Dimensions
305 x 254 x 28mm
John James Audubon's Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America is the largest and most significant colour plate book printed in the United States in the nineteenth century, and a fitting monument to the genius of America's most famous ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. The Quadrupeds was first published in 1849 as a three-volume elephant folio broadsheet edition, and was the artist's final great natural history work. This new volume reproduces all 150 original, hand-coloured lithographic prints, which have been subject to recent conservation, and includes a timeline of Audubon's life and career and a map of his 1845-47 expedition into the pre-settlement wilderness with Reverend John Bachman, his friend, fellow naturalist and collaborator on the original accompanying text. Essays by noted experts in the fields of art history, conservation and life science put this remarkable series in context, explaining its art historical and scientific legacy. They consider the enduring zoological and ecological significance of the Quadrupeds, including its scientific value to issues of classification and how our relationship towards nature has changed since the 1850s. AUTHOR: Ron Tyler is the former director of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. SELLING POINTS: ? J.J. Audubon's Quadrupeds is the largest and most significant colour plate book produced in America in the 19th century, and a fitting monument to Audubon's genius. ? This is a completely new, accurate color reproductions of all 150 original hand-coloured lithographic prints, which have been the subject of ongoing conservation work. 212 colour illustrations
