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Collections:

• The Elephant Folio Engravings of The Birds of America (1824-1838)
  (The Havell Edition)
  
• The Birds in Miniature The Octavo Editions of The Birds of America (1840-1871)
  (The Octavo Edition)
  
• The Quadrupeds of North America, Octavo Editions (1849-1854)
  (Quadruped Pholio)
  
• The Reissue of the Elephant Folio of The Birds of America (1858-1860)
  (The Bien Edition)
  
• Amsterdam Edition (1971-1973)
  
• Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition
  

The Elephant Folio Engravings of The Birds of America (1824-1838)

Engravers:	William H. Lizars, Robert Havell, Jr.
Media:	Watercolored engraving and aquatint
Size of Paper:	Elephant folio (same as double imperial type folio) size (29 ½ x 39 ½ inches untrimmed)
Type of Paper:	Two types of Whatman paper, one watermarked “J. Whatman/Turkey Mill” and one watermarked “J. Whatman.”
Number of Plates:	435
Number of Complete
Folios Published:	Estimated between 161 and 175

There should be little difficulty in recognizing an original print from the engraved elephant folio edition of The Birds of America. The size of the untrimmed paper (29 ½ x 39 ½ inches) is the first clue; trimming is usually obvious. Often from half an inch to one inch is missing from the left margin where the print has been cut from the folio binding. Also, if the paper does not have a watermark, either "J. Whatman/Turkey Mill" or "J. Whatman," it is not from the engraved elephant folio edition. It is difficult to see a watermark unless one holds a print so that strong light shines through the paper.

Other telling signs of authenticity include the author's legend and the printer's legend. The author's legend reads, "Drawn from Nature by John James Audubon, F.R.S. F.L.S." on all Audubon prints including most reproductions of the original Havell engravings. The engraved elephant folio edition of The Birds of America had several printers. The first printer was W. H. Lizars, who could not complete the folio due to an employee strike. The imprint legend on the lower left-hand side of the page for the first ten plates reads, "Engraved by W.H. Lizars" or "Engraved by W. H. Lizars" and below "Retouched by R. Havell, Jr." Until 1830 the plate legends read, "Engraved and colored by Robert Havell and son." Robert Havell, Jr. dropped the "Jr." in is name after his father passed away. Therefore, some legends read, "Engraved and colored by Robert Havell, Jr." and some, "Engraved and colored by Robert Havell."

The Birds in Miniature The Octavo Editions of The Birds of America (1840-1871)

Lithographer:	John T. Bowen
Media:	Hand-colored lithography
Size of Paper:	Royal Octavo (in this case 6 ½ x 10 inches or 6 ½ x 10 ¾ inches, depending upon how it is bound)
Number of Plates:	500
Number of Complete
Sets in first edition:	Estimated at 1,200
Number of sets in
later editions:	Unknown

The royal octavo edition of The Birds of America can be identified by the size of the paper, 6 ½ x 10 inches or 6 ½ x 10 ¾ inches; the media, black and white lithography that has been water-colored by hand; and legends. The lower left legend reads, "Drawn from Nature by J. J. Audubon F.R.S. F.L.S." The lower right legend reads, "Lithd. Printed & Cold. by J. T. Bowen Phila" or "Endicott, New York." The prints were lithographed, printed, and colored by John T. Bowen and his assistants in Philadelphia. At one time Bowen was so busy that he had to send some work to another lithographer, Ednicott's of New York, thus the two possible legends for this edition.

