Audubon Collecting Guide

An Overview of the Antique Original Editions of Audubon’s Birds of America

Audubon originally produced approximately 200 sets of the complete folio, around half of which are currently still bound and in various public institutions and private collections. The remaining sets have since been broken up and the prints sold separately. Additionally, there are a number of prints that were never part of a complete set that remain in circulation. Individual prints in excellent condition range from around $ 4,000 – $ 250,000. Generally speaking, larger birds and prints will full compositions tend to lean toward the higher end of this scale, while smaller birds and less detailed compositions oscillate around the mid to lower end of the scale. Certain species including all manner of herons, select birds of prey, and stunners like the roseate spoonbill tend to be highly sought after and thus command higher prices. Likewise, dynamic and engaging compositions such as the Virginia Partridge, Carolina Parrot, and Ivory-Billed Woodpecker prove irresistible to collectors.

Printed in New York by Julius Bien, this edition was rendered through the newly refined technology of chromolithography. While the Havell edition prints tend to command higher prices, the Bien edition is rarer with fewer than seventy folios having ever been completed. Individual untrimmed prints in excellent condition range from approximately $ 2,500 – $ 48,000.

With the help of his two sons and a device called the camera lucida, Audubon’s birds were translated from life-sized to miniature scale. The prints were also reordered in phylogenetic order so that related species were grouped together, owls were near owls, and so on. This resulted in the renumbering of the plates so that Plate 1 of the octavo edition, the Californian Turkey Vulture, is not the same plate as Plate 1 of the Havell edition, which features the Wild Turkey. Interestingly, the Bien edition espoused the taxonomic order and numerical system of the octavo edition.

In the 2nd-7th octavo editions, two lithography stones were used; one to delineate the imagery and a second to create a monochromatic tint that acts as a halo of atmospheric color around the scene. It is important to note that some first-edition octavos, including the Jer Falcon, Barn Owl, and Snowy Owl, have hand-colored hazy backgrounds that could cause them to be mistaken for later edition prints.

Audubon’s three editions of the Birds of America allow prospective collectors to enter the market at various price points. Likewise, his Havell, Bien, and Octavo editions all uniquely illustrate progressions in printing technology from engraving to lithography and chromolithography, which each medium lending a different perspective to the classic imagery.