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The Audubon Reader: Edited and Introduced by Richard Rhodes
This unprecedented anthology of John James Audubon’s lively and colorful writings about the American wilderness reintroduces the great artist and ornithologist as an exceptional American writer, a predecessor to Thoreau, Emerson, and Melville.
Audubon’s award-winning biographer, Richard Rhodes, has gathered excerpts from his journals, letters, and published works, and has organized them to appeal to general readers. Rhodes’s unobtrusive commentary frames a wide range of selections, including Audubon’s vivid “bird biographies,” correspondence with his devoted wife, Lucy, journal accounts of dramatic river journeys and hunting trips with the Shawnee and Osage Indians, and a generous sampling of brief narrative episodes that have long been out of print—engaging stories of pioneer life such as "The Great Pine Swamp," “The Earthquake,” and “Kentucky Barbecue on the Fourth of July.” Full-color reproductions of sixteen of Audubon’s stunning watercolor illustrations accompany the text.
The Audubon Reader allows us to experience Audubon’s distinctive voice directly and provides a window into his electrifying encounter with early with its wildlife and birds, its people, and its primordial wilderness.
Audubon’s award-winning biographer, Richard Rhodes, has gathered excerpts from his journals, letters, and published works, and has organized them to appeal to general readers. Rhodes’s unobtrusive commentary frames a wide range of selections, including Audubon’s vivid “bird biographies,” correspondence with his devoted wife, Lucy, journal accounts of dramatic river journeys and hunting trips with the Shawnee and Osage Indians, and a generous sampling of brief narrative episodes that have long been out of print—engaging stories of pioneer life such as "The Great Pine Swamp," “The Earthquake,” and “Kentucky Barbecue on the Fourth of July.” Full-color reproductions of sixteen of Audubon’s stunning watercolor illustrations accompany the text.
The Audubon Reader allows us to experience Audubon’s distinctive voice directly and provides a window into his electrifying encounter with early with its wildlife and birds, its people, and its primordial wilderness.
656 pages, Hardcover
First published April 11, 1986
17 people are currently reading
297 people want to read
About the author
John James Audubon
511 books34 followersSuch volumes as
The Birds of America
(1827-1838) collect naturalistic detail and artistic sensibility of noted engravings of Haitian-born ornithologist John James Audubon.
This able French painter expansively studied to document all types, and his illustrations depicted habitats. People consider his finest major work, a color-plate book, entitled and ever completed. Audubon identified 25 new species.
After 1819, Audubon went bankrupt, and people threw him into jail for debt. He drew portraits, particularly death-bed sketches, which country folk greatly esteemed before photography, to earn the little money. He wrote, "[M]y heart was sorely heavy, for scarcely had I enough to keep my dear ones alive; and yet through these dark days I was being led to the development of the talents I loved."
Audubon made some excursions west, where he expected to record species that he missed, but his health began to fail. In 1848, he manifested signs of senility, his "noble mind in ruins." He died at his family home. People buried body of Audubon close to the location of his home at 155th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, city of New York. An imposing monument honors him at the cemetery, the center of the heritage rose district.
Influence of Audubon on history reached far. His high standards inspired nearly all later works. Charles Darwin quoted Audubon three times in On the Origin of Species and also in later works. Despite some errors in field observations, he made a significant contribution to the understanding of anatomy and behavior. People still consider the greatest examples of book. Audubon discovered 25 new species and 12 new subspecies.
In recognition of his contributions, people elected him to the royal society of Edinburgh and the Linnaeans.
The open homestead of mill grove in Audubon, Pennsylvania, contains a museum, presenting and including all his major works, to the public.
The museum at state park in Henderson, Kentucky houses many of his original watercolors, oils, and personal memorabilia.
In 1905, people incorporated and named the national Audubon society in his honor. Its mission "is to conserve and restore ecosystems, focusing on birds..."
The postal service of the United States honored him with a 22¢ great series stamp.
On 6 December 2010, auction of Sotheby sold a copy for $11.5 million, the second highest price for a single printed book.
On 26 April 2011, Google displayed a special doodle on its global homepage to celebrate his 226th birthday.
Named:
Audubon park in New Jersey. He drew many street signs in Audubon Park.
