The Birds of America
[12][10] In his bird art, he mainly forsook oil paint, the medium of serious artists of the day, in favour of watercolours and pastel crayons (and occasionally pencil, charcoal, chalk, gouache, and pen and ink).[12] As a result, in 1826, he set sail for the United Kingdom with 250 of his original illustrations, looking for the financial support of subscribers and the technical abilities of engravers and printers.From 1826 to 1829, he travelled around the UK and to Paris, lecturing on ornithology and frontier American life[21] in an effort to entice wealthy patrons to subscribe to the series of prints.Subscribers included: King Charles X of France; Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom; the 2nd Earl Spencer; and, later, the Americans Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.[19][21] An accompanying text, issued separately, was written by Audubon and the Scottish naturalist and ornithologist William MacGillivray[23] and published in five volumes in Edinburgh between 1831 and 1839, under the title Ornithological Biography, or, An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America."[31] A full 8-volume, double-elephant folio version is on public display in the Audubon Room at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.[33] Since 1992, the Louisiana State University Libraries have hosted "Audubon Day," a semi-annual public showing of all four volumes of LSU's copy of the Birds of America.Following this, the university constructed an exhibit case on the ground floor of the school's Hillman Library to continuously display a rotating selection of plates to the public.[10] In 2007, the university undertook a project to digitize every plate from Birds of America, as well as Audubon's Ornithological Biography, and, for the first time, presented the complete set for public viewing through one site on the internet.[37][38] In 2004, there was an attempted heist of the Transylvania University's four double-sized folios of Birds of America by four college students, Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk, and Chas Allen II.[citation needed] The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library's Rare Book Room has a complete Birds of America, which is often on display.All of Audubon's and Mason's known extant watercolors preparatory for Birds of America are housed at the New-York Historical Society in New York City.[42] The Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas, owns and exhibits John James Audubon's personal copy of Birds of America.[43] The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois owns a copy that previously belonged to Audubon's friend and family doctor, Dr. Benjamin Phillips.[45] In 2010 the North Carolina Museum of Art began a five-year exhibition of its restored four-volume set purchased for the state by Governor William Alexander Graham in 1846.[74] On 6 December 2010, a complete copy of the first edition was sold in London at Sotheby's for £7,321,250[75][76] during the sale of Magnificent Books, Manuscripts and Drawings from the collection of the 2nd Baron Hesketh.This copy was an early subscriber's edition which had originally belonged to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and was later bought by Joseph Verner Reed Jr.[78] Gallery of the rest of the plates.
Zenaida macroura (now called mourning dove).
Birds of America (stories)Egretta tricolorJohn James AudubonJoseph MasonOrnithologyDewey DecimalLC Classnaturalistbirds of the United StatesEdinburghJohn Kirk TownsendNathaniel Jarvis WyethThomas NuttallprintsengravedextinctCarolina parakeetpassenger pigeonLabrador duckgreat aukpinnated grouseEskimo curlewIvory-billed woodpeckerBachman's warblerMaria MartinMeleagris gallopavowatercoloursgouacheConuropsis carolinensisPhiladelphiasubscriptionsengraversLiverpoolManchesterWilliam H. LizarsRobert Havell Jr.Robert Havell Sr"Double Elephant Folio"copperplateaquatintKing Charles X of FranceQueen Adelaide of the United Kingdomthe 2nd Earl SpencerDaniel WebsterHenry ClayWilliam MacGillivrayColumbia UniversityHarvard UniversityUniversity of South CarolinaWilliam Alexander DuerJohn Woodhouse AudubonchromolithographyJulius BienNational Museum of Natural HistoryWashington, D.C.University of Michigan, Ann ArborLouisiana State UniversityDuke of NorthumberlandWall Street JournalUniversity of PittsburghHillman LibraryTransylvania UniversityTeylers MuseumHaarlemguildersBuffalo & Erie County Public LibraryNew-York Historical SocietyStark Museum of ArtOrange, TexasField Museum of Natural HistoryChicago, IllinoisNorth Carolina Museum of ArtWilliam Alexander GrahamLiverpool Central Libraryinteractive kioskNational Museum of ScotlandPaisleyRoyal College of Physicians and SurgeonsBeinecke Rare Book & Manuscript LibraryYale UniversityTrinity College, ConnecticutZenaida macrouraThe Darlington CollectionDartmouth CollegeUnion CollegeSchenectady, NYEliphalet NottToronto Public LibraryLibrary of ParliamentOttawaState Library VictoriaMelbourneMelbourne Public LibraryGeelongSir Redmond BarryMitchell LibraryGlasgowMeisei UniversitySaud Al-Thani of Qatar purchasedChristie'sThe EconomistSotheby'sthe 2nd Baron HeskethprovenanceHenry Withamthe 4th Duke of PortlandYorkshire Philosophical SocietyJoseph Verner Reed JrAphelocoma coerulescensProtonotaria citreaBubo virginianusBird of WashingtonRees's CyclopædiaCathartes auraBranta canadensisPhoenicopterus ruberCaracara cheriwayParidaePsaltriparus minimusParus atricapillusParus rufescensFalco peregrinusnow Tyto furcataCampephilus principalisFalco rusticolusButeo lagopus