Audubon's "Birds of America" has a very special significance for the University of Michigan Library. In 1839, it was the first book purchased for the collection and cost $970, quite an act of faith for a new university which had yet to hold its first class or erect its first building! Today, millions of volumes later, "Birds of America" remains the single most valuable printed book in the University Library's collection. With "Homage to Audubon," Special Collections highlights this text as well as other notable bird books acquired by the Library in the ensuing years.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120253/1/homage_to_audubon_93.pd

Tanner, Wesley B.

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Deep Blue Documents at the University of Michigan

Deep BlueDeep Blue https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/documentsResearch Collections Library (University of Michigan Library)1993Homage to Audubon: The IllustratedBird Book 1300-1860Tanner, Wesley B.http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/120253Downloaded from Deep Blue, University of Michigan's institutional repositoryto The Illustrated Bird Book 1300 - 1860 1I0MAGE TO AUDUBON An E.rhibitioll June 1, J 993 - July 28, 1993 to The Illustrated Bird Bool{ 1300 - 1860 Special Collections Library The University of Michigan Library Ann Arbor, Michigan Copyright 1993 by the University of Michigan Library University of Michigan, AIIII Arbor Designed by \Vcslcy B. Tanllcr, Ann Arbor ~ James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, Or:~ the island if Santo Domingo. Ajter a corrifort-able childhood in France Audubon emigrated in 1803 to the United States, where he was to spend a lifetime as an artist and naturalist recording the fauna if his adopted country. It was not until after repeated business failures that Audubon was able tofind a proper outletfor his tal-ents, in 1820 he published his drawings if American birds. Audubon's Birds ofAlnerica, with 435 hand-col-ored engraved plates depicting in actual size virtually all species of American birds then known, was completed in 1838, and remains one if the extraordinal), publishing ventures if all time. Audubon's drawings are a'mong the most appealing and arresting zoological illustrations ever done. A 1-though Audubon worked primarily from mounted speci-mens, as did other bird illustrators, he enlivened his drawings with insights gained from extensive field observations. Ornithologists often found the drawings too emotional and impressionistic to be usiful for serious research. In his fondness for dramatic poses Audubon [ 5 J occasionally placed his birds in anatomically impossible positions. Still, their attraction remains undiminished. Audubon's Birds of Alnerica has very special sig-nificancefor the University rifMichigan Libra1). It was the first book purchased for the collection. The Regents authorized its acquisition on February 5, 1838, and the Libra1) ' s copy was obtained the following year from William A. Colman, a New York bookseller. l'he pur-chase price was the then considerable sum rif $970, quite an act offaithfor a new university which had yet to hold its first class or erect its first building! Today, six million volum.es later, Birds of Alnerica remains the single most valuable printed book in the University Library's collec-tion. With this exhibition, we pay hOlnage to Audubon by displaying alongside Birds of Alnerica some of the notable illustrated bird books acquired by the Libra1) in the ensuing 155 years. [6J HOMAGE TO AUDUBON Virtually every human culture has endowed birds with special sym-bolic attributes such as the almost universal interpretation as birds being symbols of the sOlll and as messengers. Bird illustrations, therefore, have served to give these symbols a pictorial representa-tion. But birds have also played a purely decorative role. Usually tbe birds depicted in early manuscripts are artistic creations and represent no species in particular. Though, in latcr manuscripts with mOl'e sophisticated illuminations, birds can sometimes be iden-tified with surprising accuracy. Case 1. Symbolic and Decorative Illustration Michigan MS. 80 Gospels. Greek. ) 287 A.D. Michigan IVlS. 9 I Calendrical tables. Armenian. 15th century. Michigan Islamic MS. 280 Firdawsi. Shiilmrl11lalz. Persian. 16th century? Michigan Islamic MS. 34·2 $a'ib, Mirza Mul}ammad 'Ali, d. 1669 or 70. Divan. Persian. 