Bird Prints by John James Audubon
Double Elephant Folio.
[ First Edition | Second Edition ]
Prints by John James Audubon. From The Birds of America. London: J.J. Audubon, 1827-39. Double elephant folio. Aquatints by Robert Havell. Full original hand-color by R. Havell. Very good condition, except as noted.
John James Audubon, known both for his romantic life and his superb prints, is the most famous of all American natural history artists. For his pioneering travel around the United States in search of new subjects in the wild, his lifelike and dramatic style, and his monumental works on the birds and quadrupeds of North America, Audubon is, perhaps, also the greatest American natural history artist. In 1827 Audubon began to issue the prints from the first edition of his monumental The Birds of America, which when completed ran to a total of 435 double elephant folio prints. The following prints are from this edition.
- "Blue-winged Yellow Warbler." Plate 20. Image: 20 1/2 x 12 1/4; paper 28 3/4 x 21. Excellent and bright. Watermark reads, "J. Whatman 1832." Very faint mat burn. $3,200
- "Black Warrior." Plate 86. Plate mark: 38 x 25 1/2; paper: 39 1/8 x 26 3/8. Watermark reads, "J. Whatman, 1830." $12,000
- "Green Black-capt Flycatcher." Plate 124. Plate mark: 19 1/4 x 12 1/4; paper: 32 x 22. $2,800
- "Orange-crowned Warbler." Plate 178. Image: 18 3/4 x 12 1/4; paper 21 1/4 x 13 1/4. Watermark trimmed. Paper thin at left margin and one pin hole at right, center. Clean. $1,250
- [Large Billed Guillemot]. "Uria Brunnichii." Plate 245. 19 1/2 x 28 1/2 (sheet). Watermark reads, "J. Whatman." Printed date on front is 1835. Susanne Low records that two states of this print exist. The first has no English name, and the second has the name provided here in brackets. A fine, strong strike with definition to the rough sea beneath. $1,400
Prints by John James Audubon. From The Birds of America. New York: J. Bien, 1860. Chromolithographs. Very good condition, except as noted.
Because of the continued strong demand for the prints, a second edition of Audubon's work was begun in 1860. Published in New York, these prints were lithographs printed in color, a relatively new and expensive process at the time. With the disruptions caused by the Civil War, this edition was never completed, and so these prints are even rarer than those of the first edition. As the first totally American Audubon prints, matching those of the first edition in beauty and drama, these are wonderful pieces of American history. The following prints are from this edition.
- “Wild Turkey. Male. American Cane" Paper: 39 1/4 x 26 1/2. Paper is clean and large with wide margins all around. The image and color are strong and bright, and those factors along with the lack of a portfolio number in the upper left and incomplete plate designation in upper right indicate a very early printing. There is one small, expertly repaired one inch tear into the bottom, left margin touching neither text nor image. $28,000
- "Red-Winged Starling or Marsh Blackbird." Paper: 31 1/2 x 23 1/4. Repaired tear ten inches into right side. Bright colors and excellent registration. $2,400
- "White-bellied Swallow." Half page; 25 7/8 x 19. Some light surface smudges. $750
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