Bookplate illustration (and detail) from Neue Seite 1.

1. Dronte (Raphus cucullatus),[ausgestorben]

Bei Oken: Walgvogel (Didus ineptus)

2. Kiwi (Apteryx australis)

Bei Oken: Kiwi (Aptery australis)

3. Großtrappe (Otis tarda)

Bei Oken: Trappe (Otis tarda)

4. Helmkasuar (Casuarius casuarius)

Bei Oken: Casuar (Casuarius indicus)

5. Strauß (Struthio camelus)

Bei Oken: Strauß (Struthio camelus)

Savery’s Dodo in a Landscape with birds and animals by Roelandt Savery, circa 1629

It is thought Savery actually saw the dodo alive, the bird having been brought from its native habitat Mauritius to Prince Maurice of Nassau’s menagerie before it became extinct in the 1690s.

This is one of the few authentic pictures of the bird in life and very unusually Savery has painted a rear view of the bird in this painting.

Several of Savery’s other paintings also include the dodo in more conventional positions from which most later paintings of the dodo are derived. Only a few paintings of the dodo from life are known to exist. A key to the identification of the 21 other birds in the painting, prepared by Peter Olney, is available in the ZSL Library.

The ZSL painting is thought to date from c1629 and exemplifies the range of exotic birds in captivity in Europe in the early-17th century, as at least 18 different species have been identified.

Paysage avec oiseaux (1628) by the Flemish painter Roelandt Savery.

Vintage Betty Boop cartoon Betty in Blunderland, available to download at Internet Archive, and probably vaguely inspired on Alice in Blunderland, an iridescent dream. Not the best Betty Boop cartoon I’ve ever seen, however, it’s still amusing and it has a dodo. From Wikipedia:

Betty falls asleep doing a jigsaw puzzle of a white rabbit. She “awakes” just in time to follow the rabbit through the looking glass into a modern wonderland. Betty meets most of the traditional inhabitants of Wonderland and sings “How Do You Do” (to the tune of “Everyone Says I Love You”) to them. When the Jabberwocky steals Betty away, everyone comes to her rescue.

Curious Beaks – John Player & Sons – Series of 50 (1929), uploaded by Mando maniac.

[audio:Original-Cast_Alice-in-Wonderland_02.mp3]

Image and audio (4’45”) from the booklet of “Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass” with Eva Le Gallienne and Original Cast.

Tekening van dodo, Scheepjournaal ‘De Gelderland’ 1601-1603 from De Verdieping van Nederland. I don’t speak Dutch, but it seems this is one of the very rare drawings of a dodo made in Mauritius with a “live model”. The image is available to download as a “monster” tiff (122MB). (Thanks Paul)

Classics Illustrated 49: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. ( via Free Comic Books)

“Porky in Wackyland” (1938) directed by Robert Clampett. (Thanks John!)

Click To Play

The Dodo Lives from Toronto Life, November 1975. (via Torontoist)