354 
Obituary . 
with Mr. H. E. Dresser in the commencement of a serial 
work on the ‘ Birds of Europe/ which, after the appearance 
of fifteen parts issued in their joint names, was completed by 
Mr. Dresser alone. This work, as many of our readers will 
know, is also in quarto, with fine coloured plates, and is so 
highly esteemed that when a copy occurs for sale by auction 
it usually fetches from £40 to £50. 
As the collection of African birds above mentioned 
Sk 
continued to grow in extent, it became evident to Sharpe 
that the text-books on the subject were inadequate to 
convey a proper idea of the richness of the African avifauna, 
and accordingly we find him undertaking a new and revised 
edition of E. L. Layard’s well-known ‘ Birds of South Africa/ 
an excellent little manual at the time that it was written 
(1867), but not illustrated, and needing the incorporation of 
a great many species which have only come to light after 
its publication. The new edition by Sharpe, which was 
issued in parts between 1875 and 1884, formed, when com¬ 
plete, a royal octavo volume of 890 pages, with a dozen 
beautifully coloured plates. Meanwhile in 1872 he had 
quitted the library of the Zoological Society to enter upon 
his official duties as a Senior Assistant in the Department of 
Zoology at the British Museum, a post which he held until 
1895, when he was promoted to be Assistant Keeper of the 
Department. From the date of his appointment in 1872 he 
seriously took in hand the preparation of the much needed 
Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, and in two years 
the first volume of it was completed and published by the 
Trustees. Some idea of the magnitude of the undertaking 
may be gained when it is stated that this volume, the first 
of twenty-seven, contained nearly 500 pages, with fourteen 
coloured plates. Of the twenty-seven volumes of the great 
Catalogue Sharpe himself wrote eleven whole volumes 
besides portions of three others, and edited or assisted in 
the preparation of the remainder, which were undertaken 
by other specialists. Naturally the production of so long a 
series extended over several years, and, as if that were not 
work enough to occupy his daily thoughts, he found time 
before and after official hours to write and publish several 
