During his lifetime, Rothschild collected numerous valuable books containing drawings and paintings of animals and birds, such as John Gould's Birds of America, and commissioned many artists to illustrate the periodical he produced from Tring, Novitates Zoologicae.
42 volumes of Novitates Zoologicae were published between 1894 and 1948, edited by Rothschild and his museum curators, Dr Ernst Hartert (1859-1933) and Dr Karl Jordan (1861-1959). Around 200 copies were sent out each quarter, for an annual subscription of one guinea. Each edition contained descriptions of new species, collections and collecting trips, and was illustrated by photographs, maps and plates.
This painting of Casuarius casuarius sclateri Salvadoriwas executed by Grönvold, and referred to by Lord Rothschild in an article in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club in 1912. The exact cassowary from which this was done is unspecified, but it closely resembles a specimen now held in the Museum's collection at Tring. Zoology Library, The Natural History Museum,Original drawings of cassowaries, Folio 1 no.11.
