Complete 7 Volume J. J. Audubon Birds Of America 1st Ed Set 1840-All 500 Plates
C I R Q L A R. Original antique prints, books, maps and atlases. The Birds Of America, From Drawings Made In The United States And Their Territories. Published by John James Audubon, New York, 1840. 10 1/84" X 6 5/8".
In overall very good to excellent condition. There is some minor dampstaining in lower margin of a small portion of vols. 1 and 3 (mostly affecting text and not plates and certainly under 10 plates, none of any consequence).
Some scattered minor foxing mostly to text and tissue guards (the plates escaped most of this). Minor marginal repairs to preliminary text in final volume. Nineteenth century half red morocco and red cloth covered boards, spine with raised bands in six compartments, lettered in the second and third, the others panelled in gilt, marbled endpapers and edges. The custom made clam shell cases for better storage of the volumes will be included.
We are pleased to offer this beautiful First edition complete 7 volume set of J. Audubon's The Birds Of America. This is the first complete edition and the first American edition. The work is one of the "most beautiful, popular, and important natural history books published in America in the nineteenth century representing the best of pre-Civil War American lithography and giving Audubon the opportunity finally to display his scholarship and genius to a large American audience for the first time" (Ron Tyler).
The plates, here accompanied by the text for the first time, were reduced and variously modified from the Havell engravings in the double-elephant folio work. Seven new species are figured and seventeen others, previously described in the Ornithological Biography but not illustrated, were also shown for the first time. Audubon may have been prompted to publish the reduced version of his double-elephant folio by the appearance in 1839 of John Kirk Townsend's rival Ornithology of the United States; or, as he writes in the introduction to the present work, he may have succumbed to public demand and his wish that a work similar to his large work should be published but at such a price, as would enable every student or lover of nature to place it in his Library. The first edition of the octavo work is certainly the most famous and accessible of all the great American colour plate books, and now represents the only realistic opportunity that exists for collectors to own an entire collection of Audubon images in a form that was overseen and approved by the great artist himself. The octavo Birds of America was originally issued in 100 parts, each containing five plates. The whole story of the production of the book, with detailed information about every aspect of the project, is told by Ron Tyler in Audubon's Great National Work (Austin, 1993). The story Tyler tells of the difficulties of production and marketing are revealing of the whole world of colour plate book production in mid-19th-century America. By combining detailed text with careful observations next to his famous images, Audubon proved that he was as good a scientific naturalist as the members of the scientific establishment who had scorned him. Our pricing is the most competitive as one would hope to find on the internet and the clean plates only makes this that much more desirable. We also have a similarly fantastic set of another first edition Birds set.5; Fries, Appendix A; Nissen IVB 51; Reese, Stamped With A National Character 34; Ripley 13; Ron Tyler, Audubon's Great National Work (1993) Appendix I; Sabin 2364; Wood p. Thank you for looking and please be sure and look at our other auctions for other fine works by Audubon from the first as well as the 1860 editions of the.
We also have other architectural, natural history plates as well as original maps, all guaranteed original. Please note that we now have (finally, mercifully) a legitimate "about me".
Section where you can find more information about who we are and what we do as well as more tips on collecting prints and the various types of printing techniques that have been used over the years. In addition, we have hundreds of rare prints and colorplate books, maps and atlases at set prices. We have recently been fortunate enough to acquire, for example, the original watercolors from Lewin's "Birds of Great Britain". We also have listed several prints from Shaw and Nodder's "The Naturalist's Miscellany", flower prints from Curtis' "Flora Londinensis", P. We will be updating this frequently. We are committed to offering the very best antique prints available with over the top superior service. For more information about us. The item "Complete 7 Volume J.Audubon Birds Of America 1st Ed Set 1840-All 500 Plates" is in sale since Monday, September 4, 2017. This item is in the category "Art\Art Prints". The seller is "cirqlar" and is located in Cleveland, Ohio.
This item can be shipped worldwide.- Original/Reproduction: Original Print
- Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
- Date of Creation: 1800-1899
- Subject: Birds
- Edition Type: Limited Edition
- Print Type: Lithograph