Paradisea sanguinea (1873) cushion

Daniel Giraud Elliot was an American zoologist and the founder of the American Ornithologist Union. Elliot used his wealth to publish a series of sumptuous colour-plate books on birds and animals. Elliot wrote the text himself and commissioned artists such as Joseph Wolf and Joseph Smit, both of whom had worked for John Gould, to provide the illustrations. The books included A Monograph of the Phasianidae (Family of the Pheasants) (1870–72), A Monograph of the Paradiseidae or Birds of Paradise (1873), A Monograph of the Felidae or Family of Cats (1878) and Review of the Primates (1913).