Gull billed Tern, Marsh Tern
6 ½ inches by 10 inches
AUD430 $145
Audubon worked on the monumental Birds of America from 1827-1838, illustrating & editing one of the largest & most expensive bird books in the world. He used the finest of specimens, and all types of media including oil crayon, pastel watercolors, ink & gouache to stunning effect. His genius was in his intimate knowledge of the world of birds & their surroundings gained from a lifetime of observation in the field, and the ability to translate this vision into a publication that has never been equaled in the world of ornithology.
The Quadrupeds of North America, his 2nd work became an immediate success on publication, illustrated many frontier mammals never before seen or depicted. Sadly, Audubon died before the publication of the octavo edition of the Quadrupeds which was completed by his son, John Woodhouse Audubon. The legacy of Audubon to the world was in these two superb works on American Birds & Quadrupeds which have come to signify a love of all wild creatures & the environment, epitomized today by the Audubon Society, & immortalized world wide in publications and the stamps of over 60 countries. In the words of the Audubon Society, perhaps above all else, Audubon was a lover and observer of birds and nature.
References include Dictionary of Bird artistsp.141, Great Bird Books p. 73 & the Audubon website at www.Audubon.org
We are offering a selection of prints from the scarce and sought after original first octavo edition of Birds of America published in Philadelphia from 1840-1844. With lithography by J.T. Bowen, this is the only edition that is entirely hand coloured. Each print is in excellent entirely original condition on strong light creamy paper, with gilded edges, measuring approximately 6 1/2" by 10". The prints have been carefully detached from the binding remnants to preserve the entire margin, as shown in the image. A few prints have some very faint text offset or slight foxing. The text pages are included and when overlapped, have been carefully copied.
