JOHN JAMES AUDUBON
Between 1827 and 1838, John James Audubon, brilliant artist and naturalist who dedicated much of his life to painting the birds and quadrupeds of North America, published in London, England, in 'his own style', a series of 435 large-sized, hand-colored etchings with aquatints in a folio entitled The Birds of America. These were reproduced primarily by Robert Havell and Sons from Audubon’s watercolor paintings and often under the direct supervision of Audubon himself. Since he portrayed each bird life size, the larger birds often had to be drawn in unusual positions to fit on the largest copper engraving plates then available, approximately 27 x 39 inches. The largest bird was the wild turkey cock, and the smallest was one of the minute hummingbirds. With the final publication of these prints, Audubon established his Birds of America as the definitive portrayal of American birds in realistic settings. These antique original prints, now more than 160 years old, are known in the print trade as the Audubon-Havell double elephant folio edition because each was printed on giant "double elephant" folio sheets of 100% cotton rag watermarked Whatman paper. Learn much more about Audubon by clicking on the Resources tab above. Thank you.