audubon's Birds of America.

The Exhibition

The exhibition will open on the 200th anniversary of the start of MacGillivray's walk from Old Aberdeen to London, and follows the successful showcase of another of the jewels in the University’s collections, the Aberdeen Bestiary.

The 800-year-old Bestiary, which describes the beasts of the world, both real and fantastical, took the starring role at Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World.

The exhibition featured bestiaries and related works of art from the Middle Ages that attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles from May to August.

It was the first time the Aberdeen Bestiary - considered one of the best examples of its type due to its lavish and costly illuminations - has left the UK since its creation more than eight centuries ago.