AUDUBON, John James, & John Bachman.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Quadrupeds of North America. First octavo edition, bound from the parts, of the greatest colour plate book on American animals: "a breathtaking accomplishment... the most naturalistic depiction of American mammals ever done" (Wolf, p. 163).The naturalist and painter John James Audubon (1785-1851) made his reputation with The Birds of America (published between 1827 and 1838). In the early 1840s he began this similarly ambitious project, seeking to paint every North American quadruped species, and travelled across the continent collecting specimens as models. The accompanying text was produced by John Bachman (1790-1874), a pastor and recognized authority on American mammals. Audubon did not live to see the work completed: his health declined in the late 1840s, and he died in 1851. The project was finished by his sons, Victor Gifford and John Woodhouse.The work was first issued as three folio volumes of plates (1845, 1846, 1848), with accompanying text volumes (1846, 1851, 1854). This octavo edition, intended for a wider audience, combines plates and text in each volume. It was issued in 31 parts and later in bookform between 1849 and 1854; this copy is bound from the parts, with stab holes visible.

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