For example, the Victorian-era hobby of salmon fly-tying was primarily controlled by the elite because it involved the use of rare and expensive bird feathers. As Johnson illustrates throughout the book, these laws are ineffective at curbing the feather underground. This movement prompted governments to pass laws that protected wildlife. The Victorian era’s obsession with birds, especially for women’s fashion, also led to what is known as “feather fever.” Feather fever resulted in the deaths of hundreds of millions of birds, resulting in a women-led conservationist movement at the end of the 19th century and early-20th century to end the use of birds in women’s fashion. He later turned this collection into the British Museum of Natural History at Tring, which housed many of Wallace’s bird skins. Aristocrat and naturalist Lionel Walter Rothschild (1868-1937) also amassed a collection of natural specimens, including the largest private bird skins collection. While Wallace was partly motivated by profit, he also was deeply interested in understanding the origins of species and believed in the power of museums to be protectors of knowledge. For example, the infamous naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) collected tens of thousands of natural specimens from the Malay Archipelago, which is located between the Indian and Pacific oceans and consists of thousands of islands of Indonesia and the Philippines.

People during this time period were obsessed with collecting natural specimens, which came to be seen as status symbols. Johnson begins his discussion in the 1800s during the Victorian era. Part 1 focuses on the historical relationship between humans and the natural world, including bird skins. This guide references the paperback edition published by Penguin Books in 2018. It is in the process of being turned into a series adaptation with Universal International Studios. The book received positive criticism for shining light on the feather underground and the consequences the illegal feather trade has on humankind.

The feather thief