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Lot 87
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J.J. Audubon, 2 Bien Edition Double Elephant Folio Chromolithographs, Cedar Bird & Bohemian Chatterer
J.J. Audubon, 2 Bien Edition Double Elephant Folio Chromolithographs, Cedar Bird & Bohemian Chatterer
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Description:

J.J. Audubon, 2 Bien Edition Double Elephant Folio Chromolithographs, Cedar Bird & Bohemian Chatterer

Two Bien Edition chromolithographs, ca. 1860, from "Birds of America" after John James Audubon (1785-1851), the noted ornithologist, naturalist, and artist. Plate 245 depicts the Cedar Bird, and Plate 246 depicts the Bohemian Chatterer. Expected wear including light, even toning. Minor closed tears and chips to the edges have been professionally repaired. Please see additional notes about condition below. Else near fine and in resplendent full color. Each print measures 20" x 27," which suggests trimming from the original 26" x 39" Bien Edition prints, but still qualifies them as double elephant folio size.

John James Audubon's landmark illustrated series "Birds of America" was published in London and Edinburgh, ca. 1827-1838. Intended to be an exhaustive inventory of avian species from the United States, "Birds of America" eventually comprised 435 prints, and included a handful of species now extinct, such as the passenger pigeon and the Carolina Parakeet. Audubon's watercolors were "drawn from nature," that is, by studying dead specimens staged in natural positions. In addition to the realistic rendering of birds' plumage, wing span, beak size, etc., the plants, insects, and environmental elements depicted in Audubon's watercolors were also scientifically accurate. The double elephant folio size enabled the viewer to see the birds in life size and vibrant full color.

"Birds of America" was so popular that it went through several editions, or printing series. The Havell Edition, produced by printmaker Robert Havell, transferred Audubon's watercolors to copper plates, and the subsequent prints were hand-colored. The Royal Octavo Edition, produced by J.T. Bowen in 1844, issued the prints in a much smaller size. Around 1858, Audubon's sons, John Woodhouse Audubon (1812-1862) and Victor Audubon (1809-1860), proposed a third series, which is known as the Bien Edition, after Julius Bien, who specialized in a streamlined, less expensive printmaking process called chromolithography. Bien Edition prints are more scarce than the Havell Edition prints because the series was discontinued after the outbreak of the Civil War. Only about 150 plates, or 105 pages, were ever printed of the Bien Edition, and many of these were lost.

The lot includes:

1. After John James Audubon, No. 3-5, Plate 245, "Bohemian Chatterer" (in the earlier Havell Edition, this appeared as No. 73, Plate 363.) Print and plate information is printed at top, and the caption reads: "Bohemian Chatterer. / Bombycilla Garrula. / Male 1. Female 2. / Pyrus Americanus Canadian Service Tree." Printed at bottom is: "Drawn from Nature / by J.J. Audubon, F, R, S, F, L, S." Scattered minor chipping has been expertly silked. Several small closed tears along the bottom margin, and a minor "v" shaped closed tear along the upper margin, have been professionally silked. Else near fine. 20" x 27."

The Bohemian Chatterer, Audubon noted, lived in "the mountainous nature of the country skirting the Northern Pacific Ocean… in New Caledonia and the Russian American Territories, [rather] than to the eastward of the Rocky Mountain chain… "

2. After John James Audubon, No. 3-6, Plate 246, "Cedar Bird" (in the earlier Havell Edition, this was published as No. 9, Plate 43.) Print and plate information is printed at top, and the caption reads: "Cedar Bird, / Bombycilla Carolineunsis. Briss, / Male, 1. Female, 2. / Red Cedar. Juniperus virginiana." Printed at bottom is: "Chromolithy. by J. Bien, New York, 1860." Scattered minor chipping has been expertly silked. Professional repairs have been made to a closed tear measuring 3.5" extending from the top edge; a "y" shaped closed tear/reattached piece to the right edge; and a minor closed tear at the bottom edge. Else near fine. 20" x 27."

The Cedar Bird inhabits the "Middle Districts" and summers in the Mississippi Delta. According to Audubon: "The appetite of the Cedar-bird is of so extraordinary a nature as to prompt it to devour every fruit or berry that comes in its way. In this manner they gorge themselves to such excess as sometimes to be unable to fly, and suffer themselves to be taken by the hand."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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