The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories [Seven Volume Set]
- New York: V.G. Audubon. Roe Lockwood & Son, 1859
New York: V.G. Audubon. Roe Lockwood & Son, 1859. Very Good+. New York: V.G. Audubon. Roe Lockwood & Son, 411 Broadway, 1859. Third Octavo Edition. Seven volumes; large octavos (27.5cm); publisher's full blind-embossed brown morocco, gilt-lettered spines in six compartments, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers; five hundred (500) hand-colored plates lithographed by J.T. Bowen, collated complete. Leather a bit scuffed and scratched, especially along spines, some rubbing to joints, spines uniformly darkened, scattered foxing to textblocks and plates, else a Very Good set. Contemporary ownership ex libris of R.E. Carr to front pastedowns.
"The legacy of Audubon's work must be judged by a dual standard - as art and as science...Where Audubon was interested in a bird he would lavish its representation a microscopic detail satisfying to the most critical scientist...His passion for representing birds in violent action had obvious advantages and defects, but it bears witness to the fact that he studied and painted birds in life, not stuffed in museum cases" (Dictionary of American Biography).
"The legacy of Audubon's work must be judged by a dual standard - as art and as science...Where Audubon was interested in a bird he would lavish its representation a microscopic detail satisfying to the most critical scientist...His passion for representing birds in violent action had obvious advantages and defects, but it bears witness to the fact that he studied and painted birds in life, not stuffed in museum cases" (Dictionary of American Biography).
Details
Title
The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories [Seven Volume Set]
Author
John James Audubon
Condition
Very Good
Publisher
V.G. Audubon. Roe Lockwood & Son: New York
Date
1859