1692 A.D. [Displayed for the binding.] [9J The art of printing and the development of the woodcut did much to promote interest in natural history. In ,the early period the accu-racy of the pictures was not particularly good, the artists often working from their imaginations or only scanty description. The medium of \""oodclIt also limited their abilities to depict the bird accurately. Case 2. Early Woodcut Illustration Bran t, Sebastian, 1t1·58-1521. Stultifera navis. Basel: Johann Bergmann, de Olpe, 1 Mar. 14·97. Turbcrvi lIe, George, 154·0?-1610? The booke qffalconrie or hawkingjfor the onely delight a1ld pleasure qf alllloblemen and gentlemen . .. London: Printed by Thomas Pur-foot, 1611. Gesner, Konrad, 1516-1565. Historiae animalium. Libel" III. Qui est de avium uatura. Franco-furti: In bibliopolio Andreae Cambieri, l60')-. Aldrovandi, Ulisse, 1522-1605. OrnitJlOlogiae, hoc est de avibus historiae libri XII. Bononiae: Apud FrancisclIll1 de Franciscis Sencnsem, 1599. [ 10 ] By the end of the seventeenth century, woodcllt illustrations had been almost entirely superseded by copperplate engravings. Because such plates (reproduced by the intaglio process) had to be printed independently of the text (which was produced in relief), something of the organic unity of the book was lost. On the other hand, more care could be taken with the execution of the plates themselves and the illustrations reached a new height of accuracy, both from this new artistic process and the scientific awal<ening that had been taking place. Ornithological illustration reached a high level of excellence in the more than two hundred years (ca. 1600-18S0) during which engravings were commonly used. Case 3. Emergence q[ Scientific Ornithology Olin a, Giovanni Pietro. Uccelliera ... Roma: Presso M. Angelo de Hossi, ] 684·. Jonstonus, Joannes, 160S-1675. Historiae naturalis de avibus libri VI. Francofurti ad Moenum: Impensa Matthaei Meriani, 1650. Willughby, Francis, 1(535-1672. The ornithology .. . in three books ... London: Printed by A.C. for John Martyn, 1678. [ 11 ] Case 4. Early Color Plate Books Catesby, Mark, 1679?-174·9. The naturallzistOlY qfCarolilla, FLorida, and the Bahama Islands ... London: Printed at the expence of the author, 1731-4·3. Pennant, Thomas, 1726-1798. The British zoology. Lonoon: J. and J. March, 1766. Case 5. Eighteenth Century Ornithology Manetti, Saverio, 1723-1785. Storia naturale degli uccelli ... Firellze: Nella stamperia Mouck-iana, 1767-76. Buff'on, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de, 1707-1788. [-listoire natl/relle des oiseau:L'. Paris: De l'Imprimerie royale, 1770-83. Gmelin, Samuel Gottlieb, 1744-1774,. Puteshestvie po Rossii ... St. Petersburg: Pri imp. Akaoemii Nau\" 1771-85. Case 6. Ornithology in the Americas Dumont o'Urvillc, Jules Sebastian Cesar, 1790-184·2. Voyage de La corvette tAstrolabe execute par ordre du /loi, pendant ies a1l11eeS 1826-/827-/828-1829 ... P(lris: J. Tastu, 1830-35. Beechey, Fredcricl, vVilliam, 1769-1856, ed. The zoology of Captain Beech~)"s voyage. London: Henry G. Bolm, 1839. [ 12 ] Hichcwdson, Sir John, 1-787-1865. Fauna boreali-americana; or the zoology cif the 1lorthern parts of British America ... London: J. Murray, 1829-37. Sagra, Ramon de la, 1798-1871. ]-lisioire physique, politiqlle et lultUl'elle de l'fle de Cuba. Paris: A. Bertrand, 1838 [i.e. 1839J- J 857. Case 7. Audubon's English Contemporaries Jardine, Sir William, bart., 1800-1874·. The naturalist's librmy. Ornithology. British birds. Edinburgh: W H. Lizars, 184·3. Bewicl<, Thomas, 1753-1828. I-listmy cif British birds. Newcastle: Beilby & Bewicl<, 1797-1804·. Bewick, Thomas, 1753-1828. Original woodblock of a golden plover, engraved by far his His-tmy of British birds. Gould, John, 1801·-1881 . A monograjJh if the Trochilidae, or family qf hummingbirds. Lon-don: The author, 18+9-61. Case 8. Audubon's Birds if America Audubon, John James, 1785-1851. The birds of America; from original drawings by John James Audubon ... London: Published by the author, 1827-38. Few books enthrall the viewer like Audubon's "double-elephant f'olio," but its visual power was not achieved easily. Audubon trav-[ 13 ] elecl to Britain in 1826 in search of an engTaver capable of under-tal<ing the massive project. William H. Lizars of Edinburgh com-pleted the first ten plates before withdrawing. Audubon then trans-ferred the project to Hobert Havell, Jr. of London, who finally brought the \vor!