AUDUBON, John James. The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories. NY et al, [1839-] 1840-1844. 7 vols. 500 HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHED PLATES. FIRST OCTAVO EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY AUDUBON.
7 volumes, royal 8vo (260 x 165 mm). Half-titles, 500 HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHED PLATES after Audubon by W. E. Hitchcock, R. Trembly and others, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen, wood-engraved anatomical diagrams in text. (Some scant spotting, primarily to text leaves and tissue guards.) 19th-century morocco gilt, spines gilt, by P. Low Boston with their ticket (some light rubbing or wear to extremities, two spines slightly sunned). Provenance: Lydia E. E. Greene (presentation inscription, see below).
FIRST OCTAVO EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY JOHN JAMES AUDUBON on the contents leaf of volume one: "Miss Lydia E. E. Greene with the affectionate good wishes of her friend and servant, John J. Audubon, Boston, June 8, 1844." ADDITIONALLY INSCRIBED BY JOHN JAMES AUDUBON in volume two: "Miss Lydia, E. E. Greene; and may God bless her, with the sincerest wishes of her old friend and servant, John J. Audubon, Boston, June 8, 1844." Though little is known of her association with Audubon, Lydia E. E. Greene became a Proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum in 1854. Audubon spent only a few months living in Boston from 1832-1833, but the city made an impact; his wife Lucy wrote a friend that the city “is a more interesting place than any I have seen in the United States, and where we met with a most cordial welcome and obtained eight subscribers to our work [The Birds of America].” Audubon exhibited sketches of his Birds of America at the Boston Athenaeum in August 1832.
Audubon’s double-elephant folio edition of The Birds of America (1827-1838) established his reputation as the greatest ornithological artist of his time. Though that edition was published in London to ensure the quality of the plates, he employed the Philadelphia firm of J. T. Bowen to produce this more commercially viable edition under the close supervision of his sons. The original subscription price was $100, and its commercial success granted Audubon financial security. To the original plate count included in the double-elephant folio edition, the octavo edition adds 65 new images for a total of 500 plates, making it "the most extensive color plate book produced in America up to that time" (Reese). Ayer/Zimmer, p.22; Bennett, p.5; McGill/Wood, p.208; Nissen IVB 51; Reese 34; Sabin 2364.