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Historical Bibliography Updated: May 24, 2020

The birds of America. From original drawings by John James Audubon. 4 vols.

Publication Details

London: Published by the Author, 1827 CE–1838 CE.

Contains 435 hand-colored plates in double elephant folio format, originally issued in 87 parts. The birds of America is widely regarded as the greatest illustrated ornithological work ever published, and one of the greatest works of natural history illustration ever created.

  • Imprint dates: v. 1, 1827-30; v. 2, 1831-34; v. 3, 1834-35; v. 4, 1835-38, June 20.
  • Plate LXIV drawn from nature by Lucy Audubon.
  • Plates I-II, VI-VII engraved by W [illiam] H[ome] Lizars, retouched by R [obert] Havell, junr.; pl VIII-IX engraved by W.H. Lizars; pl. III-V, CI-CV, CVIII, CX engraved, printed and coloured by R. Havell, junr.; pl. X-C, CVI-CVII, CIX, CXII-CCCCXXXV engraved, printed and coloured by R. Havell.
  • Plates II, VII dated 1829; pl. CVI-CX, CXII-CVX dated 1831; pl. CXXXI-CXL, CXLIII-CLV dated 1832; pl. CLVI-CLXXVII, CLXXIX-CLXXXII, CLXXXIV-CLXXXV dated 1833; pl. CLXXXVI-CXCVII, CXCIX, CCII-CCXXXV dated 1834; pl. CCXXXVI-CCLXXXV, CCLXXXVII, CCLXXXIX-CCXC dated 1835; pl. CCLXXXVI, CCLXXXVIII, CCXCI-CCCL dated 1836; pl. CCCLI-CCCC dated 1837; pl. CCCCI-CCCCXXXV dated 1838.
  • Plate CCLX marked "CCXL".
Catalog MetadataReference Information
Entry Number#322
Permanent Linkhttps://staging.historyofmedicine.com/entry/197
Author Bio LinkWikipedia ↗
External URLthe-birds-of-america

Geographic Context

Publication place: London