John James Audubon

Trumpeter Swan: an Original 1st Edition Hand Colored Audubon Bird Lithograph

1840

This is an original rare and extremely collectible 1st royal octavo edition John James Audubon hand-colored royal octavo lithograph entitled "American Swan", No. 77, Plate 384, from Audubon's "Birds of America". It was lithographed, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen and published in Philadelphia between 1840-1844. It depicts an adult white American Swan swimming in a body of water. Plants with yellow flowers are in the foreground and hills are in the background. This original rare first edition hand-colored Audubon bird lithograph has a mildly wavy lower edge of the paper where it was previously bound. It is otherwise in excellent condition. The sheet measures 6.63" x 10.13". The original text pages 226-234 are included. John James Audubon (1785-1851) was a naturalist and artist. He was initially unsuccessful financially prior to the publication of his famous work “The Birds of America”, spending time in debtor’s prison, once stabbing a disgruntled investor in self-defense. However, his obsession with birds and art motivated him to persist in his goal of documenting every bird in America via his watercolor paintings and publishing his works for all to enjoy. Audubon's first illustrations were published in a large elephant folio size. Due to their expense they were purchased in rather small numbers by the wealthy. To reach a larger audience, Audubon, with the help of his sons and J. T. Bowen, published a smaller octavo sized lithograph version, which were much more affordable. With the success of his bird projects, Audubon then turned his attention to four-legged animals. He explored the Missouri River in 1843 sketching the four-legged animals he encountered in their natural setting. His expedition covered some of the same regions recently explored by Lewis and Clark, traveling from present day Alaska to Mexico. Audubon realized that this was an opportunity to document these animals in the still relatively pristine American wilderness, before man encroached on their environment. Between 1845 and 1848, Audubon and his sons John Woodhouse Audubon and Victor Gifford Audubon produced a set of elephant folio sized lithographs that were primarily engraved and hand colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. The publication, which included text descriptions of the animals was published 3 years before Audubon died. As with the birds, this was followed by a three-volume set of 155 octavo-sized plates entitled “The Quadrupeds of North America” completed and published by Audubon’s sons, John, Jr. and Victor. Audubon prints continue to be popular and a wise investment. The double elephant folio set...

This is an original John James Audubon hand-colored 1st octavo edition lithograph entitled "Whooping Crane, Male, adult", No. 63, Plate 313 from Audubon...

This original first edition hand-colored lithograph entitled "Canada Goose" was produced by J. T. Bowen after a drawing by John James Audubon. It was published in Audubon's first octavo edition of Birds of America in Philadelphia in 1840. It depicts two Canada geese, a male and a female. This Audubon bird lithograph is in excellent condition other than tiny foci (1-2 mm) of discoloration at the edge of the upper margin of the sheet and some wrinkling along the left edge related to the book binding. The print is otherwise in very good condition. The original descriptive text from Audubon's publication is included with the purchase of this beautiful and striking lithograph. The sheet measures 10.13' x 6.75". John James Audubon (1785-1851) was a naturalist and artist. He was initially unsuccessful financially prior to the publication of his famous work “The Birds of America”, spending time in debtor’s prison...

This is an original rare and extremely collectible first octavo edition John James Audubon hand colored lithograph entitled "Brown Pelican, Young First Winter", No. 85, Plate 424, fr...

Classical Bird print, after John James Audubon, printed by Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, New York unframed, 17 x 14 inches color print on pap...

Classical Bird print, after John James Audubon, printed by Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, New York unframed, 17 x 14 inches color print on paper Condition: very good Provenance:...

Antique print titled 'Anas Cygnus Tab. II'. Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' close relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped ...

"The Wild Swan" by George Edwards from "A Natural History of Birds, Most of which have not been figured or described and others very little known..." published in London between 174...