Description
Engraving printed and hand-colored in 1832. Outstanding color. Paper has toning due to age and foxing, as shown. Includes original field notes.
This plate contains the following:
- Great American Shirke or Butcher Bird
- Pine Grossbeak
- Ruby crowned Wren
- Shore Lark
From the “Octavo” edition of “American Ornithology; or The Natural History of The Birds of the United States” by Alexander Wilson with a continuation by Charles Lucian Bonaparte, published by Whittaker, Treacher, & Arnot, London. This is the first octavo edition, as well as the first appearance of the most complete edition of the great work which preceded and inspired Audubon’s Birds of America. The octavo edition measures 5 1/2″ x 8 5/8″. This edition of “American Ornithology” is considered the most complete, as is contains all of the important birds of North America and has vivid hand-coloring utilizing gum arabic.
