Without doubt the best-known ornithological and zoological artist of all time, John James Laforest Audubon’s ambitious and eventually popular “Great Idea” of making and publishing his own drawings of all the birds of North America resulted in the most monumental and perhaps most “American” natural history works ever published. His desire to make his work more affordable and widely available resulted in his production of a miniature publication, the first edition of which was completed in five years (1839–1844) and comprised 1,200 sets.

Title Page, 1840

One-eighth the size of the original large folio engravings, the octavo lithographs exhibit a remarkable degree of attention to quality and detail. Using the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size from the originals and then drawn onto lithographic stones. Some compositional changes were made to accommodate the smaller size. Unlike the double elephant originals, the lithographs were issued in correct phylogenic order. The prints bear the plate number in the upper right corner and the subscription number in the upper left.

Title Page, 1841

The present group comprises all prints from volumes I and II and a few selections from volume III. Prints are offered individually and include some of the most desirable and dynamic birds in the octavo set, including the Snowy Owl, the Iceland Falcon, the Common Osprey Fish Hawk, the Great Horned Owl, the Wood Wren, the Common Blue Bird, and the American Robin.

A total of 144 prints, nearly all in superb condition with gorgeous hand color, are available, providing an outstanding opportunity for collectors to acquire some of the most important octavo prints, as well as to fill in birds missing from their collections.

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