Preparatory Watercolor Compositions
Original Double Elephant Birds of America
Octavo Editions of The Birds of
America
The Imperial Quadrupeds
The Octavo Quadrupeds
The Bien Edition
Watercolor Compositions
"My
drawings were first made entirely in watercolors."
Not watercolors in the
sense we are accustomed to, as Audubon's watercolors used mixed-media,
such as papers, adhesives, glazes, pastels, graphite, oil paint, egg
white, gouache, chalk and more.
The
watercolors were Audubon's original works, preparatory
compositions or
studies to the subsequent producing of the Birds of
America. These watercolors were often painted
by Audubon 'on the spot' in the field. The collection of 433*
watercolors that Audubon supplied for his paramount work, the
Birds of America, stands as the world's
preeminent natural history document of the 19th century, and one of arts
finest achievements. The freshness, eloquence, and grace of his
watercolors reveal a meticulous observation of the natural world.
Audubon's watercolors
depicted for the first time, life-size, all known species of North
American birds in characteristic poses. Each painting presented a
drama in the life of the subject, and Audubon succeeded in surpassing
what he viewed as the stilted and constrained efforts of previous
naturalists. Their works were, in his words, 'stiff.' Audubon's
images live to this very day..
"As I wandered, mostly
bent on the study of birds, and with a wish to represent all of those
found in our woods, to the best of my powers, I gradually became
acquainted with their forms and habits, and the use of my wires was
improved by constant practice." John James Audubon
After acquiring
specimens, Audubon inserted wires in freshly killed birds to simulate
lifelike postures. These models were then positioned in front of a
grid background, so as to draw them accurately to scale.
Not easily satisfied
with his drawings, Audubon often wrote notes on the drawing itself so
that the engravers and colorists who were to follow would enhance his
work.
Doubtless, considering
the working conditions in the field, lack of modern optical equipment,
and his being self-taught, the producing of these watercolors represents
a monumental achievement.
The
watercolors themselves
were never reproduced
as such by Audubon, as they were a means
to the end, a preparatory step to the final goal of producing and
publishing prints from engravings based on the watercolors.
It is truly amazing that
the vast majority of the original watercolors, are still in existence.
Audubon's widow, Lucy Bakewell Audubon, sold them in 1863 to the
New-York Historical Society. We suggest you take the time to see
these priceless works of America's most famous artist/naturalist.
*
Although there are 435 engravings
in the completed Birds of America,
these were produced from 433 watercolors. Two of the 433 were each
the basis for two etchings. Two are also missing, thus the
collection of original watercolors in the New-York Historical Society
today totals 431.
Having a
substantial number of watercolors now ready for engraving, Audubon
traveled to Philadelphia, then the center of publishing in the young
United States. However, he was unable to find a publisher, willing
to produce his works, and thus brought his art abroad to England.
He first contracted with a William Lizars of Edinburgh. After
completing only ten etchings, Lizars' colorists went on strike, and
Audubon was forced to find another publisher. This would be Robert
Havell, Jr. of London, whose
engravings were considered superior to those of
Lizars.
Original double elephant Birds of
America
Audubon and his sons
produced several print editions. The most famous, and most
valuable, is the original 'double elephant' folio entitled
Birds of America. These are sometimes
termed the Audubon/Havell prints, Havell being the primary engraver.
These prints were produced by using as a basis the watercolor
compositions or studies
that Audubon accomplished mainly in the open field
which were taken to London, where Havell's shop
was located.
Havell, often under the direct supervision of Audubon himself,
would then engrave with precision tools a reverse image of the
watercolor study.
These engravings were on copper plates, some plates being as large as 27
1/2 x 39 1/2 inches, and others being smaller for the smaller images.
When finished, the plates were inked and dampened paper ( all paper
being double elephant size,
27 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches,
untrimmed) was placed upon them, and then both were run through rollers
of a press. The paper was then pulled, or peeled off the plate.
What resulted was a properly oriented black and white image, no longer
reversed.
Each
black and white print was then colored by a team of colorists employed
by Havell, closely noting not only the watercolor
studies, but
also notes that Audubon himself often
wrote upon the watercolors. It is these prints
then, that are
finally referred to as the Audubon
originals. Most of these originals were then bound together in
four leather books. Over the years many have been unbound and the
binding holes trimmed away. Thus, there may be small variations in
the above size. Further, the large borders of some smaller images
were often trimmed away by owners, in order to fit their print into a
smaller frame.
