Preparatory
Watercolor Compositions
Original Double
Elephant Birds of America
What is a
Double Elephant?
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.
What is a Double Elephant?
"It is now a month since my work was begun by Mr. Lizars;
the paper is of unusual size, called 'double elephant', and the plates are
to be finished in such superb style as to eclipse all of the same kind in
existence." - J.J. Audubon, December 10, 1826
And 'eclipse all' he did! No other ornithology prints
could measure up to Audubon's - literally! As indicated above, the term
'double elephant' refers to the unusual size of the paper used by Audubon
and his engravers (Havell followed Lizars) for the original "Birds of
America." The untrimmed paper measured a gargantuan 29 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches!
By contrast, the size of paper Audubon used for his Quadrupeds was a smaller
22" x 28", and simply termed 'elephant' paper. Why such a large (double)
size? Audubon insisted that each bird be depicted life-size. When you
consider the immense proportions of subjects such as the Brown Pelican or of
the White Pelican or the American Flamingo, the necessity of choosing
'double elephant' paper becomes obvious.
But to this, Audubon himself adds ...
"Merely to say, that each of my illustrations is of the
size of nature, were too vague ... Not only is every object, as a whole, of
the natural size, but also every portion of each object. The compass aided
me in its delineation, regulated and corrected each part, ... The bill, the
feet, the legs, the claws, the very feathers as they project one beyond
another, have been accurately measured." John James Audubon. Ornithological
Biography, Volume 1
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. 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.
