John James Audubon

The Birds of America
John James Audubon, [1839]-1844.
AUDUBON, John James (1785-1851). The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories. New York: J.J. Audubon; Philadelphia: J.B. Chevalier, [1839-] 1840-1844.
First octavo edition of John James Audubon's seminal work. Audubon created 65 new images for the octavo edition, supplementing the original 435 of the double-elephant folio edition of 1827-38; the original configurations were altered so that only one species is depicted per plate. "The octavo edition of Audubon's Birds was probably the greatest commercial success of any color plate book issued in 19th-century America. While Audubon had become internationally famous in thr course of producing the double-elephant folio edition of the Birds in London between 1826 and 1839, it was this octavo version, issued at $100, which achieved widespread circulation and brought the work into the homes of many well-to-do Americans" (Stamped with a National Character). The text is a revision of the Ornithological Biography, rearranged according to Audubon's "A Synopsis of the Birds of North America" (1839). Ayer/Zimmer, p.22; Bennett, p.5; McGill/Wood, p.208; Nissen IVB 51; Sabin 2364; Stamped with a Na
Seven volumes, royal octavo (256 x 163 mm). Subscribers' lists present in all volumes. 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(without half-titles, toned, some foxing chiefly to tissue guards and text but occasionally to plates, occasional light offsetting from text to plates, pl. 254 inverted, pl. 471 and pls. 486-490 bound out of order, with some nearby text pages also mis-ordered). 19th century green half morocco gilt, all edges gilt (rubbed, vols I, V and VI with text blocks detaching, text blocks cracked in a few places with some leaves near ends working loose, Provenance: S.H. Perkins (inscribed in all volumes, each dated 1885).