Table of Contents
Which Audubon prints are valuable?
The subject matter of an Audubon print also helps determine the value. Larger birds tend to bring higher prices than the smaller songbirds. Great Blue Heron, American Flamingo, and Wild Turkey are three of the most valuable prints of The Birds of America.
How do you date Audubon prints?
It will stretch about 10 inches across the paper, being about 1 inch in height. The name of the countermark is either “J Whatman/Turkey Mill” or just “J Whatman” with a date following, generally anywhere from 1825 to 1838. If you see such a countermark, you have an original Audubon.
Why are Audubon prints so expensive?
Audubon funded the costly printing of the Birds of America by selling them as a subscription to wealthy patrons he met while lecturing on ornithology in Britain and Paris. In the end, 435 plates were printed and issued loose, unbound to the subscribers in 87 sets of 5 images each.
How much is the Audubon book worth?
It’s a high-flying success story: A self-taught artist and immigrant defies the odds to create what is now one of the most prized illustrated books in the world, worth an estimated $8 million to $12 million. Ornithologist John James Audubon labored over his life’s masterwork, “The Birds of America,” from 1827 to 1838.
How many original Audubon books are there?
John James Audubon’s Birds of America Often cited as “the most expensive book of all time,” there are still 120 known intact copies of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America (which was published between 1827 and 1838).
How do I authenticate Audubon prints?
Tiny colored dots are a dead giveaway of a reproduction. You should closely examine any Audubon print using a 10x jeweler’s loupe or hand magnifier. If you see that the print is made up of millions of tiny colored dots, you have a modern reproduction produced by color offset lithography or computer printing.
How many complete double elephant portfolios exist today?
Today, only 120 complete sets are believed to exist in private hands and in institutions like museums, libraries, and universities (Steiner, 48). Our museum at John James Audubon State Park is fortunate to hold one of these very rare, intact sets of the Double Elephant Folio.
Where are Audubon’s original paintings?
Currently there are 21 original paintings in our holdings that we attribute to John James Audubon. 10 works are on display in the galleries and 11 works are resting in storage. One of these paintings is on loan to the museum from the Friends of Audubon State Park.
How many of Audubon’s birds are extinct?
Curiously however, five of the birds Audubon painted have never been identified: Townsend’s Finch, Cuvier’s Kinglet, Carbonated Swamp Warbler, Small-headed Flycatcher and Blue Mountain Warbler. These birds have never been positively identified, and no identical specimens have been confirmed since Audubon painted them.
Who is considered the best writer of all time?
TOP TEN AUTHORS BY POINTS EARNED
- Leo Tolstoy — 327.
- William Shakespeare — 293.
- James Joyce — 194.
- Vladimir Nabokov — 190.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky — 177.
- William Faulkner — 173.
- Charles Dickens — 168.
- Anton Chekhov — 165.