John Gould (1804-1881) was closely associated with ZSL for much of his life. He served as Curator and Preserver at ZSL from 1828 until 1837, when he departed to explore zoology in Australia. His extensive ornithological research, particularly through his impressive large-scale colour plate bird books, established him as Britain’s preeminent ornithologist. Gould’s expertise was further highlighted when he identified the significant variations in the beaks of the ‘Galapagos finches’ from Darwin’s collection, a discovery that contributed substantially to the formulation of Darwin’s theory of natural selection and evolution.

Joseph Wolf (1820 - 1899) was a German artist renowned for his natural history illustrations. Born in Mörz, Eifel, Germany, he moved to London in 1848. His artistic talents caught the attention of D.W. Mitchell, the Secretary of ZSL. In 1851, Mitchell announced that ZSL would maintain a pictorial record of animals in the zoo, and Wolf was commissioned to create watercolor illustrations for this purpose until 1869.
ZSL Library houses six volumes of original watercolors by Wolf, along with additional loose pieces. These paintings hold immense significance for ZSL: some depict extinct or exceptionally rare animals, while others capture creatures integral to the society’s history. Wolf also illustrated many of ZSL’s publications.

The ZSL Library houses handwritten and illustrated manuscripts by the artist Samuel Richard Tickell (1809-1875). He served in the British Army in India and Burma (now Myanmar), dedicating his leisure time to painting and documenting the local fauna. In 1874, Tickell, along with his relative by marriage, Brian Houghton Hodgson, donated their manuscripts to ZSL. These collections feature a wide array of animals from India, and Hodgson’s contributions also include detailed information on the wildlife of Nepal. Notably, ZSL possesses the original artwork from the unpublished manuscript volume ‘Mammals of India’ by Samuel Richard Tickell, circa 1854-1864.