Black-billed Cuckoo: An Original 1st Ed. Audubon Hand-colored Bird Lithograph
By John James Audubon
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original 1st octavo edition John James Audubon hand-colored lithograph entitled "Black-billed Cuckoo, 1. Male, 2, Female, Magnolia Grandiflora", No. 56, Plate 276 from Audubon's "Birds of America, lithographed, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen and published in Philadelphia between 1840-1844. It depicts a female black-billed cuckoo perched on a branch of a magnolia tree reaching for a flying insect. The male appears to be in flight in front of magnolia leaves on the right, perhaps after the same insect. Magnolia flowers are depicted, as well.
This original 1st octavo edition hand-colored Audubon Black-billed Cuckoo lithograph is in excellent condition, other than a few tiny spots in the upper margin and a tiny faint spot in the lower inscription area. The sheet measures 6.5" high by 10.13" wide. The original text pages, 300-302, from Audubon's 19th century publication are included with the lithograph.
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...
Category
Mid-19th Century Naturalistic Animal Prints
