The Birds Of America By John James Audubon

Understanding The Birds Of America By John James Audubon

The Birds Of America By John James Audubon is a massive ornithological publication first issued between 1827 and 1838. It is not a single book. It is a series of hand-colored copperplate engravings, each life-size or larger, mounted on paper and bound together. The full set contains 435 plates depicting roughly 1,065 individual birds across 105 species. The physical dimensions of each plate are approximately 39.5 by 26 inches, which makes them enormous by any standard. You cannot casually flip through them at a desk without clearing a table first. Most people encounter this work as a curiosity or an investment object. The real value is in the artistic and scientific approach Audubon used. He did not illustrate birds from museum specimens that had been stored in alcohol for months or years. He sketched living birds in the field, often posing them on wires or branches while they were still fresh. This is why the postures look so natural compared to the stiff, taxidermy-style illustrations that were common in European ornithology at the time. The compositions show birds in motion, interacting with their environments, and sometimes even fighting or preening. That level of behavioral accuracy was rare for the period. From a collector standpoint, condition is everything. A plate in fine condition with strong, deep colors and no restoration can command hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. A copy with weak colors, foxing, trimming, or extensive repair drops into a completely different price bracket. I once evaluated a set where the seller claimed it was "complete and untouched" and only found out after bringing it to a conservator that at least forty plates had been hand-colored by a different artist two centuries later. The original plates still existed underneath, but the overcoloring had altered the tonal range and made authentication nearly impossible without X-ray fluorescence testing and paper analysis.

Understanding what you are looking at matters more than owning the complete set. I spent years studying the differences between the Double Elephant folio originals, the quarto reproductions Audubon authorized later, and the various reprint editions that flooded the market in the 1840s through the 1920s. Each has distinct paper types, plate marks, and color characteristics. Mistaking a 19th-century quarto reproduction for a Double Elephant folio is a common error among new collectors. The quarto is roughly half the size, uses a different paper stock, and was produced using a fundamentally different printing process that Audubon approved after the original copperplates were altered. Both have historical value. Neither is interchangeable with the other.

How to Approach Collecting or Studying These Plates

Start by deciding whether you want originals or reproductions. The Double Elephant folio plates are extremely expensive. Recent auction results for a complete set in decent condition range between 1.5 and 2.5 million dollars depending on condition. Individual plates can sell for anywhere from $5,000 to $150,000 depending on the species, condition, and provenance. If your interest is academic or personal rather than investment-driven, the quarto editions or museum-quality reproduction sets make far more sense. Libraries often hold complete quarto sets at a fraction of the cost. Some universities also have digitized portions of their collections accessible through JSTOR or their own digital repository platforms. When examining a plate closely, check these areas first. Look at the plate mark, which is the indentation left by the rolling press. Genuine original impressions show a clean, consistent plate mark around all four edges. Reproductions from the 19th century onward often lack plate marks entirely or simulate them with pencil lines. Check the paper for chain lines and watermark patterns. Audubon's original plates were printed on Whatman paper, which has distinctive laid and chain line textures. Later paper stocks look different under raking light. Examine the color application. Hand coloring was done by professional colorists employed by Audubon. The colors should show slight variations between adjacent feathers and plates. Machine-colored or later printed reproductions tend to look unnaturally uniform. I ran into a specific problem with aplate I acquired a few years back. The listing described it as an original impression of the Roseate Flamingo, and everything checked out initially. The paper, the plate mark, the color palette all matched what I expected. But when I held it up to strong directional light, I noticed the plate number appeared in a slightly different typeface than known genuine copies. I contacted a paper conservator who confirmed that while the plate itself was genuine, it was a later impression pulled from a reworked plate. The engraving had been modified after Audubon's death, changing small details in the background vegetation and altering the bird's proportions slightly. It was still a valuable antique, but it was not what the auction house had represented it as. The workaround was straightforward. I obtained comparative images from the American Museum of Natural History's plate archive, used high-resolution photography to compare the typeface and background details, and then negotiated a significant price reduction based on the evidence rather than attempting a return, which would have been costly and legally uncertain.

Where to Find Reproduction Versions and Digital Access

Several institutions have released high-resolution scans of their Audubon collections. The New York Historical Society holds the most complete set of Double Elephant folios in the world and provides detailed online access. The Lucy Whaley Collection, which traveled to several major American museums before being acquired by New York Historical Society, is particularly well documented. Cornell University Library also maintains a strong collection with digitized plates available through their digital repository. The United States National Museum has published catalog entries that include detailed descriptions of each plate's condition and history. For those who want affordable printed reproductions, there are commercial companies that produce large-format prints from the original plates. These are not replacements for the original work but they serve as educational tools. A properly sized print costs between $100 and $400 depending on the vendor and the size. They are useful for studying the compositions and learning to distinguish original impressions from later copies. I recommend keeping one reproduction of each plate alongside any original you acquire so you can compare details directly. This practice is something I picked up early in my collecting career and it has saved me from making basic mistakes on multiple occasions.

Common Mistakes People Make With This Collection

The biggest mistake is assuming that every plate in a set is an original impression. Many complete sets sold at auction are mixed-quality copies where some plates are first impressions and others are much later printings that have suffered from plate wear. The copperplates were used repeatedly over decades, and later impressions show significantly duller lines, reduced detail, and faded coloring because the engraving surface wore down. A dealer may list the set as "all original" without disclosing which impressions are first, second, or fourth generation. Another frequent error involves storage and display. These plates are made of cotton rag paper and are sensitive to light, humidity, and temperature fluctuations. Framing them behind glass without proper archival matting and UV-filtering glass will cause irreversible damage within a few years. I have seen collections ruined by direct sunlight through ordinary windows. The colors fade quickly. The paper becomes brittle. The adhesive in cheap mats causes permanent staining. If you own plates, store them flat in acid-free folders in a climate-controlled environment. Display them only if you can control the light exposure and maintain stable humidity levels between 45 and 55 percent. A simple hygrometer costs about $20 and tells you immediately if your environment is damaging the paper. The Birds Of America By John James Audubon remains one of the most ambitious and important natural history publications ever produced. It is also one of the most misunderstood among casual collectors. The market is complicated. The reproductions are plentiful. The originals are rare and condition-sensitive. Knowing what you are buying and how to care for it matters more than acquiring the most plates. Start with education. Build your knowledge through careful examination and comparison before committing significant funds. The work deserves that level of attention.