John James Audubon

Brown Pelican /// Natural History Ornithology Bird Art John James Audubon Sea

1840-1844

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Booby Gannet" (Plate 426, No. 86) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 10.38" x 6.75" Image size: 5.94" x 5.5" Condition: Two small tears at top edge. In otherwise excellent condition with strong colors Notes: Provenance: private collection - Seattle, WA. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition painted May 14, 1832. Audubon wrote: "I am unable to find a good reason for those who have chosen to call these birds 'boobies'. Authors, it is true, generally represent them as extremely stupid; but to me the word is utterly inapplicable to any bird with which I am acquainted". The view of the Florida Keys is based on a drawing by George Lehman. The bird family Sulidae comprises the gannets and boobies. Collectively called sulids, they are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish and similar prey. The 10 species in this family are often considered congeneric in older sources, placing all in the genus Sula. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Bonaparte’s Flycatching-Warbler (Great Magnolia)" (Plate 73, No. 15) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 10.5" x 6.5" Image size: 7.5" x 5.63" Condition: Minor area of discoloration upper right corner. In excellent condition with strong colors Notes: Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition painted on August 13, 1821. The Canada warbler is a small boreal songbird of the New World warbler family. It summers in Canada and northeastern United States and winters in northern South America. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Wilson’s Petrel - Mother Carey’s Chicken" (Plate 460, No. 92) Portfolio: The Birds of America, F...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Herring or Silvery Gull" (Plate 448, No. 90) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medi...

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