In this area we offer folio prints from the work of two authors, Alexander Wilson and Charles Lucien Bonaparte, plus a single octavo print from the 1832 Jardine Edition. Below, we have plates from early folio and octavo editions of Wilson's and Bonaparte's work, and links to a complete selection of plates from a combined folio edition (the "Philadelphia Edition") of Wilson and Bonaparte's work, circa 1871. Published by Porter & Coates, the Philadelphia Edition is printed on high-quality wove paper and includes 103 beautifully hand-colored plates, a full set from which to choose. This page presents the early prints, and provides an introduction to the work of both men. If you prefer, go directly to view the Porter & Coates prints (two examples of which are shown above). There, you will also find a listing for the text that accompanied the work. First published by Alexander Wilson in parts from 1808 to 1814, American Ornithology was the first ornithology including colored plates to be published in the United States. It was also the first work with any degree of scientific rigor to be published on the subject of American birds. Elliot Coues, a prominent ornithologist and historian of the late nineteenth century, wrote, "Science would lose little, but, on the contrary, would gain much, if every scrap of pre-Wilsonian writing about United States birds could be annihilated." Wilson's work, cut short by his untimely death in 1813, was illustrated by 76 hand-colored copper-plate engravings by Alexander Lawson, G. Murray, J. G. Warnicke, and Benjamin Tanner. Wilson's collaborator and champion, George Ord, completed the final volume of the Ornithology, put out a partial set of revised volumes (called the Ord revision) from 1824-1825, and also put out a complete second edition (1828-1829) in which the text was separated for the first time from the plates. The second edition is generally preferred to the first edition because of improvements in the quality of the pigments and paper. Our early Wilson folio prints are from the 1828-1829 edition. This edition differs in several respects from the first edition, notably in the higher quality of materials, a tendency to larger margins (prints were bound in atlas volumes), and in a lack of text offsetting on the plates. These prints are in very good to excellent condition. Please contact us for detailed condition reports, additional photos or exact sheet dimensions.
One of the most notable reprints of Wilson's work was the 1832 octavo edition edited by British naturalist William Jardine. This edition included all newly engraved prints by the famous Scottish printer W. H. Lizars. We have a single octavo print from this edition, #29 Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, and Red-headed Woodpecker. SOLD
Wilson's work was extended by Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte of France, who put out his own subscription series from 1825 to 1833 entitled American Ornithology; or The Natural History of Birds Inhabiting the United States, Not Given by Wilson. Bonaparte's supplement included 27 hand-colored plates drawn by Titian Ramsey Peale, Alexander Rider, and one plate originally drawn by John James Audubon and apparently modified by Rider (a credit was given to both men on the plate). The etching for the Bonaparte series was done by Alexander Lawson. Shown above is the a print (after the art of Alexander Rider) from the first edition of this work. After publication of Bonaparte's work, the work of Wilson and Bonaparte was considered incomplete without the other. Several joint octavo-sized editions followed, followed by one final folio edition (advertised as "super royal octavo") comprised of all 103 plates. This final original edition of Wilson's work was published in Philadelphia around 1871 by Porter & Coates. It is referred to in the literature as the "Philadelphia Edition" and was printed on larger paper than other Wilson editions.
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Last updated 04.01.09 |
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