Although he portrayed the birds in lifelike poses, all were dead when painted. He shot the specimens himself then arranged them with wires on a firm base. The book is double elephant folio in size to allow depiction of the birds life-sized, in their natural habitat and to be viewed from eye level.
John James Audubon was born as Jean Rabin in Haiti in 1785, the son of a French naval officer, Lieutenant Jean Audubon and his mistress, Jeanne Rabin, a Creole woman who died later that year. When John was four years old his father took him back to France and he was formally adopted into the Audubon family.
He was sent to his father’s small estate near Philadelphia in 1805, perhaps to avoid conscription in Napoleon’s army, and it was here he began to study and illustrate American birds. This was to be the major work of his life, and is one of the finest ornithological works ever completed.]]>
Audubon; John-James (1785-1851); Ornithologist; artist]]>