The original water-color paintings by John James Audubon for The Birds of America: reproduced in color from the collection at the New-York Historical Society

Uittreksel

"John James Audubon was Boswell to the birds of America. Throughout the rich and beautiful history of the nation's naturalists and wildlife artists, none is better known and loved than he. Yet few of Audubon's admirers have ever been able to enjoy and truly appreciate the full magnificence of the original watercolors in his famed Birds of America, since what we have been used to seeing are reprints made from the early engraved plates, or even reproductions of such reproductions. Now this volume makes available exact facsimiles of Audubon's plates. These works are from the unparalleled collection of The New-York Historical Society, and were photographically reproduced under the supervision of the Society. Three hundred and sixty of the paintings are full-page, and sixty-four pages are double-page spreads. This book combines the two original volumes of Audubon's noted work. Compiled from 1827 to 1838, The Birds of America include natives of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, The Great Pine Swamp, Niagara Falls, Egg Harbor, New Jersey, and wherever Audubon could reach. They light on verbena flowers, worm grass, tree huckleberry, pignut, coffeewood, wild orchids. Some of them have histories revealed in superb captions, such as the Broad-winged Hawk who posed for hours; the Blue Goose bought for seventy-five cents at auction (later becoming an Audubon pet); the thick-billed Murre, painted after having been sent from Maine on ice; the Brown Booby, whose intelligence Audubon stoutly defended, or his 'greatest favorite,' the Wood Thrush. 'How fervently have I blessed the Being who formed the Wood Thrush, and placed it in those solitary forests...' Audubon was ultimately to paint all the known species of North American birds. The illegitimate son of a French naval officer and planter, he developed an interest in the painting of birds during his boyhood in France. By 1820, after several unsuccessful business ventures, he concentrated on his art. By 1826, he had enough drawings to consider publication. He went to Europe, where the engraver Robert Havell, of London, undertook publication of his illustrations as The Birds of America."-- On dust jacket.