Two volumes of the "Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria"

Volume I & II of Frederick McCoy's "Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria".

In 1858, Frederick McCoy was appointed the Director of the National Museum of Victoria and he started work on a project to publish a "Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria". (The word Prodromus means preliminary description). McCoy engaged the best artists to create images of Victoria's fauna for the education of the 'colonists', who would require an empirical account of those animals upon which industries might be based, along with pests that could threaten agricultural expansion.

The Prodromus project followed a popular formula of the time, seeking to identify and classify the natural wonders of the 'new world'. Such publications reached a peak in popularity with the work of John Gould in England and the earlier work of James Audubon in America. In Australia, many professional and amateur publications, including Aldine's systematic studies of the colonies and Louise Anne Meredith's Bush Friends From Tasmania, contributed to the genre.

The "Prodromus " was an enormous undertaking, utilising the work of numerous artists, collectors, lithographers and publishers, over an extended period of time. Although costly in both financial and professional terms, it was met with critical acclaim and wide popular support. Financial battles were waged and lost by McCoy, but ultimately the "Prodromus" has stood the test of time and remains one of Museum Victoria's finest publications. McCoy died without completing his systematic study, but even at the time few believed that 'any of us will live to witness the completion of the work, if the entire Fauna of Victoria is to be illustrated.'