Audubon, Pennsylvania, also has the Audubon sanctuary. Most of the streets in this small town are named that he drew.
Audubon Elementary School, Audubon, Pennsylvania
The Audubon Institute, a family of museums, parks and other organizations in New Orleans, eight of which bear the Audubon name.
The Audubon Park and country club in Louisville, Kentucky is in the area of his former general store.
Several towns and Audubon County, Iowa.
In Louisiana, John James Audubon Bridge (Mississippi River); Audubon Park & Zoo, New Orleans.
The northbound span of the Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Bridges was originally named the Audubon Memorial Bridge.
John James Audubon State Park and the Audubon Museum (located within the park) in Henderson, Kentucky.
Audubon Parkway, also in Kentucky, is a limited-access highway connecting Henderson with Owensboro, Kentucky.
Rue Jean-Jacques Audubon in Nantes and Rue Audubon in Paris.
This able French painter expansively studied to document all types, and his illustrations depicted habitats. People consider his finest major work, a color-plate book, entitled and ever completed. Audubon identified 25 new species.
After 1819, Audubon went bankrupt, and people threw him into jail for debt. He drew portraits, particularly death-bed sketches, which country folk greatly esteemed before photography, to earn the little money. He wrote, "[M]y heart was sorely heavy, for scarcely had I enough to keep my dear ones alive; and yet through these dark days I was being led to the development of the talents I loved."
Audubon made some excursions west, where he expected to record species that he missed, but his health began to fail. In 1848, he manifested signs of senility, his "noble mind in ruins." He died at his family home. People buried body of Audubon close to the location of his home at 155th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, city of New York. An imposing monument honors him at the cemetery, the center of the heritage rose district.
Influence of Audubon on history reached far. His high standards inspired nearly all later works. Charles Darwin quoted Audubon three times in On the Origin of Species and also in later works. Despite some errors in field observations, he made a significant contribution to the understanding of anatomy and behavior. People still consider the greatest examples of book. Audubon discovered 25 new species and 12 new subspecies.
In recognition of his contributions, people elected him to the royal society of Edinburgh and the Linnaeans.
The open homestead of mill grove in Audubon, Pennsylvania, contains a museum, presenting and including all his major works, to the public.
The museum at state park in Henderson, Kentucky houses many of his original watercolors, oils, and personal memorabilia.
In 1905, people incorporated and named the national Audubon society in his honor. Its mission "is to conserve and restore ecosystems, focusing on birds..."
The postal service of the United States honored him with a 22¢ great series stamp.
On 6 December 2010, auction of Sotheby sold a copy for $11.5 million, the second highest price for a single printed book.
On 26 April 2011, Google displayed a special doodle on its global homepage to celebrate his 226th birthday.
Named:
Audubon park in New Jersey. He drew many street signs in Audubon Park.
Audubon, Pennsylvania, also has the Audubon sanctuary. Most of the streets in this small town are named that he drew.
Audubon Elementary School, Audubon, Pennsylvania
The Audubon Institute, a family of museums, parks and other organizations in New Orleans, eight of which bear the Audubon name.
The Audubon Park and country club in Louisville, Kentucky is in the area of his former general store.
Several towns and Audubon County, Iowa.
In Louisiana, John James Audubon Bridge (Mississippi River); Audubon Park & Zoo, New Orleans.
The northbound span of the Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Bridges was originally named the Audubon Memorial Bridge.
John James Audubon State Park and the Audubon Museum (located within the park) in Henderson, Kentucky.
Audubon Parkway, also in Kentucky, is a limited-access highway connecting Henderson with Owensboro, Kentucky.
Rue Jean-Jacques Audubon in Nantes and Rue Audubon in Paris.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 1, 2016
I grew up in a remote Canadian village wedged between the sea and the forest, where northern wildlife was abundant, birds especially. In picking up this book, I was hoping to connect with Audubon, so to speak, more than 150 years after his passing. It didn't disappoint: the first-person narrative works wonders in establishing an instant rapport with the explorer.