{ to completion in 1838. Worl(ing from Audubon 's original watercolor drawings, Hcwell first engraved each picture on a large copper plate. After the engravings had been pulled, each print was carefully hand-colored with watercolo,'s according to Audubon's directions. The number of copies actually printed wa~ probably less than 190, of which only some 125 complete sets exist today - the rest having been brol{en lip, lost, or destroyed. [New plates will be shown daily.] Audubon, John James, 1785-1851. The ornithological biograph:y, or an account of the habits of the birds f!.fthe United States of America .. . Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Blaci<, 18S I-S9 . Audubon planned to supplement his Birds of A.merica with a let-terpress text in which each illustrated bird would be described in plate number order. He chose to issue the tcxt separately from the plates, however, thus avoiding the otherwise oncrOllS expense of satisfying Britain's copyright deposit laws. Another practical con-cern was Audubon's lacl, of scientific training. He sorely needed a collaborator to edit the tex t and to supply taxonomic and other details, A co-author was found in William MacGillivray of Edin-burgh, who saw the Ornithological biograp/~y to completion in five volumes ill 1839. The text makes engaging reading, for it consists largely of Audubon's comments on bird habits and anecdotes derived from his wide-ranging travels. Audubon, John James, 1785-1851. The birds cif America . .. Re-issued by J. IV Audubon. New York: Roe Lockwood & Son, 1860. This never-completed rcprint, published by Audubon's son, [ 14· ] John Woodhouse Aucl\.olbon, is of great rarity. Only some 50 com-plcte copies are believed to exist. Sadly it is little Imown, because though not quite equal to the original, it is a masterpiece of print-ing in its own right. The plan \vas to reissue a111·35 plates in full-size reprodllction printed entirely by chromolithography. The not-ed chrolllolithographer Julius Bien fit'st lIsed the original engraved copper plates to transfer an accurate image to the lithographic stone. Then Bien painstaldngly printed the colors through a series of multiple lithographic impressions. The plates are not exact fac-similes, for Bien made occasional compositional changes, simplified the backgrounds, and, in the case of smaller birds, reproduced two plates side-by-side 011 one full-size sheet. Publication ceased in 1860 after only 150 of the original plates had been reproduced on 105 sheets. [June 11·-19 and July 19-QL~ only] Reading Room Exhibit Case Audubon, John James, 1785-1851. The birds of America,jrom drawings made in l!le United States a1ld their territories. New York: J. J. Audubon, 184·0-14, Audubon recognized the commercial potential for an inexpen-sive edition of The Birds r.if America which combined plates and text. No sooner did Audubon return to the United States from England in 1839 than he began work on this lithographic reprint, common-ly styled the "octavo edition." It was eventually published in seven volumes at one-tenth the price of the folio edition. The letter-press text, a slightly revised version of Audubon's Ornithological biogra-phy, was accompanied by 500 hand-colored lithographic plates instead of the folio's 4·35. Although considerably reduced in size, the plates are close reproductions of the folio plates. A camera lucida was probably lIsed to reduce the pIa tes to the correct size for trans-fer to the lithographic stone. [New plates will be shown daily.] [ 15 ] "Vall Case I, 2 & 4 Cassin, John, 181 S-1869. Mallllllalogy aud ornithology [atlas]. Philadelphia, Printed by C. Shennan & Sons, 1858. fVall Case 3 Engraved portrait of John James Audubon by Charles Turner after a painting by Frederic!< Cruid<shanl< [ca. 18S5?]. "Vall Case 5 & 6 Grayson, Andrew Jaci{SOIl, 1818-1869. Birtfs '!ithe Pacific Slope. San Francisco, The Arion Press, 1986. This worh. was nevel' published during Grayson's lifetime. The original paintings are hOllsed in 'The Bancroft Library, University of California. [ 16 ] 

Homage to Audubon: The Illustrated Bird Book 1300-1860

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Homage to Audubon: The Illustrated Bird Book 1300-1860

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