COATES, Andrew & Henry.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Audubon, the American Ornithologist. First edition, unrecorded institutionally, with a bound-in autograph letter signed from Andrew Coates to Mary Emily Bates Coues, the American suffragist and society figure, inviting her to forward this copy on to Maria R. Audubon, the granddaughter of the great ornithologist.By the end of the 19th century, Coates (1814-1900) was one of the relatively small number of people still alive who had met Audubon in person, having visited him in Minnie's Landing in 1843. This paper presents his reminiscences of the visit, as dictated by his son, the naturalist Henry Coates (1859-1935), to the Perthshire Society of Natural Science. These memories are followed by a brief biographical sketch.The letter, dated 11 June 1897, notes that Coues (1835-1906) will shortly see Maria Audubon (1843-1925) and hopes that "the enclosed paper would be interesting to Miss Audubon... You might present it if you think proper. I have a vivid recollection of the delightful visit I paid the family now over 50 years ago... Miss Audubon's life of her grandfather [Audubon and His Journals, published in 1897] cannot fail to be a popular addition to those lives of him previously published." Coues's husband, Elliot (1842-1899), the founder of the American Ornithological Union, has signed his name on the front wrapper and the first page. A note on the title page, "Private copy with autograph letter to Mrs. Coues," is likely also in his hand.Provenance: John Eliot Thayer (1862-19

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