Despite having read the dust jacket beforehand, I had greatly underestimated the amount of space that Audubon’s detailed correspondence with family, friends and business contacts would take in this tome, however. In the end, I learned a lot more than I had bargained for, mostly with pleasure, but sometimes with a frown. Let’s put it this way: praiseworthy as his life’s work may be – and it is, absolutely – it required from the man’s wife that she have the patience of a saint. Reading their respective letters, you’ll marvel at the intrepid naturalist’s projects and sustained efforts, but you’ll also feel for poor Lucy, candidly trying to make do with an awful lot of marital nonsense along the way.
All added features aside, it remained a genuine pleasure to get better acquainted throughout this book with all manners of birds – swallows, owls, woodpeckers, wild turkeys and puffins, just to name a few – but also with other animals on occasion, such as alligators and buffaloes. This is essentially what I came here for, and I leave satisfied. It is interesting to note that Audubon expressed displeasure with other naturalists who studied their subjects mostly in terms of measurable facts, paying attention almost exclusively to length, weight and color, for instance, while there was so much more to interpret in terms of the feeding and mating habits of various species, or in their reaction to the ever-increasing presence of man. Audubon’s own work provides generous impressions on those matters at a time when America was fast developing and it comes out all the richer from it. It is of no small interest either that in trying best to put to paper meaningful observations, he would describe the techniques he used in approaching birds, even sometimes in taming them. He would also express his appreciation of different terrains or relate the wisdom he collected here and there from Natives, all of which successfully contribute today in bringing back to life before your very eyes the microcosms he was then applying himself to describe.
What comes across most brilliantly of all in the ambitious explorer’s accounts of his encounters with wildlife is that he witnessed a fair measure of intelligence in animals. He chose to report it as is and drew his own conclusions, refusing to pander instead to popular belief and to depict birds and other critters as mere objects populating the world, sentient at best but operating solely on instinct. I love him for it. Don’t forget, this was almost 200 years ago and to this day we still debate those questions.
Just as much as John James Audubon was generous in his observations, whether about nature or society, in turn Richard Rhodes proves himself quite thorough in collecting interesting material and organizing it efficiently in this book. If you’ve ever dreamt of the long-lost days of naturalists and explorers – I mean the antiquated idea of it, rooted in a time when world discovery still afforded to be romanticized somehow – this book should truly hit the spot. I finished reading it in a park on a fine summer morning, at sunrise, with birds singing from the branches of a honey locust, just above my head; while I hate to admit that I couldn't identify those particular birds simply from their songs, the moment was perfect, regardless.
Despite having read the dust jacket beforehand, I had greatly underestimated the amount of space that Audubon’s detailed correspondence with family, friends and business contacts would take in this tome, however. In the end, I learned a lot more than I had bargained for, mostly with pleasure, but sometimes with a frown. Let’s put it this way: praiseworthy as his life’s work may be – and it is, absolutely – it required from the man’s wife that she have the patience of a saint. Reading their respective letters, you’ll marvel at the intrepid naturalist’s projects and sustained efforts, but you’ll also feel for poor Lucy, candidly trying to make do with an awful lot of marital nonsense along the way.
All added features aside, it remained a genuine pleasure to get better acquainted throughout this book with all manners of birds – swallows, owls, woodpeckers, wild turkeys and puffins, just to name a few – but also with other animals on occasion, such as alligators and buffaloes. This is essentially what I came here for, and I leave satisfied. It is interesting to note that Audubon expressed displeasure with other naturalists who studied their subjects mostly in terms of measurable facts, paying attention almost exclusively to length, weight and color, for instance, while there was so much more to interpret in terms of the feeding and mating habits of various species, or in their reaction to the ever-increasing presence of man. Audubon’s own work provides generous impressions on those matters at a time when America was fast developing and it comes out all the richer from it. It is of no small interest either that in trying best to put to paper meaningful observations, he would describe the techniques he used in approaching birds, even sometimes in taming them. He would also express his appreciation of different terrains or relate the wisdom he collected here and there from Natives, all of which successfully contribute today in bringing back to life before your very eyes the microcosms he was then applying himself to describe.
What comes across most brilliantly of all in the ambitious explorer’s accounts of his encounters with wildlife is that he witnessed a fair measure of intelligence in animals. He chose to report it as is and drew his own conclusions, refusing to pander instead to popular belief and to depict birds and other critters as mere objects populating the world, sentient at best but operating solely on instinct. I love him for it. Don’t forget, this was almost 200 years ago and to this day we still debate those questions.
