Wilson Pl. 5 Great American Shrike, or Butcher Bird; Pine Grosbeak; Ruby-crown’d Wren; Shore Lark

The Wilson Pl. 5 Great American Shrike, or Butcher Bird; Pine Grosbeak; Ruby-crown’d Wren; Shore Lark captures a lively avian assembly.

Engraved and hand-colored on a 13 ¾” × 10 ⅜” sheet of creamy paper, this antique original print is from the first folio devoted to North American birds. Own a significant piece of history today with this 19th-century wildlife engraving!

About American Ornithology

Alexander Wilson’s 1st Edition of American Ornithology was produced from 1808 – 1814. The folio contains 76 hand-colored engravings depicting 262 North American bird species. These engravings mark the fledgling stages of ornithology in America and were foundational to the development of subsequent natural history publications.

Published by Oppenheimer Editions, Alexander Wilson’s American Ornithology is made available as modern fine art prints in a limited edition of 200. The folio contains 76 hand-colored engravings depicting 262 North American bird species. These engravings mark the fledgling stages of ornithology in America and were foundational to the development of subsequent natural history publications.

About Alexander Wilson

Alexander Wilson, the “Father of American Ornithology,” was the first artist-naturalist to attempt to create a comprehensive visual survey of North American birds. Inspired by the abundance and variety of avian life in the New World, Wilson devoted himself to the scientific study and artistic rendering of birds. His 1808-1814 folio American Ornithology contains 76 hand-colored engravings featuring 262 species of birds. In addition to discovering 39 new species, Wilson laid the foundations for the study of North American bird life.

About Oppenheimer Editions

Established in 1999, our publishing company Oppenheimer Editions was developed in order to produce modern facsimiles of historic works of art. Marrying cutting-edge digital printing technologies with canonical works of art, Oppenheimer Editions has partnered with prestigious museums to make their holdings accessible to the public as fine art prints. Works from the New-York Historical Society’s unrivaled collections of John James Audubon’s watercolors and the Hudson River School paintings are examples of art that otherwise would be unobtainable.

Among the institutional collections we have partnered with are the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum, and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Our Oppenheimer Editions prints are not mere reproductions. Rather, they are limited-edition fine art prints made with the finest quality archival pigments on rag watercolor paper and executed to exacting standards.

To learn more about Wilson Pl. 5 Great American Shrike, or Butcher Bird; Pine Grosbeak; Ruby-crown’d Wren; Shore Lark, email us at [email protected] or check out our articles “A Transcript from Living Nature” and Was Alexander Wilson’s Art Precursive of the Modern Field Guide?

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