Octavo Editions of The Birds of
America
When the production of the
double elephant prints was nearing its completion, Audubon began a new
undertaking. This was to be a miniature edition of the Birds of
America, accompanied by text. This work is often termed
The Royal Octavo Edition, the octavo
referring to the size of the paper being about 1/8 the size of a normal
folio, or about
6 1/2 x 10 1/2
inches. Audubon himself called it "The Birds in Miniature"
and you will also hear it simply being termed the 'miniatures'. It
was produced in Philadelphia, USA, by John T. Bowen.
Octavo editions were
reductions of originals, this being accomplished through the camera
lucida process, which through the use of a prism, allowed Bowen to
project a reverse image of the original print in reduced size onto the
smaller stone. (These were stone lithographs, not copper plate
engravings)
The first edition, and
the most sought after by collectors of the miniatures, was published in
1840-44. About 1,198 sets of the first edition were produced.
It was printed and colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia, although
plates 136 - 150 were done by Endicott in New York. The publisher
of the first edition was Audubon himself in New York, and J. B.
Chevalier in Philadelphia. Other octavo editions of the birds followed
the death of Audubon in 1851, these being dated: 1856 and published by
Victor G. Audubon; 1859 also published by Victor Audubon using Roe
Lockwood and Son of New York; 1860 also by Victor Audubon and Lockwood;
1861 by John Woodhouse Audubon and Lockwood; 1863 (no information
available); 1865 by John Woodhouse Audubon, New York; and 1871 by George
R. Lockwood.
The
Imperial Quadrupeds
This incredibly detailed
work is officially termed The Viviparous Quadrupeds
of North America. These mammals of North
America were published in three volumes, dating 1845, 1846, and 1848.
Somewhat more that 303 Imperial sets were printed. These are rare and
very valuable today. There were likely no subsequent Imperial
editions produced,
but already produced images were likely used in the publishing of a
subsequent publication.
These lithographs were printed on paper sized at
22 x 28 inches,
termed the imperial size, and also defined as the elephant size.
(Note that this is smaller than the double
elephant size of 27 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches.) Besides the size, these
prints are identified by the legend at the lower right "Lith. Printed &
Cold. by J.T. Bowen, Phila."
The
Octavo Quadrupeds
Audubon's sons saw the need
to reduce the size of the Imperials, and beginning in 1849, the octavo
edition of The Quadrupeds of North America
was published in three volumes. Volume 1 was followed in 1851 with
the second volume, and the final, the third volume was published in
1854. Between 1,999 and 2,004 sets were published in this first
edition. The size for these editions was about
6 1/2 x 10 1/2
inches.
A second edition was
published in 1852-54, a third in 1856-60, and a fourth in 1870.
The Bien
Edition
The Bien
edition prints of the Birds of America were produced
by the Audubon family, and thus are properly
termed originals. Unlike the Havell edition prints which were
produced in England, the Bien Edition prints were produced completely in
America. Thus, they are truly American originals. In 1858, about seven
years after John James Audubon passed away, his younger son John Woodhouse
Audubon initiated an ambitious project to reissue the Birds of America
to solve some of the mounting financial problems. He recruited the Roe
Lockwood Company in New York city to publish the works and Julius Bien
for lithography. Unlike the Havells which were produced from copper
engraving plates, Julius Bien utilized the newly emerging
chromolithography process as a way of reducing the costs of production.
Chromolithography utilized different sets of printing stones to produce
a given plate, some with different colors to produce the final colored
image. The use of different stones occasionally resulted in very slight
misregister of colors on the dark outlines of birds and background, thus
serving as a charming reminder of chromolithography process. Larger
images were printed on a single page as in the Havell edition, whereas
smaller images were printed two per page. All the larger images as well
as some smaller images carry the credit "Chromolithy by J. Bien, New
York, 1860". Thus these images are commonly referred to as the Bien
edition plates. Unfortunately, the start of the Civil War in 1860
brought an abrupt end to this project (and a financial ruin to the
Audubon family) after only about 105 pages were printed. It was said
that about 100 copies of each page (with bird images) were produced, but
most of them did not survive.
