Book , Print in English

The birds of America : from original drawings

by John James Audubon ...

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Commonly known as Audubon's elephant folio, or The Double elephant folio.
Engraved t.-p.
Imprint dates: v. 1, 1827-30; v. 2, 1831-34; v. 3, 1834-35; v. 4, 1835-38, June 20.
Originally issued in 87 parts.
"The plates were published without any text, to avoid the necessity of furnishing copies gratis to the public libraries in England, agreeably to the law of copyright."--Sabin, A dictionary of books relating to America, v. 1, p. 315.
Text to accompany the plates was published in 5 vols., rl. 8vo., Edinburgh, 1831-39, under title "Ornithological biography, or, An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America ..." Later editions, of text and plates combined, with alterations, were published in 7 and 8 vols., rl. 8vo., under title "The birds of America, from drawings made in the United States and their territories".
Indexed by: Garrett Library set is "another set whose original subscriber must have been among the very early ones, for not only are all of the first ten prints those of the Lizars plates, with the Whatman watermarks dated either 1826 or 1827, but also Plate no. 2 carries in the upper left corner the incorrect legend "Black-billed Cuckoo."--Fries, The Double elephant folio: the story of Audubon's 'Birds of America', p. 265.

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