The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (1845-1848)
By John James Audubon and The Reverend John Bachman

Published By:	J.J. Audubon, New York
Lithographer:	John R. Bowen
Media:	Hand-colored lithography
Size of Paper:	Imperial folio (28 x 22 inches)
Number of Plates:	150
Number of Complete
Sets in first edition:	Estimate at 303
Number of sets in
later editions:	Unknown

The imperial folio of The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America was the work of John J. Audubon, John Woodhouse Audubon, Victor Audubon, John Bachman and John Bowen. J. J. Audubon and John Bachman remain the only two men credited for this edition. Although J .J. Audubon started the work, his son John Woodhouse completed the work making over half of the animals his. Victor Audubon, the eldest son, painted most of the backgrounds, but because of the traditional practice of the nineteenth century he did not receive any credit for his background work. John Bowen, who created the lithography for the octavo editions of The Birds of America , reproduced Audubon's animal studies in black-and-white lithography. The plates were then watercolored by his staff to match the colors in the original paintings.

The plates were distributed to subscribers in 30 parts of 5 plates each, having a total of 150 plates. They were bound in three volumes. Volume I was published in 1845, Volume II was published in 1846 and Volume III was published in 1848. There were at least 303 sets printed, but no more than 350 to 400 ultimately were made.

The imperial folio edition can be identified by their size of 28 x 22 inches, their medium of hand-colored lithography and the legends. The legend reads as follows: lower left, “Drawn from Nature by J. W. Audubon F.R.S. F.L. S.” or “ Drawn from Nature by J.W. Audubon;” lower right, “ Lith. Printed & Cold by J.T. Bowen, Phila.”

A final three-volume text in royal octavo size (7 x 10 ½ inches) was published after the imperial folio edition. By the time this volume of lithographs was published, John J. Audubon was too ill to realize what was being accomplished. Although The Quadrupeds did not reach the same level of popularity as The Birds, this set still remains significant to collectors and students of American natural history.

The Reissue of the Elephant Folio of The Birds of America (1858-1860)
(The Bien Edition)

Lithographer:	Julius Bien
Media:	Chromolithography
Paper:	Elephant folio (in this case 27 x 40 inches), no watermarks
Number of Plates:	106
Number of Complete
sets:	Estimated at between 50 and 100

When John James Audubon died in 1851, his younger son, John Woodhouse Audubon began a reissue of the elephant folio edition of The Birds of America . The birds from the Bien edition can easily be distinguished from those of the Havell edition by the fact that they are chromolithographed, by the legend, and by the unwatermarked paper. These chromolithographs have always sold for less than the Havell engravings, but they are, nonetheless, collector's items because of their rarity and beauty.

J. Bien and J. W. Audubon attempted to renumber the plates to correspond with those in the royal octavo edition. Also they made changes in a few of the plates. Some of the backgrounds were changed, and some of the single bird figures were grouped. The legend in the Bien edition appeared at the bottom of the plate, with “Drawn from nature by J. J. Audubon F.R.S. F.L.S.” in the lower left corner and “Chromolith by J. Bien, New York,” followed by the date in the lower right corner. When some pages were subsequently cut in half in order that the birds might be framed separately, these legends were affected. If a single bird had been one of a pair placed horizontally on a page in the Bien edition, it retained only the part of the legend that appeared directly under it. On the other hand, when a page on which the birds were placed vertically were divided, the bird from the upper half of the page was left with no legend, the bird from the bottom half retaining both parts.

Amsterdam Edition (1971-1973)

One well-known reproduction of The Birds of America is a photo-lithography facsimile copy of the original set of 435 prints. The paper measures approximately 26" x 39 1/2".  The paper is watermarked  “G. Schut & Zonen ® Audubon.” Originally priced at six to eight thousand dollars(depending on whether it was bound or unbound), a complete set now sells in the fifty to seventy-five thousand dollar range. It was printed in Amsterdam and is referred to as “The Amsterdam Edition.”

Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition

State-of-the-art digital imaging and printing was used to create this facsimile reproduction of fifty of Audubon's best plates. The edition is limited to 150 copies. The paper used is Somerset velvet, an acid-free, cotton and rag watercolor paper from England. The bottom right corner bears the Oppenheimer Editions' embossed stamp. The verso of each print is stamped, numbered and signed by The Field Museum Librarian.