The Birds of America by John James Audubon

The Birds of America by John James Audubon | 1827–1838 | Prestel | Hardcover $ 50

First published in installments between 1827 and 1838, John James Audubon’s treasured collection of life-sized watercolors of North American birds is the standard against which all wildlife illustration is measured.

Straddling the line between science and art, this book mesmerized 19th-century audiences around the world. Today it stands as a reminder of the spectacular biodiversity of the North American continent, and of the pioneer spirit that Audubon himself revered.

My Classics Club list includes several titles that are considered classics in science + nature nonfiction. The Birds of America is on that list because it combines two topics that are particularly interesting to me — local wildlife and nature-inspired art. Over the past few years, I’ve also become increasingly interested in casual birding as a hobby. I’m not carrying around binoculars and memorizing birdsong (yet), but I do think it’s fun to look for and identify various species while out hiking or even just taking my little lunch break walk around campus.

Audubon is credited with significantly influencing the development of the science of ornithology specifically and wildlife ecology and ethology more generally. He was one of many high profile naturalists in the early days of our country who contributed to its citizens’ sense of pride in and respect for the wilderness and its wealth of natural resources, culminating in innovative ideas like protected national parks and protections for endangered species.

That said — Audubon owned, bought and sold slaves; part of his personal financial success was due to the labor of enslaved people. I think this is important to note because it means that his impactful art and scientific endeavors were supported by the involuntary labor of disenfranchised workers. This book would not have been possible without their uncredited and unpaid efforts.

Also, Audubon has been accused of other ethically questionable activities and various forms of scientific misconduct, including but not limited to plagiarism and specimen theft. His life is an interesting study in contrasts. He had an enormous impact on the field of ornithology and on the attitude towards nature more generally in America… and he was also something of a grifter; even some primary sources which could have been used to clarify the historical and scientific record were evidently tampered with by his own family. His legacy is now considered so controversial that some birding and conservation groups that were previously named after him have opted to rebrand.

But enough about the author; let’s talk about the book.

The Birds of America was not originally published as a single bound book, but as a series of portfolios. The entire set was published over the course of about a decade, starting in the late 1820’s. The illustrations were later collected in book form in a multi-volume work in the 1840’s, with various iterations making occasional appearances since.

I had intended to look at an oversized version of the book that included reproductions of the original watercolor paintings on which the book-quality prints were based (first as hand-colored engravings, then later as chromolithographs), but my local library’s copy seems to have been misplaced and it is probably now languishing somewhere in the depths of the stacks.

I think my favorite illustrations all included some sort of story element, even though the birds themselves are not notably rare or fancy —the Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), in which the birds are perched on the carcass of a deer; the Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), in which the birds are being terrorized by a hawk; the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), in which the birds are attempting to defend their nest from a rattlesnake.

I also enjoyed the illustrations of birds that are now extinct (or so rare that they’re considered probably-extinct); the Great Auk, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, the Passenger Pigeon. Seeing these species depicted by a contemporary witness felt bittersweet because most of them were drawn not from life but from specimens obtained by “shotgun ornithology” (a practice which allowed for close-up study of the species but also contributed to their decline).

I would recommend this book to folks who might appreciate it as a beautiful union of art and science, and also to anyone with even a passing interest in backyard birding.

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Links:

• Biography of John James Audubon from the National Audubon Society
• Online exhibit Audubon’s Birds of America at the University of Pittsburgh
• Online exhibit Audubon’s Birds of America Focus Gallery at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library
• Audubon’s Birds of America: A Legacy by the Field Museum

Publication information: Audubon, John James. The birds of America. Munich, Germany: Prestel, 2021. Print.
Source: Public library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.