The Birds of America

A man named John James Audubon made a big book.

He wanted to paint every bird in North America. The book has 435 bird pictures. They are life-size, which means they are real sizes.

Some birds are gone from the world now. We can see them in his art. He used wires to make the birds look real.

This book is a very special treasure.

John James Audubon was a painter and a naturalist. He wanted to paint every bird in North America. To do this, he made a famous book. It is called "The Birds of America." The book has 435 large prints.

These prints are life-size. This means the birds look as big as they are in real life.

Audubon used a clever way to make his art look real. He used wires and threads to hold birds in lifelike poses. This made them look active instead of stiff.

Some birds in his book are now extinct. Extinct means they no longer live on Earth. This includes the Carolina parakeet.

Making the book was a big job. It took many years to finish. People paid for the book before it was even done. This was called a subscription.

Many artists helped. They added color to the prints by hand. Today, very few complete sets of the big book still exist. They are rare treasures in museums around the world.

The Birds of America is a famous collection of art. It was created by a man named John James Audubon. He was both a painter and a naturalist. Audubon wanted to show the birds of the United States. He wanted them to look real and active. This book is very important to history. It shows many birds that no longer exist today.

These are called extinct birds. One example is the bright Carolina parakeet. Another was the great auk. Even some mystery birds appear in his work. These are birds that no one can identify today.

Audubon had a special way of working. He did not want his birds to look stiff.

He used wires and threads to hold them. This helped him draw them in lifelike poses. He mostly used watercolours and pastel crayons. He did not use heavy oil paints like other artists. Some of his assistants helped with the art too. Joseph Mason painted many of the plant backgrounds. Maria Martin also painted plants and insects. George Lehman drew some of the perches for the birds.

This huge project took many years to finish. Audubon began his plan around the year 1820. He traveled to Europe to find help.

He went to London and Edinburgh in 1826. He needed people to pay for the printing. This was done through a system called subscriptions. People paid money early to get the books later. It was a very expensive project for him. He even lectured about American life to find patrons. Some famous leaders like Queen Adelaide subscribed.

Each set of the book is quite large. The big version is called the Double Elephant Folio. Each page is about 39.5 inches tall.

There are 435 hand-coloured prints in a full set. Robert Havell Jr. helped finish the printing in London. He worked on the project until 1838. He even added insects to some of the plates. A subscriber might pay $1,000 back then. That is like $24,600 in today's money. Very few complete sets exist in the world now. There are likely fewer than 120 sets left.

Today, people can still see these amazing works. Many museums keep them safe in special rooms. The University of Michigan has a full set. The University of Pittsburgh even put them online. You can look at every plate on a computer. Some libraries hold special events to show them. These events help people practice "slow looking." This means looking very closely at the details. Audubon's work still brings people together to wonder. It connects us to the nature of the past.

The *Birds of America* is a monumental collection of natural history art. It was created by John James Audubon, a naturalist and painter. Audubon aimed to document the diverse bird species found across the United States. His work is celebrated for its high quality and artistic finesse. It serves as both a scientific record and a masterpiece of fine art. This collection is particularly significant because it captures species that have since vanished.

To create these lifelike images, Audubon developed a unique mechanical method. He often worked with specimen birds that had been shot. Instead of drawing them in stiff, lifeless positions, he used a system of wires and threads.

These wires allowed him to pose the dead birds in dynamic, natural stances. He preferred watercolours and pastel crayons over the heavy oil paints used by other artists. This choice helped him capture the delicate textures of feathers and life. He also relied on assistants for specific details. Joseph Mason painted the plant backgrounds for about 50 studies. Maria Martin provided paintings of plants and insects. George Lehman was hired to draw some of the perches.

The project consisted of 435 hand-coloured prints. These were made from engraved plates using techniques like copperplate etching, engraving, and aquatint.

The prints were produced in a massive format known as the Double Elephant Folio. Each page measured approximately 39.5 inches tall and 28.5 inches wide. The coloring process was highly organized. Over fifty colorists were hired to apply colors to the prints in an assembly-line fashion. This ensured that each of the 435 plates met a high standard of detail.

Audubon's journey to complete this work was filled with financial challenges. Around 1820, at age 35, he declared his goal to paint every bird in North America. By 1823, he was seeking financial support through a subscription model.

He traveled to the United Kingdom in 1826 to find engravers and patrons. In Edinburgh, he worked with William H. Lizars, who engraved the first ten plates. However, a strike by colorists stopped Lizars from continuing. Audubon then engaged Robert Havell Jr. and his father, Robert Havell Sr. Havell Jr. oversaw the completion of the project in 1838.

The scale of the subscription model was immense. Subscribers received five plates at a time, usually including one large, one medium, and three small birds.

The total cost for the plates and the accompanying *Ornithological Biography* text was about $1,000. In 2015, this amount was equivalent to roughly $24,600. Audubon attracted wealthy patrons, including King Charles X of France and Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom. Even major institutions like Harvard and Columbia University were original subscribers. Today, it is estimated that no more than 120 to 200 complete sets exist.

The collection contains many remarkable and rare subjects. It includes images of five extinct birds, such as the passenger pigeon and the great auk.

It also features three birds that may be extinct, including the ivory-billed woodpecker. Some plates depict "mystery birds" that do not match any known living species. Examples include the Blue Mountain warbler and the small-headed flycatcher. These mysteries add a layer of scientific intrigue to the beautiful illustrations.

Because of their value, these books are now protected by many institutions. The University of Michigan holds a full eight-volume set purchased in 1839 for $970.

The University of Pittsburgh has even digitized the entire collection for public viewing. Some libraries host "Audubon Day" to allow visitors to practice "slow looking" at the plates. This practice encourages people to notice the minute details of the natural world. The *Birds of America* remains a vital link between the history of art and the history of science.