ABOUT PRINCETON AUDUBON LIMITED

Beginning in 1985, the outstanding printing firm Princeton Polychrome Press, then located in Princeton, New Jersey produced our collection of double elephant Audubon prints.  This organization, the predecessor to Princeton Audubon Limited and then owned by one of the world's foremost collectors of Audubon originals, the late David Johnson, achieved an enviable nationwide reputation by reproducing fine art prints for the National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Detroit Institute of Arts. 

The printing of our collection actually began as a test of the craftsmanship of our organizations uniquely skilled professionals.  The results of this test now speak for themselves in museums, galleries, and homes throughout the world.

During 2003 and early 2004, we moved our offices and print room to Schooley's Mountain, in Morris County, New Jersey.  From here we continue to offer the world's finest Audubon reproductions, and the fine service we have come to be known for.

Origins of Princeton Audubon Limited

By Libbie Harrover Johnson

Dave's and my interest in art prints could have been foreseen in the dowry each brought to the marriage.  My worldly possessions were two heirloom quilts from the Valley of Virginia and two framed etchings purchased with the first dollars I saved after going to work in Washington, D. C.  Fresh off a Virginia farm, I was captivated by a display of bird dog prints in an art shop window at 13th and G Streets, walked in and laid down my life savings for artistic renderings of both an Irish Setter and an English Setter.  I walked out of the shop feeling the richest of collectors.

Dave owned two etchings by Gordon Grant, "Gull Convoy" and "Sons of Peter."  Purchased at Associated American Artists on 5th Avenue in New York City for twelve dollars each, they reflected not only his abiding interest in sailing and the sea, but his early involvement in the graphic arts.

Birds and graphic arts!  Is it any wonder that in time we both fell under the spell of the sublime beauty of John James Audubon's classic Birds of America?  Now, we not only prowled about art shops, but auction houses, always on the lookout for the best-preserved of the original prints, hand engraved and hand colored by Robert Havell and Sons in London, England, between 1827 and 1839, and known as the Double Elephant Folio.

The two of us approached each pre-auction display of Audubon/Havell prints quite differently.  I stood back at a distance, indulging in the greatest of opportunities for indoor birding.  Close enough to see each bird, yet far enough not to be given a hint of identity in the print's title.  1,065 life-sized species perched or flying across 435 prints hanging in the auction house.  Dave, on the other hand, was moving from print to print with a magnifying eyepiece in hand, examining each for fading of colors, possible disintegration of the paper, the Whatman watermark.

The idea for Princeton Audubon Limited came out of this shared Audubon print addiction.  Why not reproduce some of the favorite and most beautiful of the subjects in faithful and affordable prints for others to enjoy?  Using our collection of carefully selected originals to work from, the expert craftsmen at Dave's company, Princeton Polychrome Press, captured the clarity and detail of the originals, now know as the Havell prints.  Dave rejected the color transparency method of reproduction as inadequate for the fidelity he wanted and chose a proprietary direct camera technique that he had pioneered at his company.  The starting point was the original Audubon print from which printing plates were created in a special camera and at same size to the original print with no loss of detail or color quality.

But the techniques and hand craftsmanship would be wasted if archival-quality paper and light-fast inks were not used.  He searched for pigments and had inks manufactured and bought paper that matched that of the original prints.  The word facsimile was not taken lightly!

The thirty-seven reproductions have been widely acclaimed by the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan, proud possessor of 431 of the original 433 Audubon watercolor paintings; Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary at "Mill Grove" in Audubon, Pennsylvania, where the young Audubon spent the first three years after his arrival in America in the early 1800's.  For one of the thirty-seven reproductions, the White Pelican, Princeton Polychrome Press won the coveted "Nth Award," or "Best in Show," presented by the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation of Delaware Valley, an organization serving the print and graphic arts industry in a 62-county area surrounding its Philadelphia headquarters.  High praise indeed from a peer group in the printing industry.

Best in Show!  Nth Award!  That says it all about Princeton Audubon Limited prints.

Editor's note: Audubon's 435 engravings were produced from 433 watercolor paintings.  The thirty-seventh image done by Princeton Audubon Limited was plate number one, the Wild Turkey, intended to be an edition of 500.  It is currently out of stock and not presently offered on our website.

Upon the retirement of David Johnson, the founder of Princeton Audubon Limited, the remaining prints were moved to our new location in Morris County, New Jersey.  Please make a note of our new address.  PO Box 26, Schooley's Mountain, NJ  07870.