Birds of America (Easton Press Limited Deluxe Edition)
AUDUBON, John James. Birds of America. Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, 2016. 7 vols.
Large Octavo. 7 volumes in full black leather. Spines with raised bands deeply inlaid in 22-carat gold. All edges gilt. Silk moiré endpapers. Satin ribbon page markers. Pages Smyth-sewn into binding. 500 full-colour plates throughout, reproducing the complete 1844 octavo edition. Deluxe limited edition. Limited to 2,000 numbered sets, this being number 49.
John James Audubon (1785–1851) was a French-American naturalist and painter whose ambition was singular and in its own way slightly mad: to find, observe, draw, and publish every species of bird in North America at life size, in its natural habitat, in a posture that conveyed something of its living character. He spent years travelling the continent — on foot, on horseback, by flatboat — shooting specimens, wiring them into lifelike poses, and drawing them with a precision and vividness that no ornithological artist before him had approached. The result was The Birds of America, issued in parts between 1827 and 1838 as a double-elephant folio of 435 hand-coloured aquatint plates, each measuring approximately 39 by 26 inches. It is among the most celebrated illustrated books ever produced, and among the rarest: approximately 120 complete copies are known to survive, most in institutional collections. The most recent copy to come to auction sold for $7.9 million USD.
In 1840 Audubon issued a smaller and more affordable octavo edition, reducing the plates to fit a standard page size and adding detailed descriptive text for each species. Published in seven volumes between 1840 and 1844, the octavo edition contains 500 plates — 65 more than the original folio, incorporating species described in Audubon's Ornithological Biography that had not appeared in the first publication. It was the octavo edition that carried Audubon's work to the widest possible audience in his lifetime, and it is the octavo edition that this Easton Press set reproduces in full. Six of the species depicted have become extinct since the plates were made.
The Easton Press Deluxe Limited Edition, produced in 2016 in a strictly limited run of 2,000 numbered sets and sold out by 2020, presents all 500 plates in full colour across seven volumes bound in full black leather with 22-carat gilt accents and Smyth-sewn pages. It is among the most ambitious productions in the Easton Press catalogue.
Fine throughout. All seven volumes present bold and beautifully.
Please note: This item is a large, multi-volume set and may require additional postage costs. If so, we will contact you after purchase.
This book is currently not on display in store. If you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: [email protected]
Catalogue Number: HH000469
Product Information
Product Information
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Description
AUDUBON, John James. Birds of America. Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, 2016. 7 vols.
Large Octavo. 7 volumes in full black leather. Spines with raised bands deeply inlaid in 22-carat gold. All edges gilt. Silk moiré endpapers. Satin ribbon page markers. Pages Smyth-sewn into binding. 500 full-colour plates throughout, reproducing the complete 1844 octavo edition. Deluxe limited edition. Limited to 2,000 numbered sets, this being number 49.
John James Audubon (1785–1851) was a French-American naturalist and painter whose ambition was singular and in its own way slightly mad: to find, observe, draw, and publish every species of bird in North America at life size, in its natural habitat, in a posture that conveyed something of its living character. He spent years travelling the continent — on foot, on horseback, by flatboat — shooting specimens, wiring them into lifelike poses, and drawing them with a precision and vividness that no ornithological artist before him had approached. The result was The Birds of America, issued in parts between 1827 and 1838 as a double-elephant folio of 435 hand-coloured aquatint plates, each measuring approximately 39 by 26 inches. It is among the most celebrated illustrated books ever produced, and among the rarest: approximately 120 complete copies are known to survive, most in institutional collections. The most recent copy to come to auction sold for $7.9 million USD.
In 1840 Audubon issued a smaller and more affordable octavo edition, reducing the plates to fit a standard page size and adding detailed descriptive text for each species. Published in seven volumes between 1840 and 1844, the octavo edition contains 500 plates — 65 more than the original folio, incorporating species described in Audubon's Ornithological Biography that had not appeared in the first publication. It was the octavo edition that carried Audubon's work to the widest possible audience in his lifetime, and it is the octavo edition that this Easton Press set reproduces in full. Six of the species depicted have become extinct since the plates were made.
The Easton Press Deluxe Limited Edition, produced in 2016 in a strictly limited run of 2,000 numbered sets and sold out by 2020, presents all 500 plates in full colour across seven volumes bound in full black leather with 22-carat gilt accents and Smyth-sewn pages. It is among the most ambitious productions in the Easton Press catalogue.
Fine throughout. All seven volumes present bold and beautifully.
Please note: This item is a large, multi-volume set and may require additional postage costs. If so, we will contact you after purchase.
This book is currently not on display in store. If you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: [email protected]
Catalogue Number: HH000469
