The Birds of America

About The Birds of America

Audubon wanted every bird at life size, which meant sheets of the very large double elephant format. He shot his specimens, wired them into lifelike poses and drew them in watercolour and pastel; the 435 plates were engraved and hand-coloured in Britain, most by Robert Havell in London, and sold to subscribers in instalments. Large birds had to bend to fit the sheet.

The American flamingo shows it most clearly, its neck curved down towards the water. The collection leans towards water and shore birds: the roseate spoonbill, the black-necked stilt and the purple gallinule of the wetlands, puffins, shearwaters and petrels of the coasts, and the trumpeter swan, pintails and scoters on open water. Audubon’s plates are reproduced as giclée prints with pigment inks, made to order in Berlin, on matte 210 g/m² fine art paper or 400 g/m² cotton canvas in sizes A4 to A0.