The Birds of America, From Drawings Made In The United States And Their Territories.

AUDUBON, John James.

$200,000.00

Item Number: 143567

New York: Published by J. J. Audubon. Philadelphia: J. B. Chevalier, 1840-1844.

First octavo edition of Audubon’s landmark work; one of the most spectacular collections of ornithological prints ever produced. Royal octavo, 7 volumes bound in full 19th-century morocco by P. Low of Boston with their ticket, gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, ribbons bound in. Illustrated with 500 hand-colored lithographed plates after Audubon by W. E. Hitchcock, R. Trembly and others, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen, wood-engraved anatomical diagrams in text. Presentation copy, inscribed by John James Audubon on the on the contents leaf of volume one, “Miss Lydia E. E. Greene with the affectionate good wishes of her friend and servant, John J. Audubon, Boston, June 8, 1844” and additionally on the front free endpaper of Vol. II., “Miss Lydia, E. E. Greene; and may God bless her, with the sincerest wishes of her old friend and servant, John J. Audubon, Boston, June 8, 1844.” The recipient, Lydia E. E. Greene became a Proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum in 1854.  Audubon spent only a few months living in Boston from 1832-1833, but the city made an impact on him; his wife Lucy wrote to  a friend that the city “is a more interesting place than any I have seen in the United States, and where we met with a most cordial welcome and obtained eight subscribers to our work [The Birds of America].” Audubon exhibited sketches of his Birds of America at the Boston Athenaeum in August 1832. In very good condition with the plates exceptionally clean.

Audubon’s double-elephant folio edition of The Birds of America (1827-1838) established his reputation as the greatest ornithological artist of his time. Though that edition was published in London to ensure the quality of the plates, he employed the Philadelphia firm of J. T. Bowen to produce this more commercially viable edition under the close supervision of his sons. The original subscription price was $100, and its commercial success granted Audubon financial security. To the original plate count included in the double-elephant folio edition, the octavo edition adds 65 new images for a total of 500 plates, making it "the most extensive color plate book produced in America up to that time" (Reese). "The most splendid book ever produced in relation to America, and certainly one of the finest ornithological works ever printed… Audubon insisted on drawing from life, never from stuffed specimens, and was much in advance of his time in portraying the birds (in many cases unrecorded species) in their natural surroundings… The courage and faith of the Audubon family is breathtaking… This immense undertaking, this unparalleled achievement, was not the production of a great and long-established publishing house, nor was it backed by a wealthy institution. It was the work of a man of relentless energy, with no private fortune… It is a story without equal in the whole history of publishing” (Great Books and Book Collectors, 210-13). Nissen IVB 51; Reese 34; Sabin 2364