John James Audubon published several artistic works during his lifetime. These are his 'Birds of America', in both Double Elephant (i.e. 26.5" x 39") and Octavo (6.5" x 10") editions, along with his Quadrupeds of North America (with Bachman) in Imperial Folio and Octavo formats. The Birds are his most famous works and have been much duplicated & copied over the last 17+ decades. Indeed, with Audubon images in the public domain and no longer protected by copyright, they are among the most copied images in the world.
The first successful efforts were made by the family, especially Audubon's sons, who co-published the 2d through 7th editions of the octavo set of Birds of America. These editions are nearly identical to the first edition. They are also stone-lithographs finished with hand color. A distinguishing feature is that (most of) these later images were printed using a tinted background. Second edition octavo prints are less valuable than first edition prints, precisely because they were not first, but also because they are the only edition in which Audubon himself presided over the publication.
The next such efforts were also made by the family, with the so-called 'Bien edition'. Ultimately, this project failed due to the intervening United States Civil War and the entire series was truncated. Surviving prints are in need of restoration due to the use of acid-containing papers, which are often very brittle. These chromolithographic prints are of distinctly inferior quality to the original hand-colored double-elephant prints. Yet, being produced by the Audubon family, these prints are collectable.
In 1890, Audubon's 'Birds' was plagiarized in B.H. Warren's 'Birds of Pennsylvania'. These octavo prints are done using chromolithography and are very much inferior to any of the 7 editions of octavo prints produced by the Audubon family. They have little value.
In the 1930's we see the resurgence of interest in Audubon's work. Artistic Print Publishers produced a number of Audubon's prints, done with hand coloring. These 'APP' prints have not appreciated over the years, to any notable extent. MacMillan also began republishing Audubon's work through many editions of bound volumes, beginning in 1937 and also later issued a boxed set of 50 prints. The American Museum of Natural History and the History Institute of America reproduced a dozen or more images, using hand coloring, and these are different in size fom the originals, being approximately 20" x 26". These and other early facsimiles are often found on eBay and are not valuable, fetching prices from $10 to $100.
Perhaps the most prodigious use of Audubon's images was by the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company. They produced
tens of millions of copies of Audubon images, as calendars, and distrbuted them during the 1940's through 1960's.
In the early 1970's, the first full facsimile edition of Audubon's Double Elephant Folio was completed through a collaboration between Johnson Reprint Company and Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. This edition of DEF prints included all 435 original images, produced in a limited edition of 250 sets, done with offset lithography on high quality watermarked paper. There is a following and established market for these prints, known as the 'Amsterdam Edition'. Also in the early 1970's, a subset of forty DEF images were created in Leipzig, Germany, using an outdated, but beautiful, printing process known as collotype. Finally, in 1978, Volair Limited, with the National Audubon Society, republished the entire octavo works of Audubon, in ten volumes (Birds & Quadrupeds.)
In the mid-1980's two additional DEF Birds of America publications came into existence. In 1985, the American Museum of Natural history, in conjunction with Alecto Historical Editions, issued six DEF restrikes of Audubon's work. These 'Alecto Edition' prints were limited to just 125 prints. Given their unique status as restrikes and limited distribution, they are scarce and relatively expensive, second, only perhaps, to the original Havel prints themselves. At nearly the same time, a second full facsimile DEF limited-edition of the Birds of America was produced by Abbeville Press and the National Audubon Society. The 'Abbeville Edition' seems always to have followed in the shadow of the 'Amsterdam Edition', with little to distinguish it from the prior work. These prints have a glossier surface than the original Havell's, or Amsterdam facsimiles, and are printed on watermarked paper. Abbeville's have a larger circulation of 350 sets. Princeton Audubon Limited produced, also in the mid-1980's, a series of 36 well-made Audubon DEF prints, identifiable by their embossed seal along the lower edge of each print. Princeton Edition prints were released in editions of 500 or 1500, depending upon the image. In the late 1980's M. Bernard Loates issued several releases of Audubon DEF prints which he reinterpreted. As such, they are reproduction prints and not facsimiles (exact copies).
With the approach of the 21st century, the Oppenheimer Field Museum began producing Audubon's 'Top 50' prints. This edition, known as the 'Oppenheimer Edition', is limited to 150 sets. These prints are produced using commercial Giclee (ink-jet) technology, from digitally scaned images. In 2005, the 'Centennial Edition', under auspices of the National Audubon Society, made it's debut, and is currently (2007) in partial production. The 'Centennial Edition' is also made using Giclee technology, and is intended, eventually, to encompass all 435 original images. When completed, it will be the third full facsimile edition of Audubon's DEF portfolio.
Besides those editions listed, numerous other efforts have not been mentioned, those being more-or-less minor in scale, or less notable for various reasons. There are also recent efforts to publish Audubon's watercolor's, which were never published, but were used as the basis for his DEF Birds of America masterpiece. And, recently announced is a forthcoming hand-colored edition of Audubon's Imperial Folio Quadrupeds. What is certain, however, is that Adubon's images are as popular as ever and will be duplicated for generations to come.
You can learn a lot more about individual editions of Audubon's works by visiting the RESEARCH pages on our website:
http://www.jjaudubongallery.com/Your comments regarding this article are most welcome!
