thumb|Large Niltava Niltava grandis, date between 1850 and 1883, The Birds of Asia, Volume 2, J. Gould and H. C. Richter
Henry Constantine Richter (7 June 1821 – 16 March 1902) was an English zoological illustrator who produced a very large number of skillful coloured lithographs of birds and mammals, mainly for the scientific books of the renowned English 19th century ornithologist John Gould.
Many of the original drawings used by Richter as the basis for his coloured lithographs were by Gould's wife, Elizabeth Coxen, produced before her death in 1841.
Richter's reputation was overshadowed by that of his much-celebrated employer. Since it was not customary to acknowledge illustrators alongside authors in the titles of publications, his name was forgotten. But in 1978, his great ability and the extent of his contribution to Gould's work came to light, in the work of the researcher Christine E. Jackson.
Early years
Note:
: (1) Henry Constantine Richter will be referred to as 'Richter' throughout this article, whereas full-length names will be used for each of his relatives, to reduce confusion.
: (2) Where no citation is given in this section for the dates of birth, death, marriage and residence of the Richter family, the information can be accessed online from indexes of English registers in the Ancestry.com databases at https://www.ancestry.com
thumb|left|St. Marylebone Parish Church, London, England, completed 1817. Architect, Thomas Hardwick
Richter was born in Brompton, London in England on 7 Jun 1821, into an artistic family. His father, Henry James Richter (1772-1857), was a philosopher, painter and engraver who was born in Soho, Middlesex, England to Mary Haigh, the wife of John Augustus Richter, an immigrant from Dresden, Germany - himself an artist and engraver.
Richter's mother, Charlotte Sophia Edson (1793-1862), had married his father on 2 May 1818 in Marylebone, Middlesex, England. He was their first child. His birth was followed by that of his sister Antonia Charlotte (1823-1896) and his brother Charles (b.1827). A half-sister - Henrietta Sophia (1814-1896) had already been born to Henry James Richter's first wife, Elizabeth Smith (1787-1816), whom he had married on 9 July 1808, and lost after eight years' marriage.
The English census returns indicate that the Richters were a close-knit family. For example, in 1851, the 30 year-old Richter was still living with his parents. Henry James Richter did not own a house, but always lived in rented accommodation. In that year, when he was aged 79, his household consisted of: his wife, Charlotte Sophia, his adult son, both of his adult daughters and one servant. This arrangement may have been out of financial necessity as much as family affection - artist and lithographers were paid very little. As related by Jackson (p. 48),
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John Gould was an experienced taxidermist, using his skill to preserve the skins of birds from his various worldwide expeditions. These skins were used by his artists to guide their illustrations, together with initial sketches made by Gould to indicate his requirements for the exact appearance of the finished images. The London Zoo was opened to the public in 1847 and was a further source of models of birds and animals for Richter's drawings. His illustrations attracted the favourable attention of ornithologists.
thumb|upright=1.1| Tasmanian tiger [[Thylacinus cynocephalus, 1841, Plate 54 of Mammals of Australia, vol.I, J.Gould & H.C. Richter. The thylacine became extinct in 1936]]
In 1841 Richter was contacted by the zoologist John Gould, who urgently needed an illustrator, after the death of his wife Elizabeth Coxen (1804-1841), because he had committed to producing various parts of his lavish books on certain dates. The Gould-Richter working relationship lasted for forty years, until Gould died in 1881. Richter created about 3,000 lithographic plates and watercolours for Gould.
thumb|left|Yellow-bellied Tit Parus venustulus, between 1850 and 1883, The Birds of Asia. Volume 2, J. Gould & H.C. Richter
Amongst his best known illustrations are those of the male and female thylacine, from Gould's Mammals of Australia (1845–63) - frequently copied since publication. Previously, the Tasmanian Government had published a monochromatic reproduction of the same image, in 1934 and, earlier still, the author Louisa Anne Meredith also copied it for Tasmanian Friends and Foes (1881).