The World's Only Direct-camera Audubon Quadruped Re-creations.

Grey Fox, Plate # 21, limited edition of 750, 22" x 28", Southart/Parkway Series  $300

Toward the end of his life, Audubon endeavored to depict all the known species of North American mammals.  These were published in three sets by J. Bowen between 1845 and 1848.  Known in the trade as the Imperials, his detailed images measured 22 x 28 inches.  We have produced same size facsimiles of these engravings, using the fine originals from the Princeton University collection.  These reproductions, as with our Birds of America reproductions, are direct-camera prints.  They represent the first successful attempt to reproduce directly from the actual antique originals, instead of reproducing a mere photograph of an original.  The 100% rag, acid-free Somerset archival paper is imported from England, and has the tone and texture of the originals.

GRAY FOX – PLATE XXI

Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Look closely at this image; what is that gray fox looking at? One way to judge the superior quality of the print is by the fine detail of the feather floating above the gray fox’s nose. In lesser images the feather is absent, leading some to say the fox is posed unnaturally, but here Audubon has created a playful scenario that begs the question: Did the bird get away just in the nick of time?

The gray fox, with shorter, stouter legs than the red fox, is the only member of this family that regularly climbs trees. It dens in hollow logs, rocky ledges, and the abandoned homes of burrowing animals. The lack of a white tipped tail also distinguishes it from its more famous and more vermillion cousin.

After describing a cunning hunt in which a gray fox trailed and pointed on a covey of quail, patiently stalked and pounced on his prey, “at the same instant the whirring of the distracted covey was heard as the affrighted birds took wing; two or three sharp screams succeeded, and the successful prowler immediately passed out of the field with an unfortunate partridge in his mouth, evidently with the intention of seeking a more retired spot to make a dainty meal.” Audubon wrote in defense of this capricious carnivore, “Condemn not the Fox too hastily; he has a more strikingly carnivorous tooth than yourself, indicating the kind of food he is required to seek; he takes no wanton pleasure in destroying the bird, he exhibits to his companions no trophies of his skill, and is contented with a meal whilst you are perhaps not satisfied when your capacious bird-bag is filled.”