Just as much as John James Audubon was generous in his observations, whether about nature or society, in turn Richard Rhodes proves himself quite thorough in collecting interesting material and organizing it efficiently in this book. If you’ve ever dreamt of the long-lost days of naturalists and explorers – I mean the antiquated idea of it, rooted in a time when world discovery still afforded to be romanticized somehow – this book should truly hit the spot. I finished reading it in a park on a fine summer morning, at sunrise, with birds singing from the branches of a honey locust, just above my head; while I hate to admit that I couldn't identify those particular birds simply from their songs, the moment was perfect, regardless.
January 30, 2021
The Audubon Reader proved to be more entertaining and engaging than I expected. It is the combination of natural history, cultural history, and biography in this book, as the editor has included excerpts from Audubon’s bird biographies, episodes (cultural observances), and personal letters. I found the episodes engaging as he describes his adventures with great detail, and tells of characters he meets along the way. Audubon’s excitement at discovering birds he has not seen before comes through in his writing. From a modern perspective, there is an understated conflict, or contradiction, that underlies the works. Audubon is concerned with what he sees as destruction caused by encroaching mankind, as the wild of America is being settled. Yet he is an unapologetic hunter himself. Throughout the book we read of his shooting birds so as to possess them. There is one very telling phrase he writes, of shooting a Spruce Partridge: “…but the enthusiastic desire to study nature prompted me to destroy her…” (218). I write this not to condemn the perspectives of the past, but to point out a tension in Audubon’s work. Overall, his writing is very entertaining to read for the adventure.
June 12, 2014
Fascinating naturalist and his travels in early America. It is written in a manner that will take you there. A great way to develop an appreciation of Nature.
September 9, 2019
If you know the name Audubon you might recognize it from either the nature conservation society set up in his name or as the author of amazing illustrations for his book Birds of America. What fewer people are familiar with are his writings.
This volume compiles a mix of letters by Audubon, his friends and close relatives as well as some of the writing he did whether in journals or as essays, to accompany his drawings, on the observation of birds and their habits. It's actually a fascinating read, 600 pages spanning over 40 years of work. The writings are both interesting in terms of seeing how Audubon approached birds but also as a kind of adventure story, this is the early 19th century, a lot of America is still wild and when he visits Florida or Labrador he is going into proper wild country.
It is also interesting to see how his attitudes towards other people and animals might be surprising to us. He loves animals, but he also spends half the book killing them and skinning them in order to use them as models, but he does write about them with admiration and is often concerned about preservation when he notices populations dwindling or sees the potential for extinction. A famous case is his essay on the Passenger Pigeon, which did become extinct later. His attitude towards Native Americans is also atypical of his time, he clearly feels sympathy for them and often identifies himself with them rather than with the white elites, he sees Native Americans as oppressed, and gravely injured by the colonists. A pretty fascinating read.
This volume compiles a mix of letters by Audubon, his friends and close relatives as well as some of the writing he did whether in journals or as essays, to accompany his drawings, on the observation of birds and their habits. It's actually a fascinating read, 600 pages spanning over 40 years of work. The writings are both interesting in terms of seeing how Audubon approached birds but also as a kind of adventure story, this is the early 19th century, a lot of America is still wild and when he visits Florida or Labrador he is going into proper wild country.
It is also interesting to see how his attitudes towards other people and animals might be surprising to us. He loves animals, but he also spends half the book killing them and skinning them in order to use them as models, but he does write about them with admiration and is often concerned about preservation when he notices populations dwindling or sees the potential for extinction. A famous case is his essay on the Passenger Pigeon, which did become extinct later. His attitude towards Native Americans is also atypical of his time, he clearly feels sympathy for them and often identifies himself with them rather than with the white elites, he sees Native Americans as oppressed, and gravely injured by the colonists. A pretty fascinating read.
October 31, 2019
Very insightful into the perspectives of the era and a beautiful bridge between now and two centuries ago. A thoroughly enjoyable read, cover to cover, with an amazing narrative outlining the life of a fascinating individual.
Audubon, in his writings, has a very distinct prose that's as pleasant as it is evocative to read.
Audubon, in his writings, has a very distinct prose that's as pleasant as it is evocative to read.
July 27, 2009
amazing.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews