John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings

by John James Audubon

The breathtaking art of John James Audubon’s  Birds of America  has been celebrated throughout the world since it first appeared over 150 years ago. Less well known is Audubon’s literary the magnificent volumes of natural history he published during his lifetime, as well as the remarkable journals, memoirs, and letters left behind at his death. In this unprecedented collection from The Library of America, Audubon the great nature writer takes his rightful place alongside Audubon the artist.

Here is the most comprehensive selection of Audubon’s writings ever published, along with a spectacular portfolio of his drawings. The “Mississippi River Journal,” the foremost record of an American artist’s progress, details Audubon’s first wilderness bird hunts; it is as fresh in its perceptions of the scenes and characters of the old South as of the forest and its creatures. Selections from his “1826 Journal” follow Audubon to Europe, where after years of relative obscurity and financial distress his abilities were finally recognized. Audubon’s masterwork, the five-volume  Ornithological Biography , is represented here by forty-five entries. Charming, haunting, and violent by turns, these vivid intimate portraits of the habits and habitats of American birds changed American nature writing forever.

In the “Missouri River Journals,” Audubon evokes the vanishing American Indian and the hardships of frontier life. An extensive selection of letters charting twenty years of Audubon’s artistic development, along with two essays on artistic technique and a brief memoir, round out the volume. Whenever possible, texts have been painstakingly prepared from original sources, without censorship or modernizing revision, constituting a major contribution to Audubon scholarship. Detailed general and ornithological indexes aid the reader in the field as well as in the study.

Sixty-four full-color plates and several manuscript sketches, some never before published, offer a unique perspective on Audubon’s art. Including original watercolors, aquatint engravings and lithographs, they reveal the evolution of his compositions and the effects of his collaborations with his publishers in ways never before seen.

LIBRARY OF AMERICA  is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

Genres: Nature, Art, Science, Birds, Biography, Classics, Nonfiction

928 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Such 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.

Reviews

[Robert Walkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

BLAM! How many birds can an Audubon shoot if an Audubon could shoot birds? Apparently, quite a few. Audubon shot birds for food, for his artistic work, and for sport. He was both naturalist and woodsman. But Audubon could not only draw and shoot, he could write! There are a lot of pages to wade through in the Library of America edition. And sometimes you need a strong stomach to get through it all. But it’s worth it. My favorite sections are the “Mississippi River Journal” and the “1826 Journal,” when Audubon was first starting out; His writings on the birds he painted and their habits and habitats, called “Ornithological Biography,” are fabulous and equal to his drawings. There are also great short pieces in the section “Delineations of American Scenery and Manners.” Less interesting (to me) are the letters, and the “Missouri River Journal” can get tiresome (and racist in his depictions of “Indians.”).

[Conrad]

If you've never seen any of Audubon's art, it's worth giving it a look - his work portrays anatomy, yes, but it also imbues his subjects with drama and narrative. The blue jays perch on a nest and peck away at an egg, which oozes down a branch like one of Dali's clocks. The black vulture has the gravitas and posture of a Puritan firebrand. A psychotic-looking osprey, mid-cry, steals a trout from a river. You can definitely tell which birds he likes, and which he thinks are greedy or cruel, just from the drawings.

This volume contains a lot of Audubon's nature writing, which I look forward to dipping into.

[Hatuxka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this especially for the Missouri River Journals done when near the end of his life. J. J. Audubon spent the summer at Ft. Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone river on the border between the future Montana and North Dakota. His descriptions of the near pristine state of that region at that time, 1843, is sublime. The daily site of thousands of buffalo on the plains and hills surrounding the fort at that time which he describes almost in passing at many points in this part of the book is unforgettable.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will be a continual read.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently studying John James Audubon and this is the main text we use. It is an amazing collection of J.J. Audubon's journals, ornithological biographies, pictures, and letters. I had no idea he wrote as much as he did--this is a great book to read and get a better sense of a truly amazing and multi-talented person. Also, parts are great to have students read/interpret as it pertains to science, nature writing, etc (plus--the first journal is a challenge to read as his first language is French--I like this aspect for second-language learners).

Also, it's just nice to learn more history of the US/World through his life and journals!

[Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the whole thing, if there was a drinking game where you took a sip for every creature Audbon shot one would be an alcoholic by the second set of writing. However if you want a glimpse into the incredible abundance of 19th c North America and the attitudes of European Whites who decimated her this is a invaluable source. To be fair also Audabon's relentless pursuit if his subjects the taking of hundreds of specimens for each species he recorded left us with a amazing scientific work as well as some beautiful fine art.

[Neal Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book about his life and study of all birds of North America;discusses his inability to get this book published in the United States of America and his success in having it published in the United Kingdom!
Very good review of his own life,his relationship with his father,foster mother and stepmother and his love for nature,the forest and all the birds!

[Lavina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read this so much as look at all the pictures, which are amazing.